Students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), online at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa, each academic year to be considered for Federal Student Aid.
Financial aid is available to those who qualify. Students are encouraged to apply for financial aid each year as early as October 1st for the upcoming school year.
To receive Federal Student Aid funds, a student must be qualified to study at the postsecondary level. A student meets this requirement if they have a high school diploma; completed secondary level homeschooling in accordance with State laws; or a General Education Development (GED) certificate. Please visit the financial aid web site at http://www.wcccd.edu/dept/financialaid.htm for additional information on eligibility.
All official College communications will be delivered to WCCCD student email accounts. Notices and updates will also be sent via Web-Gate and WCCCD Student Forms. Students are required to review email WCCCD Student Forms and Web-Gate messages on a regular basis. Review Web-Gate messages at https://webgate.wcccd.edu> Financial Aid> Financial Aid Status for Messages in Web-Gate.
Student financial aid funds are made available only for the purposes directly related to Wayne County Community College District educational expenses. The use of these funds for any other purposes may jeopardize your eligibility to continue to receive these benefits.
The District Financial Aid Office has the right to review, adjust or cancel the financial aid award at any time due to notification from the U.S. Department of Education, a change in the student’s FAFSA, financial, marital or academic status, or because of adjustments (changes) in federal or state regulations, funding or computational errors. Financial aid cannot pay for certain repeat courses and courses that are not included in the declared major. Students may accept any number of awards or other financial assistance from public or private sources or both. However, the total assistance may not exceed the cost of attendance.
Information is also available on the following websites:
The types of federal financial assistance include the following:
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
- Federal Work-Study
- Federal Direct Student Loan
- Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant
The terms and conditions for each type of financial assistance are available online by clicking on the Financial Aid tab on the District’s website at www.wcccd.edu. A student may decline all or any portion of a financial aid award by notifying the District Financial Aid Office in writing.
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
In order to receive Federal Student Aid, regulations require that all students make continued progress in their educational program. This requirement is called Satisfactory Academic Progress and will be monitored by the District Financial Aid Office. In accordance with Federal Regulations the District Financial Aid Office’s policy will be to evaluate Satisfactory Academic Progress each academic year for students enrolled in programs longer than one year in length and at the end of each semester for all students in programs one year or less in length. Please see the financial aid website at http://www.wcccd.edu/dept/financialaid_satisfactory.htm for a more comprehensive review of this policy. At each evaluation, a student’s progress will be measured on the following elements:
Qualitative Requirement
Cumulative GPA Requirement:
In order to continue to receive financial aid, a student must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0.
Quantitative Requirements
Maximum Timeframe:
Students must complete an undergraduate degree or eligible certificate program of study within 150% of the published credit hours required to complete the program. If the program requires 60 credit hours for completion, the maximum timeframe is 90. If the program requires 44 credit hours, the maximum time frame is 66 credit hours.
Pace of Progression:
Students should successfully complete at least 67% of the credit hours attempted. If a student earns 67% of all credit hours attempted, the student should complete the program within the maximum time frame. The pace that a student completes their program is calculated by dividing the cumulative hours the student successfully completed by the cumulative hours they attempted.
Additionally, transfer credit hours from another school, as well as repeated and developmental classes, are counted as credit hours attempted and completed. Withdrawal grades and incomplete grades are counted as credit hours attempted. Students seeking a second Associates Degree or certificate who are not meeting the quantitative standard, and want to be considered for financial aid eligibility, will need to submit a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) appeal.
Appeal Process
Students who have been disqualified for financial aid are ineligible to receive financial aid and will not receive aid for the following, or future semesters. Students that were impacted by significant circumstances that caused them to be unable to meet satisfactory academic progress standards which resulted in their ineligibility have the option of submitting a SAP Appeal for consideration of approval and reinstatement of aid eligibility. The District Financial Aid Office considers the student’s written appeal, supporting documentation, and federal regulations when making a determination. Please see the financial aid web site at http://www.wcccd.edu/dept/financialaid_satisfactory.htm for additional information on filing an appeal as well as accessing the online form.
If the appeal is approved, the student may be granted probation for one semester. Students will be required to follow an academic plan to ensure program progression. That plan will be reviewed after each semester. Financial aid eligibility is terminated for students who did not satisfy their probationary term or adhere to their academic plan.
All SAP appeal decisions are sent to students’ WCCCD email accounts and posted to Web-Gate.
Regaining Eligibility
Students who lose their financial aid eligibility because they fail to meet satisfactory academic progress will regain eligibility when it is determined that they are again meeting both the qualitative and quantitative standards. They are responsible for the payment of tuition and fees until financial aid eligibility is regained. When satisfactory academic progress standards are met, eligibility is regained for subsequent terms of enrollment.
Developmental Courses
Repeated and developmental courses are added into credits attempted and are used in the calculation of attempted credits versus completed credits. Up to 30 credits of combined developmental and ESL courses can be funded with federal student aid.
Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility
The Higher Education Opportunity Act limits the period of time a student may receive a Pell Grant to 12 FULL-TIME semesters or the equivalent. This provision applies to all Federal Pell Grant eligible students. The calculation of the duration of a student’s eligibility will include all years of the student’s receipt of Federal Pell Grant funding. Students can monitor their Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used at https://studentaid.gov.
Financial Aid for Repeated Courses
The District Financial Aid Office is required by the U.S. Department of Education to monitor and adjust a student’s enrollment level for federal student aid if, or when, they repeat course work for credit that they have already earned. Students can retake and receive federal aid if they previously failed a course, but can only receive financial aid twice for a course that has been passed. A passing grade is defined for this purpose as D or better. Please note that the repeat course policy for financial aid is separate from institutional academic policies regarding repeat courses. The financial aid policy allows a student to receive financial aid under the following situations:
- To repeat any failed course until a passing grade is received
- To repeat one time any course in which a passing grade was previously received
Please Note: Regardless of the outcome, courses are not eligible to be covered by financial aid after a 2nd attempt has been made in a course that has, at any time, previously earned a passing grade.
Veteran Affairs
The Veteran Affairs office is located in the District Admissions and Records Office, 801 W. Fort, Detroit, MI 48226 or www.wcccd.edu.
The main purpose of Veteran Affairs is to certify enrollment of those veterans and dependents that are using their educational benefits. The staff is a liaison between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Wayne County Community College District. The staff assists the veteran in filling out forms, explaining the various degree programs the District has to offer and directing the student to the various academic departments for advising and ongoing support services.
The Department of Veteran Affairs requires that all recipients of veteran educational benefits make progress toward their stated academic degree. Therefore, all veterans receiving benefits must maintain an accumulated grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 to remain eligible for Veterans Administration benefits. A veteran who allows his or her accumulated GPA to fall below 2.0 will be placed on probation. A veteran will be allowed two semesters to bring his or her accumulated GPA to 2.0 or higher. If the veteran fails to do so, the Department of Veterans Affairs will be notified of his or her unsatisfactory progress.
A signed statement acknowledging these requirements will be required from each veteran student at the beginning of each enrollment period.
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