Attention: To students who are currently awarded federal financial aid and/or state CAP Grant funds or anticipate on receiving such funds.
Notice: Courses that do not count toward a student’s degree, certificate, or other recognized credential cannot count toward enrollment status when determining federal and state CAP Grant aid eligibility.
Action: Please ensure you are enrolled in courses that count toward the completion of your degree program requirements. If you have questions regarding courses that meet your degree requirements, please contact your Academic Advisor. Here’s how to find your Academic Advisor, or you can start with this list of Advising Centers. Also, please ensure you are active in the major(s) and any potential minor(s) you are currently pursuing. For additional information on changing, adding, or declaring a major, please visit https://louisville.edu/advising/students/change-major.
Additional Information
Students can only receive federal financial aid or state need-based aid for credit hours/coursework that count toward the completion of the requirements for their degree program (which includes majors, minors, certificates, and other credentials a student is pursuing). If it is determined you are enrolled in a course(s) that does not count toward your degree requirements, the course(s) cannot be used to determine your enrollment status for federal financial aid and state need-based aid purposes. This only impacts your enrollment status for determining your federal and state need-based financial aid eligibility—you are still enrolled in the course for grading and billing purposes, and it does not impact your enrollment status for determining your aid eligibility for other types of aid (such as institutional grants and scholarships).
Starting with the spring 2024 term, the University of Louisville is instituting a new process to track and assess these requirements using a tool in ULink called Course Auditor for undergraduate students. If you have completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the applicable aid year and are enrolled in a degree-seeking or federal financial aid eligible certificate program for the applicable term, your enrollment will be evaluated to determine if the course(s) for which you are enrolled count toward the completion of your degree requirements.
If you remain enrolled in the course(s) that does not meet your degree requirements, any awarded federal and/or state need-based aid will be reviewed, and any potential necessary adjustments will be made to your financial aid and/or cost of attendance. Below are examples of the federal and state need-based aid to be reviewed:
- College Access Program (CAP) Grant
- Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
- Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan
- Federal Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
- Federal TEACH Grant
- Federal Work-Study (FWS)
Please note if awarded CAP Grant, Federal Direct Loan, and/or FWS funds, you must be enrolled at least half-time to qualify for the funds. In addition, if awarded federal and/or state financial aid as of the end of the last day to drop and receive 100% tuition credit for regular courses during the term, your aid eligibility will be based on enrollment as of that date.
If you have completed a FAFSA for the applicable aid year and are enrolled in an undergraduate degree-seeking or federal financial aid eligible certificate program for the applicable term, starting likely in early December, you can view the degree eligibility status of your enrollment by logging into your ULink account, selecting the ‘Financial Aid’ tile on your Student Homepage, and then selecting ‘Course Auditor.’ Below are examples of the statuses you may see:
- Eligible: This course counts toward your degree requirements. If you meet the requirements to qualify for federal financial aid, this course will be evaluated to determine your potential federal financial aid and state need-based aid eligibility.
- Unknown: It has not yet been determined if this course counts toward your degree requirements. Your course status will remain ‘Unknown’ if you have not submitted a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or are not enrolled in a degree-seeking or federal financial aid eligible certificate program.
- Ineligible: This course does not count toward your degree requirements. Therefore, the course cannot be used to determine your enrollment status for federal financial aid and state need-based aid purposes. This only impacts your enrollment for federal and state need-based financial aid purposes. You are still enrolled in the course for grading and billing purposes.
- Repeat Course: According to the policy set by the U.S. Department of Education regarding retaking coursework, you may only receive federal financial aid the first time you retake previously passed coursework. Your enrollment in this course may not count toward your enrolled hours for federal and state financial aid purposes, since you previously passed the course and have previously repeated the course at least once since you initially passed it.
If you have a course marked as ‘Ineligible’ but believe this course should count toward your degree requirements or if you have questions regarding which courses will meet your degree requirements, please reach out to your Academic Advisor.
We wish you success as you pursue your educational goals at the University of Louisville!