Course Program of Study

Your program of study includes the courses required to complete your degree as listed on your DegreeWorks audit. This includes required coursework of the declared major, minor, concentration as outlined in the academic catalog.

Course Program of Study (CPoS) is a process used to determine, each term, which courses in a student’s schedule are required for their program of study. Federal student financial aid can only be paid on courses within a student’s program of study. These aid programs include federal grants, federal student loans, and federal work-study.

In addition to ensuring that federal student financial aid regulations are being met, CPoS is designed to help you stay on track and finish your degree in a timely manner. Enrolling in only courses that count toward your program of study helps to minimize your education expenses and debt.

CPoS only applies to Federal Financial Aid (Pell Grant, SEOG Grant, StaXord Loans, PLUS loans). It does not impact eligibility for institutional or outside aid.

If you do not receive federal financial aid, CPoS will not impact you.

View your DegreeWorks audit to see if the courses you are taking count for your program of study. Here you can see the listing of required courses that you have taken, are currently enrolled in, and still need to take.

In DegreeWorks, courses that do not count for federal financial aid will be listed in the ‘Fall Through’ section at the bottom of the audit worksheet.

You should monitor your University email account regularly, but you may also access your degree evaluation at any time to review course listed as ‘Fall Through’ (not counted towards financial aid eligibility).

Possibly. Electives must satisfy a requirement of your declared major/minor. If you have been notified that an elective is not counting towards your Federal Financial Aid eligibility, contact your advisor. If an advisor determines that the elective is satisfying a requirement and will count towards your declared major/minor, they will submit an override request.

For undergraduate students, twelve credits of degree-applicable courses are required for federal financial aid to disburse at the full-time rate. Credit hours 13 and above do not necessarily have to be degree applicable.

For graduate students, nine credits of degree-applicable courses are required for federal financial aid to disburse at the full-time rate. Credit hours 10 and above do not necessarily have to be degree applicable.

No. There is no appeal process for courses that do not satisfy a requirement of your program of study. However, if a course has been approved as a substitution, your academic College should complete a substitution to reflect in your degree audit. Course substitution must be completed prior to the seventh class day.

If you make a change prior to the semester drop/add deadline, you will want to check your DegreeWorks audit to ensure that the course counts toward your program of study. You will also want to make sure that you are enrolled in at least 12 credit hours that counts toward your program of study.

Your DegreeWorks audit will be updated the day after changes are made.

Making changes to your course enrollment after the drop/add deadline and receiving a grade of W will not impact CPoS for that semester.

The last day to drop/add courses for each semester.

You may qualify for federal financial aid until you have met all degree requirements for your major program of study. Once you have completed all degree requirements for your major, you won’t qualify for federal financial aid even if you haven’t completed your minor.

Study abroad courses may count for federal financial aid if they apply towards outstanding coursework in your officially declared program of study.

• Registered for courses that are not included in the declared degree program
• Course is a substitution, but the official substitution process is not complete.
• Courses are not required in the catalog year and are not appropriate for the program of study major or minor.
• Course is considered an elective and all elective options have been fulfilled.

A course may be part of a student’s program of study, but not count toward federal student financial aid eligibility if it exceeds the number of repeat attempts allowed. If a student receives an ‘F’ grade in a course, they are permitted to retake the course as many times as they need until they make a ‘D’ or higher. Once they have made a ‘D’ or higher, they are only permitted to retake the course one additional time after that.

While a ‘D’ may not be successfully passing to advance a student’s academic program, for federal student financial aid purposes, the ‘D’ is considered a passing grade.

Yes, you may take courses that are not required. However, those courses cannot be covered by federal student financial aid. For undergraduate students, twelve credits of degree-applicable courses are required for federal financial aid to disburse at the full-time rate. Credits hours 13 and beyond do not necessarily have to be degree applicable.

Scholarships, from any source, are not affected by CPoS.

TOPS is not affected by CPoS.

VA benefits are subject to their own rules and do not fall under CPoS

CPoS does not change Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards.

The Financial Aid Office cannot advise you about your course schedule.