Issuing Office

Financial Aid

Affected Parties

Students

Policy Language

Enrollment in Undergraduate and Graduate Courses During the Same Term:

Some students mix undergraduate and graduate courses together in one term.  It is important to understand that only the courses in your current degree program will count towards federal aid eligibility - including federal loans.

EXAMPLE: An undergraduate student enrolls for 9 credit hours of undergraduate courses and 3 credit hours of a graduate course in one term.  This student is eligible for federal aid.  However, this student may be surprised that they are not eligible as a full-time student.  Only the 9 undergraduate credit hours apply to their current degree program.  In this case, they will also not be eligible for Liberty institutional aid.

Exception: If a graduate student is required to take an undergraduate-level prerequisite course in order to complete a graduate course, the prerequisite course will count in determining aid eligibility.  

Availability of General Equivalency Diploma (GED) Classes and Testing

Students looking to obtain a GED should review testing sites and availability at this link.

https://ged.com/about_test/scheduling/ 

Enrollment Levels

To reach certain levels of enrollment, students must be attending a minimum number of credit hours per semester.

*Note: For Veterans Benefits (such as the GI Bill®) levels: Please see the VA Training Times & Pay Rates on the Military Affairs web pages.

https://www.liberty.edu/military/gi-bill/pay-rates-training-times/

https://www.liberty.edu/military/

GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill

Continuing Education Policy 

Continuing Education may be combined with federal, state and other institutional aid.  This combination may not exceed the student’s total charges for tuition and fees. 

Liberty University Continuing Education and Dependent Grant in Aid educational benefits are not eligible for use for the following programs: Doctor of Osteopathy, School of Law, degree programs offered by the School of Law or JURI courses, A.A. or B.S. in Paralegal Studies, M.B.A.: American Legal Studies, M.B.A.: International Legal Studies, and undergraduate or graduate certificate programs.

Policy Rationale

This policy is in place to ensure proper awarding and distribution of federal, state, and institutional aid.

Definition of Glossary Terms

Title IV: The portion of the Higher Education Act (see HEA) that includes most of the federal financial aid programs.
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress: Students must meet Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements to receive federal Title IV aid that includes the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Work Study, Federal TEACH Grant, and Federal Direct Education Loans (Subsidized, Unsubsidized,, Parent PLUS, and Graduate PLUS). Liberty University also applies the SAP requirements to monitor eligibility for all institutional aid. The Virginia Commonwealth programs are administered under the guidelines from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).
Half-time: A student who is carrying an academic workload that is considered at least one-half the workload of a full-time student (as determined by the school).

Procedures

Each policy and guideline is managed through reporting and internal system checks through Banner.

Sanctions

Your financial aid offer is an estimate of your federal, state, and institutional eligibility. Your financial aid can change, however. See below for factors that can affect your financial aid eligibility.

The factors below could lead to a recalculation of your financial aid. They could ultimately lead to a change, reduction, or elimination of federal, state, institutional and/or any other types of financial aid eligibility.

• Not attending, dropping, or withdrawing from courses and/or sub-terms you are registered to attend
• Completely withdrawing from the University
• Failing to properly withdraw from the University
• Enrolling in courses that do not apply to your degree completion plan
• Failing to maintain Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress
• Providing incomplete or inaccurate information during the application process
• Receiving additional sources of aid (such as outside grants or private loans)
• Receiving aid above the amount of tuition (which may lower Liberty University scholarships)
• Changing enrollment level (some scholarships require full-time enrollment; Federal Direct Student and PLUS loans require half-time enrollment)
• Changing grade level or academic programs (For example, some majors are not eligible for the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant)
• Changing between Resident and Liberty University Online student status, and vice versa
• Defaulting on a student loan or having an unresolved federal grant overpayment
• Providing false or misleading information
• Receiving federal aid for the same academic year at another institution
• Repeating a course for which you already received a passing grade more than once
• Aid that covers the majority of direct costs (i.e., DGIA, Continuing Education, Private School Affiliation Scholarships, etc.) do not allow for stacking with other Liberty University aid sources such as the Liberty Champion Award or Liberty Book Dollars.

Exceptions

Exceptions and Further considerations:

• Federal Pell Grants are excluded from the GSR calculation for resident students only.  If all other grants and scholarships equal the total charges for tuition and fees, Federal Pell Grants may be refundable.
• If total federal and state grants exceed tuition and fee charges for a Liberty University Online Student, Continuing Education will be reduced or eliminated from the student’s aid package. Similarly, DGIA will be reduced or eliminated if the total federal and state grants exceed the student's semester tuition charge. DGIA recipients are responsible for paying all fees each semester and room and board changes, if applicable. 
• Continuing Education and Dependent Grant in Aid is not available to students who have an unresolved defaulted loan in their loan history.
• Continuing Education and Dependent Grant in Aid recipients must adhere to the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress policy.
• Employees may only take up to 18 credit hours per academic year. The Continuing Education and Dependent Grant in Aid benefits will only cover the minimum number of hours required to complete the applicable degree
• Continuing Education (CE) and Dependent Grant in Aid (DGIA) cover no more than the minimum hours required in a program at each degree level, though prerequisites can be covered under CE or DGIA for a graduate program in which the employee is majoring. If a student withdraws from a course(s) and chooses to take it again in a later term or sub-term, the student may be subject to paying for a course(s) without CE or DGIA funding near the end of their degree program out of pocket or with another type of financial aid.
• Similar to the withdrawal information above, if a student repeats a course(s) in a later term or sub-term, the student may be subject to paying for a course(s) without CE or DGIA funding near the end of their degree program out of pocket or with another type of financial aid.
• CE and DGIA are only available to degree-seeking students, unless the student is a dependent in high school taking college-level courses in a special student status. The student cannot be enrolled in the Liberty Online Academy. In addition, CE and DGIA may only be applied to Courses within a Student’s Program of Study (CPOS).  For additional details, please review our CPOS Policy.
• Per the LU Employee Handbook, an application for CE must be completed and received by Human Resources a minimum of 3 weeks prior to the Financial Check-In date. Late forms will not be processed. The DGIA application should be completed in the HR portal by April 30th annually for the following academic year.

For questions about policies and eligibility for CE and DGIA, please contact the Office of Human Resources.

Date Revised

3/15/2023

Date for Review

3/15/2028