Responsibilities of Aid Recipient

Enrollment Status

Financial aid is awarded assuming full-time, full-year enrollment status. At Knox College, full-time is defined as 2.5 or more credits per term, with 3.0 credits being the normal load. If for any term a student enrolls in fewer than 2.5 credits per term, the student's financial aid will be reduced accordingly. It is the student's responsibility to contact the Office of Financial Aid so that he/she may be advised of any changes in his/her financial aid awards. The date of the student's official enrollment status is the end of the second week of the term.

Academic Progress

With regard to continuing eligibility for financial aid, the federal government requires that Knox define Satisfactory Academic Progress in the following way: students must maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative gradepoint average and be accumulating credit at the rate of at least 6 credits per 3 terms of enrollment, designed so that students earn at least the 36 credits required for graduation in 18 terms (which, consistent with the federally-mandated calculation, is 150% of the normal time of 12 terms). Courses graded S/U and ESL courses do count toward satisfactory progress. Transfer, summer study, and exam credits count toward the credit accumulation requirement, at the rate of 1/3 of a Knox term per Knox course credit. Satisfactory progress is reviewed by the Academic Standing Committee at the end of each year. Simply sitting out a term or paying for classes cannot allow the student to remove sanctions unless the conditions above for satisfactory progress are met.

Students not making Satisfactory Academic Progress at the end of the academic year will not be awarded financial aid in the subsequent year unless they submit a successful appeal to the Academic Standing Committee. Such an appeal must explain the circumstances that led to the unsatisfactory progress and present a plan for how the student will overcome those circumstances and return to Satisfactory Academic Progress within the next three terms of attendance. If the appeal is approved by the Committee, the student will be placed on "Financial Aid Probation" for the duration of the plan and may continue to receive financial aid. Failure to meet the requirements of the approved plan in each term until the end of that probationary period and achieve Satisfactory Academic Progress will result in the loss of further financial aid.

For purposes of determining satisfactory academic progress, terms in which a student receives all grades of W for reasons of verified illness or other conditions beyond the student's control may be excluded if the student successfully petitions the Academic Standing Committee.

For part-time students (i.e. enrolling in fewer than 2.5 courses per term), a term of partial enrollment counts as part of a term. Thus, each course credit for which the student enrolls counts for 1/3 of a term toward the satisfactory progress rule.

Selective Service Registration Compliance

Most males from age 18 through 25 -- including permanent residents and other eligible non-citizens -- are required to register with the Selective Service System. Anyone required to register with Selective Service must have done so in order to receive aid through the federal and state financial aid programs.

Drug Offenses

Federal law limits federal student aid eligibility for some students who have convictions for drug-related offenses. If a student has not been convicted of a drug offense during the time he/she was receiving federal student aid (such as grants, loans, or work-study), he/she should answer "no" to the drug conviction question on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. If the answer is yes, the student must complete a worksheet to determine if the conviction affects the student's eligibility. Just because a student has a drug conviction does not necessarily mean he/she is ineligible for aid.

Statement of Educational Purpose and Certification Statement on Overpayments and Defaults

A financial aid recipient must certify that he/she will use any federal financial aid funds received during the award year solely for educational expenses related to this year at Knox College. The recipient must also certify that he/she does not owe an overpayment on a federal grant, is not in default on any federal educational loan or has made satisfactory arrangements to repay any defaulted loan, and he/she will notify Knox College in case of an overpayment or default. A statement of educational purpose and certification statement on overpayments and defaults is included in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Verification

Any student receiving need-based financial aid must comply with all reasonable requests for documents to verify the information reported on his/her application for aid, e.g., family's income, assets, household size, number in college and/or the dependent/independent status of the student, that may be needed by Knox College, the Department of Education, and/or any state financial aid agency. In addition, a student who has been selected for verification by the U.S. Dept. of Education may be required to submit U.S. Income Tax information, the Knox Financial Aid Application, and other documents.

As a general rule, the financial aid office does not send financial aid packages to students until verification is complete. If verification is required after an original package has been sent, students will be notified of any adjustments once verification is complete. No federal or state financial aid will be disbursed to a student account until the verification process is complete. If the process is not complete as of the last day of the student's enrollment at Knox for the current school year, the student will not receive any federal or state aid.

Financial Aid From Other Sources

It is the student's responsibility to inform the Office of Financial Aid of all additional monetary aid that he/she will receive that does not appear on his/her Financial Aid Award Notification. Aid received from private sources outside Knox College is required by federal and state regulations to be incorporated into the total financial aid package.

Veterans Benefits

Recipients of Veterans Benefits must complete the Enrollment Certification Request form and report any changes in enrollment to the Office of Financial Aid.

Change of Address or Social Security Number

It is the student's responsibility to inform the Office of Financial Aid of any change in his/her permanent address or social security number. A student who borrows through one of the federal student loan programs -- Direct Loan, Perkins Loan, or PLUS -- is required to notify the lender of any change in his/her name, address, or social security number.

Renewal of Financial Aid

Financial aid is awarded on an annual basis. No financial aid awarded on the basis of need is renewed automatically. The student must apply and demonstrate financial aid eligibility each year that need-based aid is awarded. Knox College requires students to file both the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and a Knox Financial Aid Application. Signed copies of signed U.S. income tax returns and W-2s from the student and his/her parent(s) may be requested. In January each year, the Office of Financial Aid distributes application instructions to returning students who received financial aid based on need aid or federal loans during the previous year. It is the student's responsibility to know deadline schedules and to obtain application materials so that he/she can reapply each year.

Renewal Requirements for Knox Scholarships

Most Knox Scholarships, i.e., Lincoln, Muelder, Scripps, Founders, Alumni, Academic, Music, Theatre, Art, Social Concerns, etc., require the student recipient to remain in good academic standing.

Scholarship Questionnaire and Knox Grants and Scholarships

In order to fund our scholarship and grant program, Knox relies on donors who give major monetary gifts to the college. These donations make our financial aid program possible. The donors often specify that a student with specific achievements or interests or who is from a specific location must be supported by their funds. It is the student's responsibility to complete the Scholarship Questionnaire. The information students provide allows the College to match students with these endowed and gift scholarships and so allocate our institutional funds in the most appropriate manner.

It is likely that students who are named to one of these funds will be required to write a thank you letter to the donor. The cooperation of students in completing the questionnaire and responding to a request to write a letter is appreciated.