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Students attending Husson University annually receive financial aid funds totaling in excess of $65 million from federal, state, private, and institutional sources. Aid resources are made available to students on the basis of financial need determined by the submission of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is the only application required for need-based financial aid consideration at Husson.

The FAFSA collects income and asset information about students and their parents, if applicable. This information is analyzed by the Department of Education and provided to financial aid agencies and institutions. For the 2024-2025 academic year, the FAFSA will be available in December 2023 and should be completed as soon as possible to ensure equitable consideration for existing aid resources. For the 2025-2026 academic year, the FAFSA should be available as of October 1, 2024. All applicants must file by April 15 in order to be considered for all available financial aid. 

Financial aid is renewed annually based upon continued financial need as demonstrated through the annual filing of the FAFSA and the requirement that the student meet the stipulations of the Satisfactory Academic Progress Financial Aid Policy.

Financial Aid Sources

The following is a list of aid sources available to Husson University students. Applicants are encouraged to research the possibility of assistance from other sources such as local fraternal and social organizations and special service groups. Often, your high school guidance counselor is a great resource for this type of scholarship information.

Federal Sources

  • Federal Pell Grants
  • Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)
  • Federal College Work Study Program (FWS)
  • Federal Direct Loan Program
    •     Subsidized
    •     Unsubsidized
    •     Parent PLUS
    •     Graduate PLUS

State Sources

  • Maine State Grant Program
  • Non-Maine students should apply to the state grant program in their state of residence (See FAFSA for state deadlines)

Institutional Grants and Scholarships

  • Husson annually offers a limited amount of grant and scholarship assistance to students with demonstrated financial need and/or academic achievement. 

Other Sources

See the Financial Aid Office's webpage at https://www.husson.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/ for a complete list of scholarships. 

Withdrawal

Withdrawal from School 

If you register and then withdraw from all classes, your eligibility for aid will be recalculated based on the number of days you attended class. If you withdraw from all classes prior to the first class day, any financial aid received will be returned. If you withdraw on or after the first class day, you may have to repay a portion of any financial aid received. If you withdraw, you should consult the definition of Satisfactory Academic Progress to determine if your withdrawal will affect your eligibility for future aid. If you are withdrawing from classes, you should contact the Center for Student Success to start the process. After the paperwork has been completed and signed by all parties, it will be processed and any refund calculations will be based on your official withdrawal date. Students are notified of refund requirements via policies on the Husson University website, in the student handbook, and in the college catalog.

The Higher Education Amendments of 1998 changed the formula for calculating the amount of aid a student and school can retain when the student withdraws from all classes (Consumer Information 34 CFR 668.22). This law specifies how Husson University must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that you earn if you withdraw from school. The Title IV programs that are covered by this are: Federal Pell Grants, Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, and Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).

Though your aid is posted to your account at the start of each semester/term, you earn the funds as you complete the semester/term. If you withdraw during your period of enrollment, the amount of the Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or Husson or your parent received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned by Husson University and/or by you.

If a refund is due by the school, it will be made to the appropriate Title IV fund within 45 days of the date of official withdrawal or within 45 days of the date of determination of withdrawal if the student does not officially withdraw.

The order of Title IV refunds is as follows:

  1. Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
  2. Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
  3. Federal Direct PLUS Loans
  4. Federal Pell Grant
  5. Federal SEOG

The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a prorated basis. For example, if you completed 30% of your period of enrollment, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60% of the period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.

If you did not receive all of the funds you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If your post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, Husson must get your permission before it can disburse them. You may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that you don't incur additional debt (which we highly encourage). We may automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room/board charges. Husson needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal disbursement for all other school charges. If you do not give your permission, you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in the best interest to allow us to keep the funds to reduce your debt at the school.

If you receive (or Husson or parent receives on your behalf) excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, your school must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:

1. Husson charges are multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or

2. The entire amount of excess funds.

We must return this amount even if you didn't keep this amount of your Title IV program funds. If Husson is not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining amount. Any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a Parent PLUS Loan) repay in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, you make a scheduled payment to the holder of the loan over a period of time.

Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. You must make arrangements with the Student Accounts Office or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.

The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from any refund policy that Husson has. Therefore, you may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. Husson may also charge you for any Title IV program funds that the school is required to return. Please refer to Husson’s Institutional Refund policy for refund percentage schedules.

If you have any questions about your Title IV program funds, you can call Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1.800.4.FEDAID (1.800.433.3243). TTY users may call 1.800.730.8913. Information is also available on Student Aid at www.studentaid.gov.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Financial Aid Policy

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards ensure that each student is successfully completing their coursework and can continue to receive financial aid. The U.S. Department of Education requires that ALL students who receive financial assistance make real and measurable progress in the academic program in which they are enrolled. Husson University must establish, publish, and apply standards to monitor each student’s progress toward completing their degree program. SAP affects all federal and state aid, as well as most forms of need-based institutional aid, including the Husson employee tuition waiver.

To be and to remain eligible for financial aid, you must meet specific minimum thresholds in both cumulative GPA and cumulative credit-hour-completion rate as seen below:

Undergraduate students:

# of credits attempted GPA below or earned greater than x% of attempted credits
1-23 1.50 67%
24-53 1.70 67%
54-83 1.80 67%
84+ 2.0 67%

Graduate students: 

# of credits attempted GPA below or earned greater than x% of attempted credits
Doctorate of Pharmacy 2.0 67%
All Other Graduate Programs 3.0 67%

How often is my progress checked?

SAP is reviewed at the end of every fall, spring and summer semesters for all semester-based students. For term-based students, SAP is reviewed after increments of 21 weeks.

What is a Financial Aid Warning? 

If you fail to meet the required minimum GPA and/or completion standards, you will be placed on a SAP Warning for one semester/payment period. You may still receive financial aid during your Warning period.

  • If you attain the required GPA and/or completed credits percentage standards by the end of your Warning period, you will no longer be on a SAP Warning.
  • If you fail to meet the required minimum GPA and/or credit hour completion rate at the end of your Warning period, you will be disqualified from using financial aid in subsequent semesters/terms.

What is Financial Aid Disqualification? 

If you were placed on SAP Warning in a previous payment period and continued to fall below minimum requirements at the end of that Warning period, you will be placed on SAP Disqualification, causing the loss of financial aid eligibility going forward. You will receive an email from the Financial Aid Office notifying you of your SAP Disqualification. You have two options on a SAP Disqualification:

  1. You may appeal the Disqualification (details below)
  2. You may continue without the benefits of financial aid.  You will still be responsible for finding a way to pay your student account charges if you decide not to appeal. Other ways to pay include a payment plan (https://mycollegepaymentplan.com/husson) or private education student loans (www.elmselect.com). 

What is required for an appeal?

You may appeal your SAP Disqualification status. All appeals must include both of the following requirements before our SAP Appeal Committee can review your appeal:

  1. A statement that discusses the circumstances that kept you from meeting SAP requirements, and what you will change or do differently in order to foster academic success moving forward.  Circumstances for an appeal can include, but are not limited to:
    1. The death of a relative
    2. Injury or illness of the student
    3. Other special circumstances, such as:
      1. Family difficulties, such as divorce or illness
      2. Interpersonal problems with friends, roommates, significant others, etc.
      3. Difficulty balancing school and work, athletics, family responsibilities, etc.
      4. Financial difficulties.
  2. A letter of support from your academic advisor, endorsing your academic plan moving forward.
  3. Both the student's appeal letter and letter of support should be emailed to the Financial Aid Office at finaid@husson.edu. 

Is there an appeal deadline?

SAP appeals should be submitted as soon as possible after receiving notice of SAP disqualification to ensure that the student has time to meet the criteria of their academic plan. Appeals are not accepted after the mid-point of the next term/semester.

Incomplete appeals will not be reviewed. Once a complete SAP appeal has been received, the SAP Appeal Committee and members of the Financial Aid Office, will review the SAP appeal within 14 business days and notify the student of their decision via email.

If my appeal is granted, will all my aid be reinstated?

If your appeal is approved, your financial aid will be reinstated for the appropriate terms in accordance with federal, state, and university regulations, processing requirements/deadlines, and availability of funds. 

SAP Probation/Academic Plan:

You will be placed on SAP Probation/Academic Plan if your appeal is approved. Under SAP Probation, you may receive financial aid for one payment period (semester/term). If placed on SAP Probation/Academic Plan, you will be required to sign an agreement. After the payment period is complete, you must either meet the SAP minimum standards or the requirements of the academic plan developed by your advisor and the Financial Aid Office to continue to be eligible for financial aid. If you do not successfully follow the academic plan or meet minimum requirements you will no longer be eligible for financial aid and would be placed on SAP Disqualification again. You may submit another appeal, however this does not guarantee your subsequent appeal will be approved.

What are my options if my appeal is denied?

You may continue without the benefit of financial aid. You may apply for a payment plan or explore your options for alternative student loans via www.elmselect.com.  

Additional SAP information:

  • Class failures, withdrawals, and incompletes are considered attempted, but not completed credits for the purposes of evaluating Satisfactory Academic Progress.
  • All transfer credits accepted at Husson University are counted towards attempted and completed credits.
  • Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reinstatement of your eligibility.
  • If a student’s appeal is approved, they will be placed on Financial Aid Probation/Academic Plan, which
    requires a signed form.
  • There is no limit on the number of times you may appeal a SAP disqualification.
  • ALL credits attempted and earned will be included when calculating your maximum attempted credits, GPA, and completed credits percentage.
  • If you change majors, the credits you earn under all majors will be included in your GPA calculation as well as the calculation of credits you have attempted and earned.
  • If you take undergraduate courses while you are a graduate student, credits you earn will be included in your GPA, completed credits, and maximum attempted credits.
  • If a student retakes courses, all attempts will be considered in the calculation of completion rate. The
    most recently attempted grade will be used to calculate GPA.

The degree programs at Husson University are approved by the Maine State Approving Agency for Veterans Education Programs for persons eligible for Veteran’s Administration GI Bill ® benefits. Students who request veteran’s educational assistance are required to have all previous post-secondary experience evaluated for possible transfer credit in order to be eligible for benefits. For more information, contact the Registrar’s Office.