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ITHACA COLLEGE
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VOLUME VII
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7.2 Information for Undergraduate StudentsGraduate and Program Regulations -- Registration and Course Information -- Credit and Grade Information -- Academic Affairs Information -- Leaves of Absence, Withdrawals, Readmissions -- Financial Information -- Study Abroad
Tuition for full-time students is based on a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 18 credits per semester. Students taking fewer than 12 credits will be charged $1,019 per credit. Those who exceed 18 credits per semester will be charged $1,019 for each additional credit. Withdrawing from a course does not remove the responsibility for paying for that course if those credits caused the student to be billed for more than 18 credits. At the end of the add/drop period, students are liable for the credits for which they are enrolled at that time, regardless of a later withdrawal. Full-time students who officially withdraw, take a leave of absence, or are dismissed from Ithaca College are charged a percentage of total tuition depending on the number of weeks attended. Weeks are counted from the first day of classes in each semester. No refunds are granted until the student completes the College's official withdrawal or leave of absence procedure. See section 7.2.6.6 for the complete refund policy. Any federal aid recipient who takes a leave of absence or withdraws within the ninth week should be aware that a return of federal aid may be required even though full tuition, room, and board charges will be incurred. Students who change from full-time to part-time status must do so by the end of the first week of classes in order to receive a refund. No refunds are made to part-time students after the end of the first week of classes. Application forms for part-time status are available from the registrar. If a student is called to active military duty during a semester, the College will apply, in full, any tuition paid for that semester to any future semester in which the student may return. Room and board refunds will be issued on a pro rata basis consistent with our current policy. Based on a 15-week semester, the following refund percentages apply to the appropriate charges:
Students who withdraw from an affiliated study abroad program must be attentive to refund deadlines, both those of the affiliate and those of Ithaca College, as there may be serious financial implications involved in withdrawing from a program near or after the start date of that program. Students are responsible for informing both the affiliate organization and the Office of International Programs should they withdraw from a planned study abroad program. Students who attend programs recognized by the College as affiliated study abroad programs are subject to the following refund policy:
Any recipients of Title IV financial aid (i.e., federal aid through subsidized or unsubsidized Stafford loan; PLUS or Perkins loans; Pell or SEOG grants; or work study) or institutional, state or private grants/scholarships need to refer to the section on "Federal Title IV Refund Procedures" in the Undergraduate Catalog.
In addition to basic costs, some academic programs/courses incur additional costs. See "Additional Costs" in the Undergraduate Catalog.
All students residing in College housing facilities, with the exception of those in apartments with cooking facilities, must participate in the College residential meal plan. Upon official withdrawal or dismissal, a refund is given on board charges in accordance with the schedule above. Student teachers may make arrangements for a proportional reduction in charges to cover the periods they will be off campus.
The Ithaca College health center will administer or coordinate care for all illnesses or injuries that may occur to matriculated Ithaca College students. The College charges for some services at the health center, such as X-rays, laboratory tests, medications, and special treatments.
Health and accident insurance is available to all matriculated students. The health and accident policy is specifically designed to complement Ithaca College's health center services. Copies of the insurance brochure are sent to every student each year. Contact the health center for answers to your questions. Coverage is mandatory except with a waiver giving written proof of other insurance coverage, which must be submitted each year by the date listed in the semester billing information.
The College does not carry insurance on students' personal belongings or student-registered motor vehicles and is not responsible for loss or damage from any cause. Students are advised to check their families' homeowner's insurance and motor vehicle insurance policies. If the policies do not cover belongings at college, the student may wish to secure optional personal property insurance offered to all matriculating students. A brochure detailing coverages and costs is mailed to students every year. Students may leave their possessions in their rooms over vacations during the regular academic year, but not over the summer months.
Students who wish to register in advance for the ensuing fall semester must pay an advance deposit of $250 by March 15. Failure to pay the deposit by this deadline will prevent a student from registering in advance for classes for the next semester and from participating in the residence hall lottery. This deposit is credited in full to the student's bill for the fall semester. The deposit is refundable in full to students who are not academically qualified to continue and to those who officially withdraw on or before June 15. Any student withdrawing after that date will not receive a refund.
Application fee (nonrefundable) - $60 Late payment fee (nonrefundable) - $200 per month Accounts not paid in full on or before August 10 for the fall semester and January 10 for the spring semester will be assessed a late payment fee each month that a balance remains outstanding. Parking permit
The cost of books and supplies varies greatly, depending on specific course requirements and whether new or used texts are purchased. The average cost is $565.00 per semester.
Ithaca College participates in a wide variety of aid programs designed to meet the needs of most students. These include federal, state, and our own institutional aid programs. Additional information may also be found at www.ithaca.edu/finaid. Please feel free to contact the Office of Financial Aid by phone at 800-429-4275, by fax at 607-274-1895, or e-mail at finaid@ithaca.edu. All applicants for admission to Ithaca College and all continuing students are eligible to apply for financial aid in the form of scholarships, grants, work, and loans. Ithaca College institutional aid programs consist of merit-based, merit within need, and need-based only programs.
All students (incoming and continuing) who wish to be considered for any federal or need-based institutional assistance must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to the appropriate agency. Additional applications may be required for state programs. Students should check with their state education department or local high school or college for application information. The following college codes are used in the completion of certain applications to assure that Ithaca College receives the information. Refer to individual applications for instructions on where to indicate these codes.
The priority filing date of the FAFSA for incoming students is February 1 of the year in which financial aid is desired. Ithaca College anticipates using the CSS Profile application for incoming students effective for the 2009-2010 academic year. Please visit the Office of Financial Aid website for updated information and filing deadlines. For continuing students, the priority filing date for the FAFSA is March 1 of the year in which financial aid is desired. FAFSA applications are generally available at high schools in mid-November of the year before a student wishes to receive aid. The FAFSA may be filed electronically at www.fafsa.ed.gov; however, the online application is not available until January 1 of the year in which aid is being requested. Applications of incoming and continuing students who apply after these dates will be reviewed, but cannot be guaranteed full consideration for all aid programs. It is the student's responsibility to complete any application for aid for which he or she is determined to be eligible, unless the student wishes to decline the aid source being offered.
Aid is awarded for one year --- All forms of financial aid --- scholarships, grants, jobs, and loans --- are committed for the period of one academic year only and must be reapplied for annually. Exceptions are the Ithaca recognition awards and President's, Dean's, Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), Ithaca Premier Talent, ALANA, Rod Serling, Carl Sgrecci, Lawrence C. Hill and Adrian M. Newens, Shirley Hockett, John B. Harcourt, Willard T. Daetsch, and Patrick Conway scholarships, which are based on merit or a combination of merit and talent. The Ithaca Sibling and Ithaca Heritage Grants also do not require an application. Aid goes with you if you transfer within the College --- Ithaca College need-based scholarships and grants remain with the student regardless of transfer from school to school within the College, as long as he or she continues to demonstrate financial need, maintains full-time status, and meets the College's standards for good standing and satisfactory progress for state and federal programs. Aid is renewed as long as you're progressing --- All the awards listed above are renewed annually until a student completes the bachelor's degree program as long as he or she maintains full-time status and a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 at the end of each spring semester, and meets the College's standards for good standing and satisfactory progress. A student must enroll in at least 12 credits per semester to be considered as making satisfactory academic progress for the purpose of the merit-based programs. The same rules apply to the MLK Scholarship, except the GPA requirement is a 3.30. Please refer to specific awards for more information. The Ithaca Sibling and Heritage Grants and the Flora Brown Award do not have GPA requirements for renewal. Aid stops if you withdraw from the College --- A student automatically forfeits financial aid when he or she withdraws, is suspended, or is dismissed from any program at Ithaca College. Ithaca awards are not renewed if a student withdraws from the College or returns to the College without an approved leave of absence. A student who does not enroll full time or drops to part-time status loses his or her merit-based award for that semester. Students taking a leave of absence must contact the financial aid office before leaving school. Students returning from a leave of absence must reapply for financial aid under the under the usual guidelines for each program. Special TAP Standards --- There are special New York State standards for students receiving Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) awards Further details can be found in the Academic Standing section of the financial aid website. Financial aid recipients must notify the financial aid office of changes to part-time status, internal transfers to other schools, and any changes of major. Aid is adjusted as need changes --- Should a student's financial need increase, his or her financial aid may be increased; should a student's need decrease, need-based financial aid may be decreased. Need-based scholarships and grants are not renewed if a student fails to meet the prescribed deadlines or if funds become unavailable for any reason. Time limit for aid --- Financial aid is usually terminated after eight semesters unless the course of study normally requires additional semesters. Financial aid for transfer students is terminated at the completion of the number of semesters the student's dean designates for degree completion when the student enters the College. Exceptions to these time limitations must receive the approval of the student's academic dean and the financial aid office. A student retains financial aid as long as he or she meets the standards prescribed for satisfactory progress and program pursuit for each specific program from which the student receives funds. Report all awards --- Recipients of financial aid are required to report all financial aid awards received from outside organizations and agencies immediately upon receiving such assistance. The report must be made in writing to the financial aid office. Ithaca College reserves the right to change financial aid awards when students receive additional awards from any source. Award packages normally include estimates of anticipated Pell grant and state scholarship awards. In the event that the actual award is larger than estimated, Ithaca College awards may be reduced. Should actual awards be less than estimated, an increase in Ithaca College awards may be considered, if funds are available.
Academic status decisions, such as academic warning and suspension, are made independently of a student's financial aid status. (See "Academic Standards," section 7.2.4.3). Thus, standards of eligibility for financial aid may be stricter than standards of eligibility to remain at the institution. Individual schools and departments may have more stringent academic requirements than the minimum standards indicated under "Academic Standing and Progress" in the Undergraduate Catalog. Therefore, students should check their school and department listings for special academic status policies.
Institutional assistance for summer school is very limited. The summer school application deadline is April 1 in the year the student wishes to be considered for aid. Notifications are made by May 15. Some students who are not awarded assistance may be allowed to defer tuition payments until the fall semester. An Ithaca College summer school aid application, available in the Office of Financial Aid, is required in addition to filing the FAFSA. Physical therapy and occupational therapy students progressing normally within their program are exempt from this process. HEOP students should check with the Office of Multicultural Affairs academic services program to find out how to apply for summer aid. Consideration for summer school institutional aid is given in the following order: a) students who will graduate at the end of the summer, fall, or spring semester; b) students who must attend summer session as part of the natural sequence of their major; c) all others.
Student Contribution --- All students who receive financial aid are expected to find summer employment while enrolled at Ithaca College and to use a portion of those earnings toward upcoming educational expenses. A minimum self-help contribution of $1,500 from summer earnings is required for institutional need-based aid, regardless of the federally calculated student contribution. HEOP and IOG students attending the summer prefreshman program are exempt from this requirement. Any student who intends to travel or attend summer school must advise the financial aid office in advance and receive a written waiver of the summer employment requirement in order to be exempt from consideration of summer earnings as a portion of available funds. Aid Allocations --- Allocations for financial assistance through employment programs are not guarantees of jobs. This allocation represents the amount a student is eligible to earn once he or she finds a campus job. Students may not work at on-campus or federal work-study (FWS) community service positions more than 20 hours per week while classes are in session. Specific employment opportunities are available at www.ithaca.edu/finaid. Loans --- Federal Perkins and Stafford student loans are liabilities incurred by the student and must be repaid. Repayment schedules, which include interest, begin six or nine months after graduation or withdrawal from school, depending on the type of loan.
Financial aid for noncitizens is limited to institutional aid sources, including merit-based awards, need-based grants, endowed and special awards, and campus employment. ALANA Scholarships, MLK awards and Ithaca Opportunity Grants are not available to international students. International students applying for need-based assistance for the first time must complete a foreign student financial aid application and a certification of finances form, available from the College's admission and financial aid offices. In order to be considered for federal, state, or educational opportunity
programs, international students must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents;
possess a valid alien registration receipt card; have an arrival-departure
record (I-94) from the Department of Homeland Security showing a status
of refugee, asylum granted, parole (I-94 confirms paroled for a minimum
of one year and status has not expired), or Cuban-Haitian entrant; possess
a valid temporary resident card (I-688); or have a conditional permanent
resident card (I-151C).
Financial aid is credited to a student's account in equal amounts for each semester. Under special circumstances, a student may request permission to use financial aid for summer school attendance. It is a student's responsibility to see that bills are paid in full by the due date --- August 15 for the fall semester and January 10 for the spring semester. Bills not paid in full by those dates will be assessed a $200 late fee each month that a balance remains outstanding. Students expecting to use a Stafford student loan for payment of their bills must demonstrate loan approval to the financial aid office before July 15 for fall semester payments and before November 15 for spring semester payments. Anticipated earnings from a student's employment may not be used as payment on the student's account. All federal (except federal work-study), state, and institutional aid (excluding employment programs) is credited to a student's account after the add/drop period of the semester for which the funds are intended, providing the student meets all requirements. Students applying for financial aid will not be discriminated against on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, handicap, marital status, military status, national origin, race, sex, or sexual orientation status.
The College recognizes that a student may be receiving several different types of financial aid and that these resources typically do not arrive at the College at the same time. A student may need anticipated aid that exceeds his or her charges to help meet educational expenses such as books and supplies, rent, utilities, and so forth. When a student has met the obligations of filing for financial aid in a timely fashion and has provided all the required documents and forms to receive aid for which he or she is eligible, the College provides an opportunity for a small advance against anticipated financial aid once the semester has begun. This is not a loan, and no interest is charged for this service. Students must complete an Ithaca College advance request form. This application and additional information on eligibility and process are available in the Office of Financial Aid.
State and federal financial aid regulations require colleges and universities to publish institutional criteria of good academic standing and satisfactory academic progress that will be used in determining eligibility for financial aid. The State of New York defines good academic standing in terms of program pursuit and satisfactory academic progress, whereas federal (Title IV) regulations call only for standards of satisfactory progress. Both state and federal regulations require satisfactory academic progress to be defined in terms of total credits and cumulative grade point average (GPA) earned by a given point in time. Program Pursuit --- To remain in good academic standing from the standpoint of program pursuit, an Ithaca College undergraduate student must receive passing, failing, or incomplete grades in 6 credits each semester of the first year, in 9 credits each semester of the second year, and in 12 credits in each of the remaining four semesters. Grades of W (withdrawal) cannot be counted toward meeting these requirements. To be eligible for tuition assistance from the State of New York, a student must declare a major by the beginning of the fifth semester of undergraduate study. Satisfactory Academic Progress --- To remain in good academic standing from the standpoint of making satisfactory academic progress, an Ithaca College undergraduate student must earn at least the number of credits and the cumulative GPA indicated in the appropriate table below. The credits and average must be earned by the beginning of the term in which the financial aid is to be disbursed. Incomplete grades represent credit not yet earned. Grades in repeated courses count in the GPA calculation, but the credit counts only once. In order to continue to receive Title IV aid, an undergraduate Title IV aid recipient must complete his/her program within 150% of the published length of the program measured in credit hours attempted. For instance, if the published length is 120 credit hours, the student must complete the program within 180 attempted credit hours. The tables below apply to full-time students:
The above standards for program pursuit and satisfactory academic progress may be waived, provided a student can show fully documented medical or unusual personal circumstances. Procedures explaining the special circumstances that may merit a waiver are on file in the Office of Financial Aid. Additionally, under New York State education law, the president of the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (NYSHESC) can waive the academic progress requirement of a minimum C (2.00) cumulative GPA for a student who has received two years of state-funded aid. The student may appeal in writing; the circumstances must be specific to the issue of the student's inability to achieve the C (2.00) cumulative GPA as of the end of a particular semester or term. The state's language provides for a waiver of the 2.00 requirement for undue hardship based on the death of a relative of the student, personal injury or illness of the student, or other extenuating circumstances. Use of the one-time president's waiver does not preclude the possibility of waiver of the C (2.00) cumulative GPA requirement alone in a subsequent semester. Conversely, waiver of the C (2.00) cumulative GPA requirement alone in a term does not affect a student's subsequent eligibility for the one-time waiver of the NYSHESC standards. Waivers of standards are granted for one semester only.
All recipients of need-based financial aid must demonstrate eligibility as determined by institutional policy. For the purpose of Ithaca College need-based programs, the calculation of financial need will not include parents attending college or other family members attending graduate school. In awarding institutional need-based grants or scholarships, Ithaca College uses the New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) definition to determine whether a student has independent status (as defined in section 7.2.6.5.1). Applicants who have received a prior undergraduate degree will not be considered for institutional need-based financial aid. Further information about application procedures as well as greater detail on aid sources is found on the Office of Financial Aid website under "Aid Programs and Scholarships" (www.ithaca.edu/finaid/programs_and_scholarships/index.php). The 2007-2008 definition of independent status is as follows:
The New York State definition of independent status applicable to New York State aid programs is different from the federal definition of independent status applicable to federal and institutional aid programs. Students and married undergraduates are exempt from provision (4) in determining financial independence. Undergraduate students generally receive TAP awards for four years of study. Students enrolled in approved five-year programs or in a state-sponsored opportunity program may receive undergraduate awards for five years. Graduate students may receive awards for four years. No student may receive awards for more than a total of eight years of undergraduate and graduate study.
Students attending Ithaca College who are receiving federal Title IV financial aid --- e.g., federal Stafford, PLUS, or Perkins loans; federal Pell, FSEOG, ACG, or SMART grants --- are required to return the portion of unearned aid if they withdraw, do not register, or otherwise fail to complete the period of enrollment for which the Title IV aid was provided. The return of funds does not apply to any student whose date of withdrawal is beyond the 60% enrollment period for which the student has been charged. The last date of attendance is determined by the date the student began the College's withdrawal process, the student's last date of recorded attendance, or the midpoint of the semester for a student who leaves without notifying the College. To determine the percentage of aid earned, divide the number of calendar days completed by the total calendar days in the enrollment period (excluding scheduled breaks of 5 days or more AND days that the student is on approved leave of absence). Federal financial aid is returned to the program from which it was disbursed based on the percentage of unearned aid. To determine the percentage of unearned aid, subtract the percentage of aid earned from 100. The percentage of unearned aid is then multiplied by the amount of aid disbursed toward allowable institutional charges (e.g., tuition, room and board). A refund schedule of tuition and room and board charges based on a 15-week semester is provided below.
When institutional aid is required to be returned it will be done in the following order: W.G. Egbert Founder's Grant, Ithaca Access Grant, merit-based scholarships, endowed/restricted scholarships, and other institutional aid programs. More detailed information, including examples of refund and repayment calculations, is available in the admission, bursar, and financial aid offices. Any federal aid recipient who is taking a leave of absence or withdrawing within the ninth week should be aware that a return of federal aid may be required even though full tuition and room and board charges will be incurred.
Students who take a leave of absence, withdraw, or are on a continuation leave and are also Title IV aid recipients should be aware of the following:
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Last Updated: June 1, 2008 |
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This document is maintained by the Office of the College Attorney. Send comments to: Bonnie LeBlanc |
