meta pixel

UCC will open at 10am today.

Learn More
Search
Students
Jobs
Visit
Apply
River Hawk

Umpqua Community College

Umpqua Community College is the regional center for higher education in Douglas County, Oregon, proudly offering an ever-expanding array of in-demand college degree, workforce development, and community learning programs.

River Hawk

Maintain Financial Aid Eligibility

To continue receiving financial aid, you must maintain satisfactory academic progress. This sounds easy, but there are a lot of things that you have to keep in mind to be a successful financial aid student. This means you need to uphold a good GPA and complete classes while making progress toward successful completion of a degree or certificate. Learn more about the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.

GPA

Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher to maintain financial eligibility.

e.g. Total Grade Points / Total Credits = Cumulative Grade Point Average

PACE of Progression

Students must successfully complete 67% or higher of credits attempted to maintain financial eligibility.

e.g. Passed Credits / Attempted Credits = PACE

Maximum Timeframe

Aid is limited to 150% of your program credit length (135 credits) for a two-year degree even if a degree is not earned.

e.g. A typical degree requires 90 credits, which would result in a program length of 90 credits x 150% maximum timeframe = 135 credits

Limits

Financial aid has limits. There are limits on the amount of Pell Grant you can receive (six years or 600%). There are limits on the amount of loans you can receive. These limits are both annual and lifetime. There are limits on state programs like Oregon Promise and Oregon Opportunity Grant. If you plan to get a bachelor’s degree at a four-year university, you will need to be very mindful of your financial aid use, or you will run out of money before you get that bachelor’s degree. There are even limits on the number of credits financial aid will pay for, even if you still have eligibility.

How to Pay for College

Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights

Students receiving financial aid have the right to:

  • Know their aid eligibility: Receive clear information about their eligibility, aid offer amounts, and the types of aid available.
  • Understand the terms of their aid: Know how grants, scholarships, work study, and loans work, including repayment requirements for loans.
  • Know how aid is determined: Receive information about how financial need and aid eligibility are calculated.
  • Access financial aid records: Review information used to determine their eligibility and request corrections when information is inaccurate.
  • Receive information about deadlines: Be informed about important financial aid, enrollment, and payment deadlines.
  • Receive counseling about student loans: Understand interest rates,
    repayment requirements, and borrower responsibilities before accepting
    loans.
  • Appeal when appropriate: Request a review of certain financial aid decisions when circumstances or college policies allow an appeal.

Student Responsibilities

Students receiving financial aid are responsible for:

  • Providing accurate information: Submit complete and truthful information on the FAFSA and other financial aid applications.
  • Reporting changes: Notify the college of changes that may affect eligibility, such as enrollment status, program of study, or financial circumstances when required.
  • Maintaining satisfactory academic progress: Meet the college’s requirements for GPA, pace of progression, and maximum timeframe.
  • Meeting enrollment requirements: Maintain the enrollment level required for the type of aid received.
  • Using aid appropriately: Use financial aid for authorized education-related expenses.
  • Understanding loan obligations: If borrowing federal or private student loans, understand the amount borrowed, interest, repayment terms, and consequences of failing to repay.
  • Meeting deadlines: Complete required forms, documents, verification, and other financial aid requirements on time.
  • Monitoring financial aid: Regularly check student email, MyUCC account, and financial aid communications for updates or required actions.
Repeating Coursework

Most courses are subject to the financial aid repeat rule. The repeat rules for financial aid mean that the Department of Education will pay for you to retake a class if:

You have failed it and earned an ‘F,’ ‘W’ or a ‘NP’ you can repeat the class as many times as you want, until you pass it or your run out of financial aid.

If you pass a class with at least a ‘D-’ you will get one more repeat.

If you transfer in a course that you have already passed, you will get one repeat of that class.

Note that, even if you can repeat a course that you have not passed it will affect your Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy and continue to use your lifetime financial aid eligibility.

Withdrawal from the College

The Department of Education assumes that students “earn” their financial aid over the course of a term by attending and participating in classes. You cannot “earn” all of your funds unless you attend and/or academically participate for more than 60.1% of the term. This calculation counts all calendar days, including the first and last day of each term, weekends and holidays.

If you withdraw or stop attending before 60.1% of the term has passed, you do not “earn” all of your financial aid funds.

Federal regulations require the college to return the unearned portion of your tuition and fees to the Department of Education. The college will re-assess the tuition and fees no longer paid by the returned financial aid.

Any amount of financial aid returned to the Department of Education as a result of a withdrawal will result in a charge on your student account and must be repaid under the conditions set by the College.

  • Late fees are assessed monthly.
  • Your account may be sent to collections for non-payment.
  • Registrations for future classes may be dropped.
  • Ability to register for classes and/or make changes to your schedule may be suspended.

Please know that unearned aid must be returned to the Department of Education, even if you have documented extenuating circumstances. There are no exceptions.

How to Pay for College