Receiving Your Aid

Disclaimer: The Office of Financial Aid reserves the right to reduce or cancel awards based on funding levels, changes in enrollment, reduction of costs, or other events that may affect a student's funding level and/or eligibility.

Your Next Steps

Step 1
Review all awards sent to you on your Award Letter. Included with the Award Letter is financial aid information about your program of study (tuition rate, Pell Grant, Illinois State Scholarships, employment and more).

• How to read your Award Letter
• I received my Award Letter, what do I do now?

Step 2
Decide which aid you would like to accept, and which you would like to decline or reduce a loan amount. If you accept all aid as listed, do not return the Award Letter. However, if you decline or reduce a loan amount, note the changes on one Award Letter copy and return it to the Office of Financial Aid.

• Grants/scholarships are "free money" and do not need to be repaid. 
• You would then want to accept the lowest interest rate loan listed first, and continue accepting aid amounts until you have taken out how much you think you will need for the period of time showing on your Award Letter. 
• If you would like to borrow less in any specific loan program than the amount indicated, make the change on the copy you send back.
• Sign, date and return the Award Letter copy with any changes to the Office of Financial Aid. 

Step 3
Complete all necessary loan paperwork based upon the aid you accept. All loan programs require borrowers to complete additional paperwork:

Type of Assistance	Steps to Complete
Federal Direct Loan	1. Entrance Counseling - For all first-time borrowers at NUHS. (Review documents in your Student Portal to confirm status.) 2. Direct Loan Master Promissory Note 3. Graduate PLUS Master Promissory Note
Parent PLUS Loan	1. Master Promissory Note (Complete Parent PLUS Loan application located on Forms tab.)

Billing

Initial bills for registered courses are mailed out approximately two weeks prior to the start of a trimester. These are labeled UNOFFICIAL as course modifications are still possible.

You are responsible for submitting appropriate loan applications and forms to the Office of Financial Aid as soon as possible. Loan proceeds are scheduled to arrive at the beginning of each trimester. Refunds are available from Office of Student Accounts the second week of the trimester.

Payment Policy

Full payment for tuition, fees and on-campus housing or satisfactory arrangements for payment must be made with Office of Student Accounts by the first day of classes in any trimester.

Student Accounts

View the Office of Student Accounts for more information on billing and payments.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

The Higher Education Act (HEA) requires that a student maintain satisfactory progress in the student's program of study to be eligible to receive Title IV funds. Under the HEA and current federal regulations, a school is required to periodically evaluate if the student is successfully meeting both qualitative and quantitative academic standards specified by the school. SAP evaluations must occur at least as frequently as the end of each academic year or halfway through the student's scheduled program completion timeframe, whichever is less, and a student enrolled in a program longer than two years must have at least a "C" average or academic standing consistent with graduation requirements at the end of the second year of the program.

A student's academic performance must be monitored if they are receiving financial aid.  If they do not meet certain standards they lose their eligibility for federal financial aid.  One of these standards is a Grade Point Average (qualitative measure), which measures for a minimal academic performance, usually by looking at the student's grades or cumulative grade point average (CGPA).  The second standard is the pace of progression (quantitative measure), which is how a school measures to make certain a student is on track to complete their degree in a reasonable amount of time.  Because NUHS has both undergraduate and graduate students, there are two SAP policies.

Federal regulations mandate that a student's satisfactory academic progress shall be measured a minimum of once per academic year.  It is NUHS's choice to evaluate progress at the conclusion of each trimester.

Types of Financial Aid Covered by SAP

• Federal Pell Grant
• Federal SEOG Grant
• Federal Perkins Loan
• Federal Stafford Direct Subsidized Loan
• Federal Stafford Direct Unsubsidized Loan
• Federal College Work Study
• Federal PLUS (Parent) Loan

Pace - Course Work Completion
The student must successfully complete all required coursework and required clinic in no longer than 150% of the standard program length.

Program	Standard Length	Maximum Pace Length
Massage Therapy (before 7/1/11)	690 clock hours	1035 clock hours
Massage Therapy (after 7/1/11)	705 clock hours	1057.5 clock hours
Bachelor of Science	5 semesters (64 semester hours, 124 - 60 transfer)	7 trimesters

The student must successfully complete 67% of all hours attempted each trimester. Successful completion is indicated by grades of A, B, C, D and S. 

1. Hours attempted include grades of A, B, C, D, F, S, U, I, or W.
2. Hours attempted include repeated courses.
3. Withdrawals will be included as attempted, except those dropped within allowable add/drop period.
4. Any transferred hours for credit will be included in attempted hours. 

GPA - Academic Standing
A student must maintain a minimum CGPA (cumulative grade point average) of 2.0 out of a 4.0 scale for each trimester of enrollment as listed on the NUHS academic transcript. 

1. Incompletes will be calculated in the GPA.
2. Repetitions will be included in the GPA.

Financial Aid Warning - SAP
A student who fails to meet either the 67% coursework completion or a 2.0 CGPA at the end of a trimester will be placed on Financial Aid Warning.

1. A Financial Aid Warning letter will be sent indicating that the student is eligible to receive one more trimester of aid only.
2. Included will be a statement that if SAP not met in the subsequent trimester (the trimester of Warning), no further federal aid will be allowed until SAP is again achieved--except through appeal.
3. The letter will include the instructions to appeal and the SAP Appeal Form.

Financial Aid Probation - SAP
A student who does not meet either the 50% completion requirement or reach a minimum CGPA of 2.0 will be placed on Financial Aid Probation.

1. A Financial Aid Probation letter will be sent indicating that the conditions outlined as a requirement of the successful appeal must be met at the end of the probationary period, or the indicated timeframe.
2. Failure to meet these conditions in the timeframe specified will result in loss of financial aid for subsequent trimesters.

Appeals
Students who feel there are extenuating circumstances to their situation may appeal for reconsideration to have federal financial aid re-established through submission of the SAP Appeal Form and supporting documentation. 

An appeal may be submitted for any of the following reasons:

1. the death of a relative,
2. an injury or illness of the student, or
3. other special circumstance.

In addition, the appeal must include:

1. an explanation of the reason(s) the student failed to maintain SAP,
2. a statement of the student's personal plan of action, and
3. what has changed in the student's situation to enable the student to demonstrate SAP at either: a) the end of the next trimester, or b) at the end of a specified academic plan designed by the academic department.

Students whose appeal is approved are placed on Financial Aid Probation.  Students whose federal aid has been reinstated under the terms of an academic plan will be considered to be making satisfactory progress as long as they continue to fulfill the requirements of the academic plan. 

Students who do not make SAP or fulfill the academic plan requirements by the end of the academic remediation plan will lose federal Title IV aid eligibility until SAP is again achieved.

The completed appeal is submitted to the Financial Aid Office which will review the appeal in consultation with a representative of the Committee on Academic Standards, Grades and Records and will make a recommendation of action. The Director of Financial Aid, Vice President for Business Services and the Academic Dean or designee shall make the final determination of whether to reinstate Title IV eligibility. 

Revised 8/23/2011