How Dropping Credits Affects Your Financial Aid

Dropping credits may jeopardize future student aid eligibility, including loans.

The decision about whether or not to drop a course is an academic issue; however, it is your responsibility to understand the financial implications of this decision.

About future student aid eligibility

Dropping credits may jeopardize future student aid eligibility, including loans

If you drop below half-time enrollment, you may be ineligible for aid, including loans. Depending on the time during the semester that you drop a course(s), your aid may be adjusted.

You must maintain satisfactory academic progress from one semester to the next or you may become ineligible for aid, including loans.

If you drop credits before your financial aid is disbursed

If you drop credits before all of your aid is disbursed:

You will be responsible for the balance of your tuition bill after your aid is adjusted
Your financial aid award(s) may be adjusted if your award(s) requires full-time enrollment and your credits drop below full-time
Your financial aid award(s) may be adjusted if your award(s) requires half-time enrollment and your credits drop below half-time
And you are a Federal Pell Grant recipient, the grant will be adjusted; for example, if you drop from 12 to 9 credits, your grant will be prorated
And you are a Pennsylvania State Grant recipient, your grant may be reduced if you drop from full-time to half-time enrollment, or from half-time to less than half-time

What happens and what to do if you late-drop credits

Students with Federal Pell Grants. If you received a Federal Pell Grant and drop below 12 credits, your grant will be adjusted.

Students with Federal Direct Stafford or Perkins Loans

If you received a Federal Direct Stafford Loan or Federal Perkins Loan and drop below half-time, the grace period prior to repayment will begin (nine-months for Perkins and University Loans, six-months for Federal Stafford Loans). For more information, contact the appropriate loan servicer:

Federal Perkins or University Loan recipients: contact Penn State's Office of Loans and Scholarships.
Federal Direct Stafford Loan recipients: contact your federal loan servicer. You can obtain the contact information for your federal loan servicer on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).
Federal Stafford Loan recipients under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program: contact the lender(s) of your FFEL loan(s). You can obtain the contact information for your FFEL lenders on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).