How Dropping Credits Affects Your Financial Aid

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

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

  • If you drop below half-time (less than 6 credits as an undergraduate and 5 credits as a graduate) 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.

Dropping Credits Prior to the End of the Drop/Add Period

Impacts on your aid eligibility:

  • You will be responsible for the balance of your tuition bill if your aid is adjusted.
  • Your financial aid may be adjusted if your credits drop below the minimum required.
  • If you are a Federal Pell Grant recipient, the grant may be adjusted; for example, if you drop from 12 to 9 credits, your grant may be prorated. Review additional information about the Pell census date.
  • If 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.
  • If you have a loan(s) that requires a minimum number of credits, and the loan has not disbursed, you may become ineligible for the loan. Loan eligibility is determined at the time of disbursement.

Dropping Credits During the Late Drop Period

Impacts on your aid eligibility:

  • You will be responsible for the balance of your tuition bill if your aid is adjusted.
  • Your financial aid may be adjusted if the aid source requires full-time or half-time enrollment and your credits drop below the minimum required.
  • If 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.
  • If you have a loan(s) that requires a minimum number of credits, and the loan has not disbursed, you may become ineligible for the loan. Loan eligibility is determined at the time of disbursement.
  • Late Dropping credits may jeopardize future aid eligibility. You must maintain satisfactory academic progress or you may become ineligible for aid, including loans.

Loan Grace Period/Repayment

If you received a Federal Direct 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 Direct Loans). If you have already used your loan grace period, then you may begin repayment. For more information, contact the appropriate loan servicer:

  • Federal Perkins or University Loan recipients: contact Office of the Bursar.
  • Federal Direct Loan recipients: contact your federal loan servicer. You can obtain the contact information for your federal loan servicer by logging into studentaid.gov.
  • Federal Direct 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 by logging into studentaid.gov.