Financial Aid Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must be citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United States. Individuals may also qualify if they are currently pursuing citizenship or permanent residency, or if they fall under specific immigration categories such as refugees, parolees, Afghan entrants, victims of human trafficking, battered immigrants, or those covered by the Jay Treaty.

You must:

• Be accepted by the college for admission as a regular student and demonstrate the ability to benefit from the selected program of study.
• Be enrolled in and intend to complete a financial aid-eligible degree or certificate program.
• Be enrolled in courses that provide credit toward your declared financial aid-eligible degree or certificate program. Courses taken as an audit are not eligible. Enrollment must follow the freeze date policy.
• Meet the enrollment and attendance requirements for each program.
• Comply with requirements concerning submission of a Statement of Educational Purpose. This is included in the financial aid application (FAFSA®).

Students enrolled in high school, College Credit Plus students, early admit students, and students who apply for admission as visiting or guest students are not eligible for aid.

You must:

• Maintain satisfactory academic progress as outlined in the Owens Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.
• Accumulate no more than 30 hours of developmental courses. Refer to the Enrollment and Attendance Policies for a list of developmental courses.

Financial aid can only be used for one repeat of a previously passed course.

You must demonstrate the ability to benefit from the education offered by meeting one of the following academic requirements:

• Have a high school diploma or equivalent, such as GED, HiSET, or TASC (an official transcript must be on file with the Records Office showing that you graduated from high school or completed the GED, HiSET, or TASC). If you have served in the military and are unable to obtain an official high school transcript, you may submit your DD Form 214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty if the form indicates that you are a high school graduate or equivalent.
• Have a high school diploma from a state-approved homeschool (documentation must be on file with the Records Office showing that you graduated from the state-approved homeschool).
• Proof of completion of at least a 2-year program acceptable for full credit towards a bachelor’s degree (an official college transcript must be on file with the Records Office showing that you earned an associate’s degree or higher).
• If you were enrolled in a program of study prior to July 1, 2012, satisfactory completion of 6 semester credits (other than developmental courses) applicable to a degree or certificate at Owens.
• If you were enrolled in a program of study prior to July 1, 2012, have taken the COMPASS test and scored at least 25 in pre-algebra, 62 in reading and 32 in writing.

You must:

• Certify that you are not in default on any federal student loan with the Department of Education or another institution.
• Certify that you do not owe a refund to any federal aid program. This includes grant overpayments resulting from withdrawals, as well as any fraudulently obtained Title IV funds, or if you were convicted of, or pleaded guilty or no contest to charges.
• Certify that you have not intentionally exceeded annual or aggregate borrowing limits in the federal education loan programs.
• Confirm that you do not have property subject to a judgment lien for a debt owed to the United States.