Financial Aid / Scholarships

Financial Aid Policies

If you receive financial aid, it is your responsibility to be aware of the policies that may affect your financial aid. These important policies determine whether or not adjustments in financial aid may be necessary or if you will continue to receive financial aid.

• Student Confidentiality
• Class Attendance
• Pell Recalculation Date
• Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy
• Return of Title IV Federal Funds (R2T4)

In compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), all information received in connection with applications for admissions and financial aid are held in the strictest confidence. No information will be released regarding your record unless you provide written consent.

To release information to another party, you must complete and sign a Permission to Release Information form in person at Lakeland's Student Service Center and provide an approved form of identification (Lakeland ID card or state identification card/driver's license). On the form, you must indicate to whom information can be released and provide an expiration date.

Under FERPA, you have the right to inspect your student file. You may review information in your file and receive copies and information upon written request. To do so, you must complete a Student Document Request Form at Lakeland's Student Service Center indicating the specific documents you are requesting and provide an approved form of identification (Lakeland ID card or state identification card/driver's license).

Your signature on a loan application authorizes Lakeland Community College to release to the lending institution, subsequent holder, the guarantor, U.S. Department of Education, or their agents any requested information pertinent to your loan(s).

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To ensure our commitment to student success, attendance must be taken in all classes, regardless of modality (i.e., in-class lecture, online or hybrid), starting with the first day of the class. Faculty may elect to relate course attendance to the course grading policy. You will be notified of this through the course syllabus. If attendance cannot be verified, financial aid will be adjusted accordingly.

You are considered a non-attendee in any course modality when you do not physically attend a class session or do not log in and participate in the course content within the first 14 days of the full term for fall and spring (excluding holidays and emergency closings) and within the first seven days of the term for accelerated terms (excluding holidays and emergency closings), as per the federal regulations. Non-attendees will be administratively withdrawn from the class(es) and, if applicable, financial aid will be returned to the federal government.

Students are able to withdraw from a class from the beginning of the third week through the end of the twelfth week of the semester. After the twelfth week, no withdrawal is permitted.

• A course withdrawal will be indicated on a student's academic record by a grade of "W."
• As long as you attended the class you are withdrawing from and Lakeland has documentation of your attendance in that class, there will be no adjustment in your financial aid.* If attendance cannot be verified, you will be responsible for the tuition and fees.
• Failure to attend class(es) does not constitute withdrawal and may result in a failing grade.
• Students registered for courses other than the standard 16-week semester should consult the Important Dates for appropriate deadlines regarding withdrawal.

*If you completely withdraw from all of your classes prior to completing 60 percent of the semester, the Lakeland Financial Aid Office is required by federal regulations to recalculate federal financial aid eligibility. See Return of Title IV Federal Funds.

Students will be administratively withdrawn from any class in which they are enrolled and have not attended during the first two weeks of the semester.

• Administrative withdrawals will occur at the beginning of the 3rd week of classes (or immediately following the first 20% of a flexibly scheduled class) at a 50% refund.
• Additionally, being administratively withdrawn from your classes may affect your Satisfactory Academic Progress (PDF).

Occasionally the college must cancel a class because of insufficient enrollment. Students enrolled in the class will be notified of the cancellation as soon as possible and may replace the cancelled class.

Students who do not wish to make a substitution will have a reversal of charges for the cancelled class posted to their student account. The college reserves the right to cancel any classes due to unforeseen circumstances.

Students with financial aid should contact Lakeland's Financial Aid Office or stop by Lakeland's Student Service Center to determine how their aid may be affected by this.

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In accordance with federal regulations, Lakeland establishes a Pell Recalculation date each semester to determine your enrollment status for financial aid purposes.

The number of credit hours you are enrolled in as of the Pell Recalculation date each semester will count towards your federal grant eligibility. Therefore, you must be registered for all the courses you intend to enroll in for the semester before the Pell Recalculation date regardless of their actual start date.

• If you increase your enrollment level after the Pell Recalculation date, the amount of your grants will not be increased.
• If you decrease your enrollment level after the Pell Recalculation date, the amount of your grants will not be reduced as long as you have attended all of the courses you are enrolled in as of the Pell Recalculation date.
• Should you not attend a class or withdraw from a class without attending, the amount of your grants may be reduced.
• However, if you withdraw from all of your courses for the semester, the Lakeland Financial Aid Office may be required to reduce the amount of your grants and/or loans based on the percentage of the semester that you have not completed.

The Pell Recalculation date is the same date as the 100 percent tuition and fee refund deadline.

• For 8-week and 12-week classes, the Pell Recalculation date is the end of the first week of classes.
• For 16-week classes, the Pell Recalculation date is the end of the second week of classes.
• If you are enrolled in multiple parts of term, your Pell Recalculation date is the end of the 100 percent refund period of your earliest class.

Pell Recalculation dates for each term are posted in your myLakeland portal and on the campus monitors. You can also check with Lakeland's Student Service Center for help determining which date applies to you and how your aid will be affected.

This policy only affects students receiving federal grants (PELL/FSEOG).

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At Lakeland, we care about your success! That's why it's important for you to understand and meet the requirements of our Satisfactory Academic Progress (PDF).

This series of standards required to maintain eligibility for federal student aid includes requirements pertaining to completion of credit hours, grade point average (GPA) and maximum timeframe as defined below.

If you do not meet these requirements, you will be ineligible to receive future financial aid.

Lakeland requires that any student who applies for or receives federal financial aid make satisfactory academic progress toward an Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE)-approved degree or certificate.

Satisfactory academic progress is measured as:

• Minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0.
• Successful completion of 67 percent of the cumulative attempted credit hours, including hours of repeated coursework.* Attempted hours are determined by the number of credit hours you are registered for at the end of the 100 percent refund period.
• Completion of a degree or certificate within 150 percent of the number of required credit hours listed in the college catalog for the associate degree or certificate (as determined by the Lakeland Financial Aid Office), including accepted transfer credit hours and up to 30 attempted credit hours of required developmental coursework. This is called "maximum timeframe."
• Students who have GPA hours and have a 0.00 GPA for the semester will become immediately ineligible for future financial assistance.

*Successful grade completions are A, B, C, D, SA, SB, SC. Unsuccessful grade completions are F, W, FNA, U, UD, UF, UFNA, AW, UNA, I, NA.

If you repeat a course, both grades will appear on your academic record, and the most recent grade will be used in calculating the grade point average. Credit hours added after the 100 percent refund period of the term will be included in the SAP calculation, even if financial aid is not used to pay the tuition and fees associated with those hours.

At the end of each term attended, your academic progress will be evaluated, whether or not you receive financial aid. If you fail to meet any of the above requirements, you will receive a notification email from the financial aid office.

After the first term in which the requirements are not met, you will be placed on financial aid warning (WARN) for one subsequent term. During the warning period, you will continue to be eligible for federal financial aid. You are encouraged to seek tutoring or other support services for help.

Through Lakeland's ongoing efforts to enrich the first year experience, new students whose SAP status calculates to WARN after their first term of attendance are required to complete the Promoting Student Success Program (PSSP). Students who do not complete PSSP will be ineligible for further financial aid assistance until they make up their deficiencies.

After the second term in which the requirements are not met, you will become ineligible for federal financial aid. In order to regain federal financial aid eligibility, you will be required to pay for your classes out-of-pocket until you are able to reach the 67 percent completion rate and a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0.

When you are getting close to the maximum timeframe for your degree/certificate, you will receive an email notification through your myLakeland account. Once you have exceeded the maximum timeframe for your degree/certificate, you will become ineligible for federal financial aid.

If there were extenuating circumstances why SAP was not met, you have the right to appeal.  

To appeal, you must complete the online SAP Appeal Counseling session (first-time users will need to create an account). The session will provide you with general SAP information along with step by step instructions on the appeal process. The appeal form will only be available upon successful completion of the  SAP Appeal Counseling session.

Please submit your appeal by the following term deadline:

• Summer 2024: August 2, 2024
• Fall 2024: December 6, 2024
• Spring 2025: May 2, 2025

Once the appeal is submitted and reviewed, the decision will be communicated through your Lakeland email. The decision of the Financial Aid Appeal Committee is final.

If a SAP Appeal is approved, you will be assigned one of the following eligibility statuses:

• Probation: During the probation term, you must make up your deficiencies of credit hours and/or GPA. If you do not make up the deficiencies within one semester, aid is once again revoked.
• Academic plan: If you are placed on an academic plan, you must successfully complete all courses attempted during each semester and earn a semester GPA of 2.25 or higher until you are meeting SAP. If you do not meet the requirements of the plan, aid is once again revoked.
• Maximum timeframe: If a maximum timeframe appeal is approved, you will continue to be eligible for aid as long as you successfully complete all classes attempted that are on your plan and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0. Your financial aid will be restricted to only courses needed for the program indicated on your academic plan or degree tracker.

• An approved appeal will not result in being eligible for financial aid retroactively.
• Submitting a SAP appeal does not guarantee reinstatement of federal aid.
• If the SAP appeal is denied, you must complete a term at Lakeland or successfully complete the Quickstart Program before you can re-appeal.
• Once you are at the 67 percent completion rate for all attempted courses and a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0, you will go back into good standing.

Students may receive financial aid for repeating courses. However, if you are retaking a course in which you previously earned a passing grade, financial aid can only be used one additional time.

Any course that is repeated will be used in the calculation of your SAP status.

A student is limited to 30 attempted developmental credit hours while receiving federal financial aid. Federal aid will not cover any developmental courses taken after reaching the maximum 30 hours.

These courses include, but are not limited to MATH 0745, MATH 0850, MATH 0890, MATH 0950 and ENGL 0111.

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Return of Title IV Federal Funds (R2T4) [PDF]

All students receiving federal financial aid (Title IV) are subject to a recalculation of their aid eligibility if they:

• Completely withdraw from all of their classes prior to the 60% point of the semester or
• Stop attending all of their classes before completing the semester or
• Withdraw from module(s) (part of term) within the semester without completing at least 49% of the days in the semester or at least 6 credit hours within the semester.
  • Students who withdraw from a module (part of term) within the semester are not considered withdrawn per the federal regulations pertaining to R2T4 if the student successfully completes:
    • The requirements for graduation (based on counselor evaluation, or
    • One or more modules that, together, comprise at least 49% of the days in the semester, with passing grades, or
    • Courses equal to or greater than 6 credit hours, with passing grades.

Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV funds formula; this percentage of completed days being equal to the percentage of earned aid:

Percentage of payment period or term completed (number of days completed up to the withdrawal date)

(divided by)

Total days in the payment period or term (deducting any break of five days or more)

Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid. If you earned less aid than was disbursed, the institution would be required to return a portion of the funds and you may be required to return a portion of the funds within 45 days. Keep in mind, this process may result in a balance due to the college and/or the U.S. Department of Education.

If you earned more aid than was disbursed to you, the institution would owe you a post-withdrawal disbursement, which must be paid within 120 days of your withdrawal.

Refunds are allocated in the following order:

• Direct Unsubsidized Loan
• Direct Subsidized Loan
• Parent (PLUS) Loan
• Pell Grant
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

If there is a Pell Grant overpayment and you do not repay the funds within 45 days, the account will be turned over to the U.S. Department of Education as an overpayment of federal funds. Students who owe an overpayment of Title IV grant funds are ineligible for further disbursements from the federal financial aid programs (grants and loans) at any institution until the overpayment is paid in full or payment arrangements are made with the U.S. Department of Education.

If you do not pay funds due to the college to cover a tuition and fees balance that resulted from the college returning unearned federal funds, a hold will be placed on your account. This means that you will not be permitted to register for classes or receive transcripts until your balance is paid in full. Continued non-payment of fees owed to the college could result in your account being turned over to the Ohio Attorney General's Office for collection.

Reminder: If you violate the Class Attendance, SAP or Title IV Refund policies, you may be subject to sanctions that may include the immediate return of some or all of the funds received by you and/or a suspension of your eligibility for future financial aid.

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