Moravian

FINANCIAL AID

POLICIES & PROCEDURES

June 2015

MORAVIAN

eological Seminary

Ofce of Enrollment

Moravian Theological Seminary

Phone: 610-861-1512

Email: seminary@moravian.edu

www.moravianseminary.edu

Moravian College Financial Aid Ofce

1200 Main Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018

Phone: 610-861-1330

Fax: 610-861-1346

Email: naid@moravian.edu

Table of Contents

Section Page

Overview A 2

Academic Framework B 2

Full Time/Part Time Status C 2

Satisfactory Academic Progress D 3

Grade Level Advancement for Loan Certication E 4

Verication F 4

Refund Policy G 5

Tuition and Other Fee Adjustment Schedule G.1 5

Dropping Courses G.2 5

Financial Aid Reimbursement G.3 5

Reimbursement to Student G.4 6

Leave of Absence Policy G.5 6

Withdrawal from the Seminary G.6 6

Notes on Refund Policy G.7 6

Scholarships H 7

Other Resources I 7

The policies and procedures in this booklet are effective as of March 2012.

The policies and procedures are subject to change and are not binding on the Seminary.

A. Financial Aid Overview

Though the basic responsibility for nancing educational costs and living expenses belongs to

the student, many students at the Seminary receive nancial assistance each year. Financial aid may

consist of tuition grants, scholarship funds, work study, and government loans.

Financial aid is awarded on the basis of demonstrated need. Students who desire nancial aid

are required to le an application substantiating need and providing full information on potential

resources and indebtedness. To be considered for nancial aid the student must complete the

Moravian Theological Seminary Financial Aid Application and the Free Application for Federal

Student Aid (FAFSA) form. These applications must be completed for each academic year.

Applications for assistance received after the deadlines specied in the application, cannot be

guaranteed an award.

Federal Stafford Loans and work study are available to qualied students with bachelor’s

degrees, who are taking at least 6 credit hours per semester, and enrolled in a degree

program (MDiv, MAPC, MATS).

Awards are made on an annual basis and credited by term to the student’s account.

The conditions at the beginning of the academic year shall be the governing criteria for

determining nancial need for the year. Changes in the student’s enrollment status and/or

demonstrated nancial need must be reported to the Ofce of Enrollment and may cause

adjustments to be made in the amount of aid awarded in any given term.

Student loans will be refunded according to the conditions stated in the Refund Policy

(Section G).

B. Academic Framework

The academic year is divided into four semesters — two semesters (Fall and Spring), a January

Term and a Summer Term. For nancial aid purposes, in most cases, the academic year begins

with the Fall Semester. The Fall and Spring Semesters are each 15 weeks long. For new students

beginning in Summer Term, or currently enrolled students who have advanced a grade level in the

current academic year and are enrolled for Summer Term, Summer Term may be considered the

beginning of the next academic year for nancial aid purposes. For currently enrolled students who

have not advanced a grade level and have loan eligibility, Summer Term may be considered the end

of the current academic year for nancial aid purposes.

C. Full Time/Part Time Status

For the Fall or Spring semester, the full time academic load is 12 or more credit hours and the

part time academic load is 6-11 credit hours. An academic load of less than 6 credits, for the Fall

or Spring semester is considered less than half-time.

D. Satisfactory Academic Progress

Federal regulations require that institutions establish minimum standards of academic progress

for students receiving federally funded nancial aid. These regulations limit Title IV federal nancial

aid to those students who, according to institutional policy, are maintaining normal academic

progress toward their degree objective. The primary interest is to assure the best and most

equitable use of Title IV Student Financial Aid funds. Moravian Theological Seminary has prepared

the following policy for federal as well as institutional aid in accordance with these regulations:

Completion Rate

At the conclusion of each academic year, the number of credit hours earned (ie., received an

A, B, C or D) by a student will be compared to the number of attempted credit hours. Attempted

credit hours include any courses for which a student has remained enrolled past the Drop/Add

period. A student must earn 70% of credits attempted to maintain satisfactory academic progress.

• Withdrawals, incompletes and failures are considered attempted but not earned hours.

• Passing credits received for pass/fail courses are considered attempted and earned credits;

failing grades in pass/fail courses are considered attempted but not earned.

• Repeated courses are not included in the calculation of attempted and earned hours. A

student is allowed to repeat a course only twice.

• Audited courses are not considered credits attempted or earned.

• Transfer credits received from approved study at other institutions do not count in the

calculation of the GPA but are included in the calculation of both attempted and earned hours.

Cumulative GPA

In order to maintain nancial aid eligibility the student must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5.

Maximum Time Frame

Financial aid recipients are governed by the same maximum time frame for degree requirement

completion, as established by the academic policy of Moravian Theological Seminary. In order

to maintain nancial aid eligibility the student must complete all degree requirements, within a

maximum of 6 years, with the exception of students enrolled in the MDiv-MSW joint degree

program who have a maximum of 8 years to complete all requirements.

Following is the process by which a student is evaluated for satisfactory academic progress and

nancial aid eligibility determined:

1. Evaluation of Eligibilty

An evaluation of a student’s academic standing and progress to determine federal and

institutional eligibility is made at the end of each academic year. Students who do not meet the

standards for minimum satisfactory academic progress will be notied in writing that they will be

ineligible for aid the next academic semester. Students who achieve the minimum standards after

completion of an additional 12 credits of course work may petition the Director of Financial Aid to

have their aid reinstated for the following semester.

2. Appeal Process

Students may appeal the discontinuation of their nancial aid if failure to meet the standard

was the result of an undue hardship caused by the death of a relative, student injury or illness,

or other special circumstances. An appeal must be written and include an academic plan. The

academic plan must demonstrate the student’s ability to achieve satisfactory academic progress

within a reasonable time frame. The appeal and academic plan must be submitted to the Director

of Financial Aid within three weeks from the date of the student’s notication letter and must also

include evidence that supports the claim of mitigating circumstances.

The Financial Aid Appeal Committee which includes the Director of Financial Aid, The

Director of Enrollment of the Seminary, the Seminary Dean, the Bursar and the Vice President

of Administration will consider the appeal and render a decision which the Director of Financial

Aid will convey in writing to the student within two weeks of the student’s appeal. If the appeal is

denied, nancial aid will be reinstated only when the student achieves the minimum standards. If

the appeal is approved, nancial aid will be reinstated on a probationary basis for one semester and

evaluated each subsequent semester included as part of the academic plan.

E. Grade Level Advancement for Loan Certication

Credit Hours Level

0-23 A – 1

year grad student

24-47 B – 2

year ” ”

48-71 C – 3

year ” ”

72 or more D – 4

year or more

F. Verication

A school may require student nancial aid applicants to document the data used in determining

a student’s expected family contribution (EFC). A school is required to verify the EFC if the

student aid applicant is selected by the Central Processing System (CPS), or if the school has

reason to believe that the information provided in the application is incorrect.

When a student is selected for verication, the verication form and supporting materials must

be submitted to the Financial Aid Ofce of the College prior to the start of the semester. If an

applicant fails to submit the verication form and supporting materials in a timely manner, then the

school will notify the student that their application for nancial aid will not be processed.

Supporting materials required for verication include an ofcial IRS Tax Transcript or IRS data

transfer through the FAFSA, and W-2 forms. The Financial Aid Ofce will provide instructions on

completing a transcript request or data transfer to those students selected for verication.

If corrections are noted on the verication form, the student must provide the Financial Aid

Ofce of the College with supporting documentation and may be required to correct and return

the Student Aid Report (SAR) for recalculation.

If a student’s award changes due to verication, a revised award letter will be mailed out to the

student reecting these changes. Overpayment cases will be referred to the U.S. Department of

Education for further review.

G. Refund Policy

The engagement of faculty and contracts for services represent xed costs to which the

Seminary must obligate itself in advance for an entire academic year. The Seminary recognizes,

however, that a student who nds it necessary to withdraw early in a term suffers a heavy nancial

loss. The following refund policy reects the Seminary’s willingness to share that loss with the

student.

1. Tuition and Other Fee Adjustment Schedule

If a student withdraws from the Seminary or drops to part-time status within the 60% point of

the semester, charges will be adjusted according to the following schedule.

• On or before the rst day of class: 100% of tuition and other fees will be cancelled.

• After the rst day of class but within the 60% point of the semester: tuition and other

fees will be adjusted based on the number of calendar days remaining in the semester

divided by the number of calendar days in the semester, excluding scheduled breaks of ve

or more consecutive days.

• After the 60% point of the semester: no adjustment is made in tuition and other fees.

2. Dropping Courses

Full time students (12–15 credit hours/semester) who drop to part-time status (fewer than 12

credits) without replacing an equal number of credits in the same session will receive an adjustment

of tuition on those courses dropped within the 60% point of the semester and will be billed at the

part-time tuition rate for the remaining credits.

It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Ofce of Enrollment to verify the effect that any

change in course load will have on the student’s nancial aid eligibility.

3. Financial Aid Reimbursement

Because nancial aid is expected to help meet educational costs, any tuition and fee adjustment

up to the amount of nancial aid received will be calculated and reimbursed to the source of the

aid, such as federal, state or institutional aid programs. Normally, the amount returned to each

source will be proportional to the amount received, unless federal, state or other guidelines direct

differently.

Moravian Theological Seminary follows the federal guidelines for the return of Title IV funds

(Stafford Loans).

The priority for return of nancial aid is as follows:

1. Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan

2. Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan

3. Federal PLUS Loans

4. Other federal or state nancial aid, as required

5. Institutional aid

6. Other funds as required

4. Reimbursement to Student

A student may be eligible to be reimbursed a portion of the amount paid after all Federal Title

IV funds and other nancial aid programs are reimbursed as required, and all outstanding balances

with the Seminary have been cleared. Private or alternative loans borrowed by or for the student,

if any, are included with the student reimbursement amount.

5. Leave of Absence Policy

Moravian Theological Seminary has an academic Leave of Absence Policy that is detailed in the

Seminary catalog on page 52.

The academic leave of absence does not apply for purposes of nancial aid. A federal loan

borrower on academic leave of absence will be considered as “not enrolled” and may go into

repayment status during the leave of absence.

6. Withdrawal from the Seminary

A student pursuing a degree who withdraws from the Seminary for any reason shall notify

the Dean in writing within thirty (30) days of withdrawing from class(es), noting the reasons for

withdrawal. If the student is in good standing at the time of the withdrawal and has notied the

Dean in writing, no application for readmission is necessary, but the time limit for completion of the

degree established at the student’s initial date of enrollment must be respected.

If the student is not in good standing, for academic or other reasons, and withdraws voluntarily,

the permission of the Admissions and Standing Committee is required for readmission. A student

who withdraws without notifying the Dean in writing shall cease to be a degree candidate and shall

be eligible for readmission only by action of the Admissions and Standing Committee.

7. Notes on Refund Policy

a. The withdrawal date is the date on which the Seminary ofce receives ofcial notice

in writing that the student has withdrawn or the date on which the Seminary Registrar

determines that the student has withdrawn, whichever is earlier.

b. A student who is required to withdraw for disciplinary reasons is not eligible for an

institutional refund.

c. Upon request, a detailed ofcial policy is available in the Ofce of Enrollment and the

Bursar’s Ofce.

d. Dropping out of some, but not all classes is not considered a withdrawal, though

adjustments to nancial aid may be required depending on circumstances. (See Section

G.2 Dropping Courses)

e. M-Flex Dollars will be refunded to a student who has withdrawn, to the amount of

unused dollars.

f. If funds are released to a student because of a credit balance on the student’s account,

prior to a student’s withdrawal or change in registration status, the student may be

required to refund some federal loan money.

g. Refunds will be determined, processed and paid 30 calendar days after the date of

withdrawal.

Questions about the Seminary’s refund policy and its application to particular cases may be

addressed to the Director of Enrollment or the Bursar. Appeals concerning the application of this

policy may be made in writing to Dennis A. Domchek, Vice President for Administration, Colonial

Hall, for nal determination (1200 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 18018).

H. Scholarships

Each year, many students qualify for nancial assistance through scholarship funds. Most of

these funds have been created by alumni and friends of the Seminary to honor the achievements of

distinguished individuals. In keeping with its ecumenical tradition, Moravian Theological Seminary

provides assistance to all students who qualify.

I. Other Resources

Denominational Agencies often provide nancial aid for candidates for ministry. Students

should contact their own denominational agency for information.

Employment opportunities are available on campus and in the community. Students or

spouses make their own arrangements for employment. Faculty approval of a student’s academic

load is necessary when the student’s outside workload exceeds twenty hours per week.