News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Tech is working to educate students on federal financial aid restrictions.
Dr. Brandon Johnson is the Vice President of Enrollment Management and Career Placement at Tech.
Federal financial aid only applies to courses contributing to a degree.
“One we have to educate students to make sure they are aware of this, so that will be a part of this. And two is to make sure we have the system set up in the back end,” Johnson said. “When we catch students that are in courses that are ineligible to receive aid, that we notify them in a timely manner. It doesn’t say they can’t take those courses, it means they can’t use federal financial aid to pay for those courses.”
Tech wants to make financial aid restrictions clear to students and implement them better, Johnson said.
Each institution undergoes an audit. Johnson said Tech wants to remain in good financial terms in 2019.
For students that reached all the general education courses or electives required, the federal aid will not pay towards extra electives.
“So the expectations in the regulations for federal financial aid is that students are enrolled in courses that lead to a degree that can be conferred by the institution,” Johnson said. “And that the courses that they take are meaningful and required to graduate.”
Johnson said these restrictions may not have been clear to students in the past.
“Financial aid is not simple and so there are complexities within it. And we just have to, as an institution, make sure students are aware of this,” Johnson said. “For the most part, there could be an impact to students, individual students.”
For students unsure of their federal aid or wanting more information, contact Tennessee Tech’s Financial aid office.
