DEPENDENCY OVERRIDE

Federal Financial Aid regulations assume that the family has the primary responsibility in meeting the educational costs of students. Occasionally, due to unusual circumstances, students should not be considered as dependent. If you feel that you have an unusual circumstance that may qualify you to become independent of your parents for financial aid purposes, please contact our office at the bottom of this web page.

Students may be asked to complete an Appeal for Independent Status and to submit documentation supporting their claim of unusual circumstance. This documentation will include, but may not be limited to:

1. A letter from the student describing his/her circumstance in detail along with a FAFSA form completed with student information only

2. Letters from two responsible adults who are aware of the student's situation (i.e., pastor, teacher, counselor). Copies of appropriate court documentation are acceptable to support your petition.

Questions concerning these letters or the Dependency Override procedure should be directed to Stephanie Frig in the Department of Student Financial Assistance. (Please note: income is not an unusual circumstance and parent(s') inability or unwillingness to pay is not a reason to apply for a dependency override, as stated in DCL GEN-93-11, May 1993). The request for dependency override falls under regulations dealing with professional judgement (Higher Education Act, sec. 479A(a)) and therefore the decision is final and can not be appealed.

You must reapply for a Dependency Override each year if your request is approved.

GRADUATE STUDENT REQUIREMENTS

Graduate students must complete a FAFSA or FAFSA Renewal form each academic year. 

In addition, Graduate Students must submit a copy of their acceptance letter to the Graduate Program, which comes from the Graduate Studies Office. An acceptance letter, which contains conditional provisions (i.e. acceptance upon completion of undergraduate degree) or is for an undeclared degree can not be accepted for the purpose of financial aid.

INDEPENDENT LEARNING

Independent learning courses may be covered by financial aid if the student has met basic eligibility requirements, has a current FAFSA on file, and has complied with the following stipulations:

1. A student cannot take more than one-half of their total hours as independent learning courses. For example, a student taking 6 credit hours through Independent Learning Office must also be taking at least 6 credit hours through regular courses (classroom or Web courses).
   
2. Students must complete an on-line Independent Learning Agreement with the Office of Student Financial Assistance. Students who complete the I/L Agreement must complete the independent learning course(s) within the semester for which financial aid is awarded. Students cannot take a full year to complete independent learning courses if they are receiving financial aid for those courses. Students who sign this agreement and fail to complete their independent learning courses within the semester may be on probation for financial aid the following semester/term.

If you are taking a full-time, regular course load (12 credit hours; 6 credit hours for loan only students) you do not receive any additional financial aid for independent learning courses.

Consortium Students

POLICY AND PROCEDURE
CONSORTIUM STUDENTS

Financial assistance may be available to students enrolling in courses at multiple colleges/universities (dual enrollment). The institution from which a student will receive his/her degree is considered the ‘home school’ and will award financial aid. Classes taken at another institution, the “visiting school,” may be counted toward total financial aid hours.

Western Kentucky University students wishing to enroll in classes offered through another college/university should submit a Consortium Request. Students seeking their degree with another college/university who wish to take classes at Western should contact their home school for instructions on their consortium policy.

Western students seeking to do a consortium through another university/college are required to be enrolled in credit hours at Western. A student not concurrently enrolled may apply for a Waiver of Enrollment. Students may apply for only one Waiver per academic year, unless they are an education major and can document they cannot finish their block requirements within one semester. Students seeking a Waiver of Enrollment must be

• admitted to Western Kentucky University in as a degree-seeking student.
• have prior WKU coursework and be in good academic standing

A Waiver of Enrollment will be considered for students

• who have returned home for the summer and wish to take summer classes
• who have moved away from Western due to job or military and need to complete classes for their degree.
• who are not allowed to enroll in certain Western classes until they complete a required block of classes as prerequisites for Western enrollment.

A Waiver of Enrollment normally will not be provided to students lacking prior WKU course work. Students currently on probation at Western will be required to take at least one WKU course to aid monitoring of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).

After receipt of completed Consortium Agreement and Waiver, if applicable, financial aid will be awarded based on the total hours enrolled at both WKU and the visiting school. Financial aid cannot be awarded for the hours from a visiting school until the office of Student Financial Assistance has received the completed Consortium Agreement from the visiting school.

The Cost of Attendance at Western will be adjusted to reflect the actual tuition costs of the visiting school and Western. An over-award status may result from the budget adjustment and financial aid will be adjusted. Students should review their TopNet account for potential adjustments.

Eligibility of consortium awards will apply to Title IV programs and state awards. Scholarships may require approval from the individual donors. KEES awards require that the visiting school be a Kentucky school.

Consortium students who are grant aid eligible must be enrolled at the visiting school no later than the last day of the 100% drop/add enrollment period at WKU. Students can check the WKU bulletin for the applicable semester to determine the 100% drop/add date. Federal and State grant eligibility is based on hours enrolled at the end of the 100% drop/add period. Adjustments in hours made after that period do not result in adjustments to financial aid.

Disbursement of financial aid for consortium students will not occur prior to the normal disbursement cycle for WKU. WKU tuition and other charges will be paid first from financial aid and a residual will be sent to the student’s local address. It is the responsibility of the consortium student to pay the tuition bill at the visiting institution. Students should contact the visiting school about tuition bills due prior to the disbursement of aid at WKU.

Consortium students who withdraw or drop below the original hours for which financial aid was awarded may fall below WKU’s standard academic progress requirements and, therefore, may be placed on probation for the next period of application. Consortium students who are already on probation and withdraw or drop below original awarded hours may be denied aid for the next period of application.

Near the end of each semester the office of Student Financial Assistance will send an email to consortium students reminding them to submit a copy of their final grades to the Office of Student Financial Assistance.

At the end of each semester a consortium student must submit a copy of their final grades to Student Financial Assistance at WKU. The grades submitted do not have to be official transcripts and may be submitted by mail, fax or to the email account fa.consortium@wku.edu. This procedure is strictly for SAP monitoring by the Office of Student Financial Assistance. An official transcript must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar before visiting schools grades will be posted to the student’s WKU transcript record.

Until a copy of final grades has been received future financial aid will be held.

Timely receipt of funds is contingent upon timely submission of required/requested documentation by Student Financial Assistance.

A new consortium request must be submitted for each semester a students wishes to participate in dual enrollment.

Web Addresses and Phone Numbers

Free Application for Federal Financial Aid: www.fafsa.ed.gov

Student Financial Assistance, WKU, web address: www.wku.edu/finaid

Student Financial Assistance, WKU, fax number: 270-745-6586

STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS

Financial aid will be awarded on an individual basis for this program.