Financial Aid Office

Graduate financial aid is available to students who have been granted regular degree admission and meet all of the admission requirements of the College of Graduate Studies and the department.

General Eligibility Requirements

All financial aid recipients must meet the following requirements: (1) have a high school diploma (or its equivalent); (2) be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen; (3) be enrolled in an eligible graduate program as a master’s degree candidate; (4) be free of default on any educational loans; and (5) not owe an overpayment on any federal grant.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

All financial aid recipients must make satisfactory academic progress (SAP) toward a degree. Graduate students receiving financial aid must maintain a cumulative NMU grade point average of 3.0 and complete 75 percent of the classes in which they enroll. Eligibility is limited to a maximum of 60 credit hours for a graduate degree.

Satisfactory Progress Requirements

Federal law requires all students who receive financial aid to make satisfactory academic progress toward their degree. NMU students must meet the following requirements:

1. Students must receive a passing grade (3.0) in at least 75 percent of the credit hours that they attempt at NMU on a cumulative basis. Classes that a student passes and re-takes count as completed only once. Students who fail to meet this requirement will be put on SAP warning status for their next academic year of attendance. Eligibility for financial aid will be terminated if the deficiency is not corrected by the end of the warning period. Students put on warning status will be informed of what they must do to keep their eligibility. This standard will be measured at the end of each winter semester.
2. Graduate students may receive aid for the first 60 credit hours they attempt in their first master’s degree; after graduating, they are eligible for another 60 hours if they pursue a second master’s degree. Teacher education certificate students will be evaluated when they are admitted and will be eligible for 150 percent of the hours required to complete their individual program. Transfer students will be evaluated by adding their transfer hours to attempted hours at NMU, allowing them to receive aid for the balance of their maximum. This standard will be evaluated early each semester, and students will be notified if their eligibility for the following semester will be terminated.

Satisfactory Progress Requirement Appeals

If special circumstances such as illness, injury or the death of a family member prevent the student from meeting these requirements, the termination of eligibility can be appealed to the SAP Appeal Committee. Documentation of circumstances must be included with appeals. In addition to the standards listed above, the Northern Michigan University SAP Committee will use professional judgment in assessing a student’s eligibility. This will occur in circumstances such as when a student falls significantly below a standard and does not have a realistic chance of meeting the standard by the end of the warning period, or when a student fails all of his or her courses in a semester. Attempted hours include credit hours successfully completed as well as credit hours that receive non-passing grades (F or U), credit hours that are not yet finished (I, MG, R, X), and credit hours from which the student withdraws (W).