Enrollment Management
Office of Student Financial Aid
Search Close Search
Contact Us
Toggle Menu

Courses Toward Degree Completion Policy

The U.S. Department of Education and Iowa Department of Education require institutions to ensure federal and state financial aid funds are only used for courses required for a student to earn their degree. Courses not required for a student to earn their degree will not be included in the enrollment status/load status used to determine financial aid eligibility for these financial aid programs. This is monitored through a Program of Study (POS) Load Status.

A full-time POS Load Status is not always required for students to receive all or a portion of aid from these programs. However, students who have completed all coursework to earn their degree and are not pursuing a new degree may not be eligible for aid in these programs.

Courses which fulfill an academic requirement (including unmet electives) and count towards the total credits required for the student to earn their degree will be included in the POS Load Status.

For graduate programs, courses that have been approved by the student’s Program of Study Committee (POSC) will be included in the load status used to determine federal financial aid
eligibility.

Financial Aid Program Minimum POS Load Status Required Prorated for Less-Than-Full-Time POS Load Status
Federal Direct Loan Half-Time No
Federal Work-Study Less-than-half-time (at least 1 credit) No
Federal Pell Grant Less-than-half-time (at least .5 credits) Yes
Federal TEACH Grant Less-than-half-time (at least .5 credits) Yes
Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG) Less-than-half-time (at least .5 credits) No
All Iowa Opportunity Scholarship Less-than-half-time (at least 3 credits) Yes
Iowa National Guard Service Scholarship Less-than-half-time (at least 1 credit) Yes
Education and Training Voucher Less-than-half-time (at least 3 credits) Yes
GEAR UP Iowa Scholarship Less-than-half-time (at least 3 credits) Yes
Future Ready Iowa Grant Half-time Yes
Iowa Workforce Grant Less-than-half-time (at least 3 credits) Yes

As long as the student has not completed all coursework to earn their degree, institutional aid and private aid can apply to all courses, including courses not required for the student’s degree. However, most institutional aid requires a full-time, or all, load status. Most financial aid programs require the student to be degree-seeking. Even if the student has not formally applied for program of study completion, the student is no longer degree-seeking if they have completed all requirements for their degree and are not pursuing an additional degree

Load StatusUndergraduate (Fall or Spring) CreditsUndergraduate (Summer Credits)Graduate (Fall or Spring) CreditsGraduate (Summer) Credits Veterinary Medicine (Fall or Spring) CreditsVeterinary Medicine (Summer) Credits*
Full-Time12 or more9 or more9 or more7 or more12 or more9 or more
Three Quarter-Time9-11.57-8.57-8.55.5-6.59-11.57-8.5
Half-Time 6-8.54.5-6.54.5-6.53.5-56-8.54.5-6.5
Less-Than-Half-Time.5-5.5.5-4.5-4.5-31-5.51-4

*Load Status recognized by the Office of the Registrar may differ.

If you have questions regarding your financial aid, please contact the Office of Student Financial Aid at financialaid@iastate.edu or (515) 294-2223.

Frequently Asked Questions

Load Status describes the enrollment level a student has based on the number of credits the student is registered for, their academic level, and the term/academic period. A load status can be Full-Time, Three-Quarter-Time, Half-Time, Less-than-Half-Time, or Not Enrolled. Refer to the chart above the breakdown of credits needed for each load status.

A POS Load Status only includes the credits a student is registered for that are required for the student to complete their degree. Example 1: If an undergraduate student is registered for 12 credits for the fall academic period and only 9 of the 12 credits are required for the student to earn their degree, their POS Load Status will be Three-Quarter-Time. Example 2: If an undergraduate student is registered for 15 credits for the fall academic period and only 12 of the 15 credits are required for the student to earn their degree, their POS Load Status will be Full-Time.

Electives, developmental, and program focus courses will all be included in the POS Load Status as long as the course is required for the student to earn their degree.

If the prerequisite is required for the student to access a course that is required for the student to earn their degree, the prerequisite can be included in the POS Load Status.

Yes. Institutional and private financial aid programs are administered based on a student’s total load status as long as the student has not met all requirements for their degree. Federal and state financial aid may still be available to the student; eligibility will be determined based on the POS Load Status.

During an overnight process, financial aid eligibility will be re-evaluated in response to registration changes.

In most cases a full-time POS Load Status is not required. Federal Direct Loans (subsidized, unsubsidized, and PLUS) require a half-time load status at the time of disbursement. Students with a less-than-full-time POS Load Status will not be eligible for the full Federal grant amount they were initially offered but the student may be eligible for a reduced amount.