Terms and Conditions
Here is an overview of standard policies and practices governing student financial aid; please read carefully.
Correspondence
If you consent to electronic transactions, your APSU email account will be the primary method of communication used by the APSU Office of Student Financial Aid & Veterans Affairs (SFAO) regarding your financial aid. It is important for you to check your email account frequently.
Disbursement of Financial Aid Funds
Disbursement involves financial aid funds being credited to your student account. If the credit results in a refund due to the student, the refund will be released by the Student Account Services & Cashier's Office. Refund dates can be reviewed at Student Account Services & Cashier's Office under ‘Important Student Account Services & Cashier's Office Dates.'
- Financial aid funds are generally disbursed 10 calendar days prior to the start of a Clarksville campus term as long as the student has completed all financial aid requirements and funds were accepted.
- For students who complete financial aid requirements or accept aid after the disbursement date indicated above, disbursement of funds generally occurs within three business days of award acceptance and completion of all related requirements.
Federal Eligibility Requirements
- A Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be completed annually.
- Students must be in a degree-seeking program.
- Undeclared students must select a major by their junior year in order to continue receiving aid.
- Federal financial aid will only apply to classes which are required for the student's program of study.
- To be eligible for federal and most state financial aid, you must be maintaining Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) towards a degree. Your cumulative GPA, completion rate (pace) and maximum time limits for the completion of your degree are monitored as indicated in our SAP policy.
- Generally, you cannot receive federal financial aid at two schools simultaneously.
- Class attendance is required. Failure to attend classes may result in a billing and debt owed to APSU.
- Contact the SFAO before dropping or withdrawing from classes because it may cause you to owe a repayment to APSU and/or lose eligibility for some types of financial aid.
- For financial aid purposes, modular classes are courses that do not run the full length of the payment period (semester). If you complete the first accelerated term in a payment period and do not subsequently attend the next scheduled accelerated term, you are considered withdrawn and you may owe a repayment to APSU.
- Graduate students required to enroll in undergraduate pre-requisites or undergraduate students working on an additional bachelor's degree must submit additional documentation before financial aid can be processed or disbursed.
Federal Pell Grant
- The Federal Pell Grant is only available to students seeking an Associate's or first Bachelor's degree.
- Graduate students and students seeking an additional Bachelor's degree are not eligible to receive the Federal Pell Grant.
- There is a 12-semester (full-time) lifetime limit for Federal Pell Grants. This limit applies to all Federal Pell Grant eligible students.
- The Department of Education will communicate to all FAFSA applicants who are close or who have exceeded the lifetime limit.
Enrollment
Fall Semester: Fall, Fall A, Fall B, Fall I, and Fall II
Spring Semester: Wintermester, Spring, Spring A, Spring B, Spring I, and Spring II
Summer Semester: Maymester, Summer I, Summer II, Summer III, Full Summer
Any combination of hours between Clarksville Campus and Fort Campbell Campus terms in each semester is permitted. Example: 3 hours Fall, 3 hours Fall A, and 6 hours Fall II are considered 12 hours for the fall semester.
The following tables detail enrollment levels for undergraduate and graduate financial aid eligibility.
Full-Time | 3/4 Time | 1/2 Time | Part Time | |
Fall (August - December) |
12 hours | 9 hours | 6 hours | 3 hours |
Spring (January - May) |
12 hours | 9 hours | 6 hours | 3 hours |
Summer (May - August) |
12 hours |
9 hours |
6 hours |
3 hours |
Full-Time | 3/4 Time | 1/2 Time | Part Time | |
Fall (August - December) |
6 hours | 4 hours | 3 hours | 2 hours |
Spring (January - May) |
6 hours | 4 hours | 3 hours | 2 hours |
Summer (May - August) |
3 hours |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
- In order to be enrolled full-time for the full academic year, you must attend full-time from Fall to Spring.
- Coursework ineligible for Federal aid will not be considered. Examples include certain repeats (see our Repeat Policy) and audits.
Cost of Attendance
- Your financial aid Cost of Attendance (COA) is based on an allowance for direct (tuition/fees) and indirect (housing, meals, etc.) costs for full-time enrollment. Your financial aid awards may not exceed your COA.
- All students are initially packaged with a full-time COA. COA's are recalculated according to actual enrollment beginning one week prior to memo of aid. It is then recalculated daily until the first day of class and again at the census date. If you are not enrolled full-time on any recalculation date, your financial aid may be reduced and a billing created to your student account.
Financial Aid Awards
- Notify the SFAO if your residency has changed from out-of-state to in-state status. Otherwise, you may owe a balance to APSU.
- You must report any additional resources you expect to receive to assist with your education to the SFAO. Examples include military tuition assistance, private scholarship, tuition discount, third party payment such as Vocational Rehabilitation, etc. You may report this information by completing the Additional Financial Aid Resource Form. If you do not report this information in a timely manner, you may be awarded aid you are not eligible to receive and could be required to repay back any excess funds received due to the overaward.
- Financial aid is based on the number of hours enrolled. After you pass a class with a grade of A, B, C, D or P, you can enroll in the class and have it count towards your financial aid eligibility only one more time. You can repeat the course again; however, it can no longer count in the hours needed for financial aid eligibility. See our Repeat Policy.
- Grants will automatically be accepted for you. Grants are prorated based on the number of hours enrolled.
Financial Aid Refunds & Registration Confirmation
- If your financial aid awards are more than your APSU charges, you will receive a financial aid refund.
- You can receive your financial aid refund by signing up for direct deposit. If you do not select direct deposit, a check will be mailed to you at a later date.
- You must confirm your registration to keep your classes from being dropped.
- If you receive full financial aid for Fall I or Spring I courses and receive a refund, you should keep the refund to help pay for your Fall II or Spring II courses.
Direct Loans
- Federal Direct student loans are debt that must be repaid. We advise students to borrow wisely. For information on repayment and debt management, visit Financial Awareness & Money Management and StudentLoans.gov.
- You must accept any Federal Direct Loans you wish to receive. Accept subsidized loans before accepting unsubsidized loans. Federal Direct Loans have annual and aggregate limitations. You may review this information at our general loan information page.
- You may request your loans be reduced or cancelled at any time using the Adjustment Form for Loans.
- You must be attending at least half-time (6 undergraduate or 3 graduate hours) at the time of loan disbursements.
- All first time borrowers at APSU must complete Loan Entrance Counseling and electronically sign a Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) at StudentLoans.gov for loans to disburse.
- New first time Federal Direct Loan borrowers will have a maximum subsidized Direct Loan limit of 150% of the length of their academic program. Students will be limited to receiving subsidized loans for 3 years in a 2 year program or 6 years in a 4 year program. Students reaching this limitation could receive unsubsidized loans if eligible. Additionally, borrowers who reach the 150% limitation will have their interest subsidy end for all outstanding subsidized loans.
- APSU does not automatically award Parent PLUS as part of the financial aid awards package. However, if a dependent student enrolled at least half-time has remaining need, parents may choose to apply for Parent PLUS loans to help cover educational expenses. Information related to Federal Parent PLUS Loans may be reviewed on our webpage.
Scholarships
On-Campus Scholarships
- You may apply for most on-campus scholarships using the APSU Scholarship Application or the APSU Admissions Application (incoming freshmen).
- The APSU Scholarship Application website has information regarding all on-campus scholarships and their requirements.
- It is very important that you follow-up on any additional requirements. Failure to do so may make you ineligible to receive the scholarship.
Off-Campus Scholarships
- You must report any scholarships that you will receive to the SFAO. It could affect your eligibility for federal/state financial assistance. You may complete the Additional Financial Aid Resource Form to report this information. Failure to complete this form may create a billing.
- Most of these scholarship awards will not display with your financial aid award.
State Scholarships
- Information regarding eligibility for state scholarship programs can be located on our Lottery programs webpage and our TN Promise webpage.
Payment
- You are responsible for paying all charges owed to APSU.
- If it is determined that you become ineligible for any financial aid awarded during the academic year, you must repay the balance owed plus any related collection costs owed to the APSU Student Account Services & Cashier's Office.