Additional Financial Aid Guidelines

Taxes on Financial Aid Awards
Financial aid income is taxable for U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and most international students (some nations have treaties with the U.S. that exempt students from those countries from some U.S. income tax liabilities). Under current U.S. income tax law, nonservice-connected financial aid income used for tuition, books, supplies, and equipment is not taxable. Loans are not income and are therefore not taxable. Please note that tax laws are subject to change. The Office of Financial Aid does not offer income tax counseling of any kind. Questions on income tax liability, filing status, reporting income, and tax treaties should be addressed to the United States Internal Revenue Service.

Under current U.S. law, Federal Work-Study awards are not subject to Social Security Tax (F.I.C.A.) withholding during periods of enrollment.

Withdrawing from Classes and Your Financial Aid
Students who withdraw from all of their classes during the course of a semester will be subject to a re-calculation of their eligibility for federal student aid which may result in a substantial reduction or cancellation of federal loans. Please note your bill will reflect any loss of aid and you will be responsible for any resulting balance owed to the Graduate Center.

Satisfactory Academic Progress
Students must be making satisfactory progress toward the degree to maintain their status at the Graduate Center and to be eligible for any student financial assistance. In general, a doctoral student is deemed not to be making satisfactory progress if he or she has a grade point average below 3.00, has accumulated more than two open grades ("INC," "INP," "NGR," "ABS," and "ABP"), has completed more than 45 credits without having passed the First Examination, has completed 10 semesters without having passed the Second Examination, has received two "NRP" grades in succession, or has exceeded the time limit for the degree. Specific programs may have rules that differ.

Please refer to the sections on "Incomplete Grades," "Standards for Retention," "Computation of Grade Point Average," and "Time Limits for Degrees," which appear in the Student Handbook's section on "Academic Policies and Procedures."

The Graduate Center reviews each student's record every semester. If formal standards have not been met, a student may register (and receive financial aid, if otherwise eligible) only upon petition of the student's Executive Officer to the Vice President for Student Affairs. Students whose petitions are approved are considered to be making satisfactory progress toward the degree and are eligible to receive financial aid.
Students who are employed as graduate assistants on departmental adjunct lines or as research assistants by individual grant holders must show satisfactory performance in these activities. If this performance is found to be unsatisfactory, such employment may be terminated. This type of termination is independent of satisfactory academic progress.