DegreeWorks and Financial Aid Applicable Credits

DegreeWorks will be used for monitoring credits that apply toward your current program for Federal and State Financial Aid eligibility

Only courses that apply to your current academic program can be included to determine your eligibility for federal and state financial aid. Now that DegreeWorks has been implemented at our campus, we will be using the information from your DegreeWorks audit to determine your applicable credits for each term. At the time of registration and PRIOR TO THE START OF EACH SEMESTER, while you still have the opportunity to make course changes, if necessary, it is in your best interest to review your DegreeWorks audit to verify the number of applicable credits. Specifically, ensure that none of your In Progress (IP) registered credits are showing in Fall Through, Insufficient or Over The Limit sections. If you see any discrepancies or have any questions about a specific course, please consult with your academic advisor or department. All curriculum changes or other adjustments must be submitted prior to the end of the Drop/Add period.

If you began before Fall 2012, however, your DegreeWorks audit may not be accurate and will need to be reviewed manually by your department.

For NYS aid programs only, if you are a graduating senior in your last or next to last semester, as determined by your needing no additional coursework other than the courses for which you are registered, and you need less than 12 credits to meet your degree requirements, we may include additional non-applicable credits for which you are registered to determine your full-time status. Also, courses that apply to your minor or second major ONLY cannot be included. 

Your TAP award is not official, however, until the Certifying Officer has verified that you meet all other eligibility requirements. Also, please be aware that if your academic program has an area where there is a range of acceptable credits, such as elective credits, TAP will NOT count courses that exceed the minimum required, even if DegreeWorks shows them as counting toward your program and your TAP award will be decertified or recalculated later in the term if the TAP Certifying Officer finds that there are less than 12 credits that can be counted.  Please click on the Academic Standards tab on our webpage or click https://www.hesc.ny.gov/find-aid/nys-grants-scholarships/tuition-assistance-program-tap#programs-eligibility to learn more about academic eligibility requirements for TAP.

While the minimum number of credits to be considered full-time is 12, you need to complete 30 credits per academic year to ensure you complete your degree in the recommended timeframe, maintain program pursuit and don't run out of eligibility as TAP awards 6 semesters to students pursuing an Associate's Degree and 8 semesters for a Bachelor's Degree.

Find out more about DegreeWorks.