Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid

Source: https://finaid.gatech.edu/manage-aid/enrollment-requirements Parent: https://finaid.gatech.edu/

Enrollment Requirements

All financial aid awards are offered based on the expectation that you will be enrolled full-time, taking 12 or more billable, class credit hours per semester. After each registration period, your financial aid award amount will be reviewed and may be adjusted based on the number of credit hours in which you are enrolled. Enrolling in less than full-time can significantly change your financial aid eligibility, including a total loss of eligibility for a certain fund(s), a reduction of a certain fund(s), or both.

Student Loans

All federal educational loans require at least half-time enrollment, which is defined as six (6) hours applicable to your degree. Audit hours are not acceptable for eligibility.

Pell Grant

Pell Grant is prorated per credit hour with full-time enrollment being required to receive the maximum award for each term.

Georgia Tech Scholarships

All Institute scholarships require full-time enrollment.

Outside Scholarships

Many outside scholarships require students to provide proof of enrollment. In some cases, the donor's own form must be used. In others, Georgia Tech's standard form is acceptable to them. In either case, guidance on how you can obtain this information for your scholarship can be found on the Registrar's website.

HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarships (Georgia Residents Only)

HOPE recipients are paid for their exact hours of enrollment. There is no minimum number of hours for HOPE/Zell Miller to pay.

Graduate Fellowships

Recipients of Graduate Fellowships must enroll as a full-time student to be eligible for disbursement each semester.

Other Programs

Specific programs, such as National Merit and National Achievement, require full-time enrollment. Contact the OSFA for guidance concerning various program requirements.

Please note:

• Credit hours earned from audit coursework, such as Cooperative Education employment, does not count toward enrollment requirements for disbursement.
• Coursework that has previously been passed and repeated once, and is then subsequently repeated again, does not count toward enrollment requirements for disbursement. "Passed" is defined as a grade of "D" or better. An exception is any class designated by the Institute as intended to be repeated. Examples include: Special Problems, thesis courses, dissertation courses, etc.

Verification of Participation

Active participation in classes is a requirement for continued eligibility for financial aid. Verification of Participation is a process whereby instructional faculty report to the Registrar’s Office and the OSFA whether a student enrolled in their class is engaged with the course.

How does Georgia Tech verify participation?

Verification of Participation is performed at the beginning of each academic term. Professors use the grade reporting system to confirm students’ participation.

What constitutes “participation” in a class?

Engaging or “participating” in the course can be determined in different ways. As instructional faculty are reporting their findings at the beginning of each term, the following examples might be helpful:

• Attending the class
• Handing in homework
• Taking a quiz or exam
• Posting information or accessing information on a website
• Posting blog entries or comments in a chat room
• Participation in group projects
• Any other activity that demonstrates engagement in the course

What happens if a student does not participate in class?

Students' financial aid eligibility will be recalculated based on confirmed course participation. For question about this requirement, please email eligibility@finaid.gatech.edu.