Course Program of Study

The U.S. Department of Education requires students to be enrolled in an eligible program of study in order to receive federal financial aid. Furthermore, a student's official enrollment classification can only include courses that are required in their degree program.

Starting with the Fall 2023 semester, UT Southern implemented a process called Course Program of Study (CPoS) to ensure compliance with these regulations.

This means, students can only receive financial aid for classes that are required for their current program of study (major). Students cannot receive financial aid payments for classes that are not specifically listed in their major (this includes minors). This means that a student may not qualify for some or all of Pell Grant, Hope Scholarship, Loans, and most other types of financial aid.

If a student enrolls in a class that is not required in the current major, even if the student thinks this class is required for a future major to begin next semester, the student will not receive financial aid for that course.

This rule applies to federal aid and state aid, so it is important that you verify with your advisor that all classes are required for the current program of study.
Common Reasons for Courses to be Excluded from Enrollment Classification:

• The student registered for a course that is not required for their degree.
• The course is a substitution, but the official substitution process has not yet been completed.
• A course is not required in the program of study for that student’s catalog year.
• The course was previously repeated and no longer qualifies for aid. If a student has previously completed the same course on two prior occasions and at least one of those attempts resulted in a passing grade, that course cannot be used in the determination of the student's enrollment classification for federal financial aid.

• The course is an elective, and the student already fulfilled all elective requirements.
• Minors must be required for the degree or fulfill an elective in order to be included as eligible coursework for federal financial aid.
• Internships, Honors courses, and prerequisite courses are only counted in a student's enrollment classification for federal financial aid if they are required in the student’s program of study or can fulfill a slot in a quota of elective hours specified in the program of study.

Example: If you register for 12 credit hours but 3 credits are in a course that is required for a degree at a university you want to transfer to in the future, you will only qualify for 75% of your financial aid. You will only receive aid for 9 credit hours and you will be responsible for paying a balance if there is one.