To be eligible for State student financial aid, Education Law specifies that a student must be matriculated in an approved program. An approved program is one that the State Education Department has reviewed, found to be in compliance with the standards for program registration set forth in theRegulations of the Commissioner of Education

Section 145-2.3(b) of the Regulations lists the types of programs that are approved for general and academic performance awards: collegiate level degree programs and certificate and diploma programs creditable toward a degree; noncollegiate hospital programs of professional nursing; and noncollegiate, two-year programs of at least 1440 instructional hours’ duration offered by registered private business schools.

The Department maintains an Inventory of Registered Programs, available on the Department’s web site, which lists every approved program by institution. The Inventory is also searchable by subject matter category and by level of program (below the baccalaureate and baccalaureate and higher).

When certifying students for State financial aid, institutions should assure that the record of their approved programs in the State Education Department’s Inventory is consistent with the programs offered and described in the catalog. Any discrepancies should be resolved with the Department to preclude any possible issues upon audit.

Regulations of the Commissioner of Education implements the statute by specifying that “General and academic performance awards shall not be provided for study in programs that, in the determination of the commissioner, provide professional training in theology or religious education. . .”

The regulation also stipulates that financial aid shall not be provided for programs leading to the following theological degrees:

Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.)
Bachelor of Religious Education (B.R.E.)
Bachelor of Sacred Theology (S.T.B.)
Master of Divinity (M.Div.)
Master of Religious Education (M.R.E.)
Master of Arts in Religious Education (M.A. in R.E.)
Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.)
Master of Theology (Th.M.)
Master of Arts in Theology (M.A. in Th.)
Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.)
Doctor of Religious Education (D.R.E.)
Doctor of Theology (Th.D.)

These are degrees for students seeking professional training for the purpose of being ordained as a member of the clergy.

Students who study religion in the liberal arts context in programs that lead to liberal arts degrees such as the Bachelor of Arts are eligible for State financial aid.

Effective with the 2010-11 academic year, Education law requires a student who's first award year is in 2010 -11 and thereafter to meet new standards of satisfactory academic progress (SAP). Those meeting the definition of “remedial student” will not be subject to the new academic standards, but will remain on the 2006 SAP chart. For purposes of determining whether students shall be considered remedial, the following definition has been enacted:,/p>

“Remedial student” is defined as a student:
(a) whose scores on a recognized college placement exam or nationally recognized standardized exam indicated the need for remediation for at least two semesters, as certified by the college and approved by the State Education Department (SED); or
(b) who was enrolled in at least six semester hours of non-credit remedial courses, as approved by SED, in the first term they received a TAP award; or 
(c) who is or was enrolled in an opportunity program (HEOP, EOP, SEEK CD).

Students can receive state student financial assistance while enrolled in remedial courses.

For TAP and other general awards, the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education permit a full-time student enrolling for up to 12 semester hours to carry at least six credit equivalent hours of remedial courses as part of the minimum full-time course load, except that in the first semester of college level study, a student need carry only three degree credits.

A part-time student who enrolls for a minimum course load of at least six semester hours can include three credit equivalent hours of remedial study. However, for certain award programs that require a minimum of only three credits, a student who enrolls for the minimum would not be able to enroll in a remedial course. 

• Remedial courses do not carry credit, since credit is defined in the regulations as a "unit of academic award applicable towards a degree at the institution."
• Remedial noncredit courses can be used to determine full-time status, but only credit-bearing courses need to be applicable to the student's program as a general education requirement, major requirement or elective. Since remedial courses do not carry credit, they are not applicable to the student's program requirements nor are they included in a student's grade point average.
• Remedial courses can be used to meet the pursuit requirement, because pursuit is a measure of effort. Thus passing or failing grades, in credit-bearing or noncredit remedial courses, can all be used to meet this requirement. Effort means the student has enrolled in a full-time (or part-time) course load and has completed--received a grade in--a specified percentage of that course load.
• Remedial courses cannot be used to meet satisfactory academic progress requirements since SAP is a measure of achievement, of credits earned toward a degree with a minimum grade point average. 

A student can repeat a course and have the course count as part of the minimum full-time or part-time course load for financial aid purposes when the student did not previously earn credit for the course.

A student who receives an F or a W in a course does not earn credit; therefore, courses in which F or W grades have been earned can be repeated and count towards full-time or part-time study requirements.

There are certain other circumstances in which a student can repeat a course and have it count as part of the minimum course load:

1. the grade earned is passing at the institution but not considered passing in a particular curriculum. For example, a student receives a D in a nursing course; D is a passing grade; however, any grade lower than a C in a nursing course is considered a failing grade. Thus, the nursing course in which the student earned the D can be repeated as part of the minimum full-time or part-time course load.
2. the course can be repeated and credit earned each time, such as physical education courses or certain language courses.

A student who earned a passing grade in a course but wishes to repeat the course in the hopes of improving the grade and overall grade point average cannot count the repeated course as part of the minimum course load.

In addition to the effect on full-time and part-time status, a repeated course in which a passing grade was previously earned cannot be used to meet the pursuit of program requirement (completing a certain percentage of the minimum full-time or part-time course load in each term an award is received) to maintain good academic standing. In other words, a course that an institution does not require a student to repeat in order for the student to earn credit toward a degree cannot be considered in determining whether the student has satisfied the pursuit requirement for a State award.

Beneficial placement is a policy that applies when a recipient of State student aid in good standing transfers to another institution or, within the same institution, changes academic programs.

Beneficial placement applies only with respect to satisfactory academic progress and means that a student can be re-positioned on the progress chart based either on the number of credits accrued (earned) or aid payments received, whichever is more beneficial to the student.

For example, when a student has received 4 semester TAP payments but has earned only six credits that are transferable to the student’s program of study at a new institution, the student would be placed on the chart of satisfactory academic progress based on credits accrued rather than payments received. In this situation, it is to the student’s benefit to be placed at a point on the progress chart that requires the student to earn fewer credits than would be the case if the student were placed at the credit accrual point for a fifth payment.

Similarly, in another example, a NYS student transferring from an out-of-state institution who had never received TAP but has 30 transferable credits would be placed beneficially at the first payment point on the satisfactory academic progress chart. This student would, in effect, have 30 credits “in the bank” and not have to worry about meeting the credit accrual requirements for several terms.

In the case of a student transferring/changing programs within an institution, the same beneficial policy would apply, providing the student is in good academic standing at the time of the change of program.A student who has failed to maintain good academic standing cannot regain eligibility by changing programs in the same institution

Beneficial placement does not have a bearing on the pursuit of program requirement. For example, if a student has received four or more State award payments, the student is at the 100 percent pursuit level and must complete/get a grade in the minimum full-time or part-time course load to satisfy this requirement. 

Although the student’s total entitlement of four years of undergraduate TAP is not affected by beneficial placement, this policy does permit a student in situations similar to the examples above time to adjust to a new institution or new program by having to meet credit accrual requirements at a more gradual rate than might otherwise be the case.

New York State Residency

General 
Education Law (Section 661-5) requires a student to be a legal resident of the state of New York in order to be eligible for Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), and most other state scholarships and other awards. A New York court decision defined “residence” as the equivalent of “domicile” as it is used in the statute.

"Proper construction of the term "resident" depends on the particular subject matter in which it is used, and where this section proscribes "residence" as qualification for privilege or enjoyment of benefit, word is equivalent to 'domicile'." 

Guidelines and Principles

1. Attendance at an educational institution, albeit a continuous and long-term experience, is interpreted as temporary residence; therefore, a student neither gains nor loses residence status solely by such attendance.
2. Students attending a New York college or university may perform many objective acts, some of which are required by law (i.e. payment of taxes), and all of which are customarily done by some nonresidents who do not intend to remain in New York after graduation, but are situationally necessary and/or convenient (i.e. registering to vote, obtaining a driver’s license). Such acts and/or declarations alone are not sufficient evidence of the establishment of legal and permanent residence or domicile.
3. A nonresident student attending a New York college or university on more than a half-time basis is presumed to be in the state primarily for educational purposes.
4. An individual is not deemed to have acquired status as a resident of New York until he or she has been in the state for at least a year primarily as a permanent resident (except as noted in E.) and not merely as a student.
5. Unless residency has been established in another state, a student who resided in New York at the time of graduation from an New York high school and has resided in the state with a parent or legal guardian for the two semester prior to graduation from high school will be eligible for grants and scholarships or financial aid provided by the state.
6. All married persons shall be treated as equal under this policy. Each spouse in a family shall establish his or her own residence status on a separate basis. Exception: when a nonresident marries an already established resident of New York, the nonresident may be considered a resident after documentation of the marriage and proof of domicile(12 months in NY) are satisfied.
7. The burden of proof of establishing New York residence or domicile, including providing any supporting documentation, shall be upon the applicant. Each case will be judged by HESC, based upon a review of documentation and consistent with legal definitions. No definitive set of criteria can be established as sufficient to guarantee classification as a resident of New York.
8. Initial classification as a nonresident student shall not prejudice the right of a person to be reclassified thereafter for following semesters or terms of enrollment as an New York resident provided that he or she can establish proof of residence in accordance with criteria and procedures as set forth in this policy.

Independent Students
If a person who is independent of parental domicile can provide adequate and satisfactory proof having established domicile in New York, unrelated to college attendance, that person may be granted resident status for financial aid purposes at the next enrollment occurring after expiration of 12 months following the establishment of domicile in New York.

Dependent Students
The legal residence of a dependent person is that of the student’s parents, or the legal residence of the parent who has legal custody or the parent with whom the student habitually resides. If the student is under the care of those other than the parents, the legal residence is that of the student’s court sanctioned legal guardian.

Eligible Non-Citizens
An individual who is not a U.S. national may become eligible for classification as an New York resident provided that the individual holds lawful permanent residence status as defined by U.S. Department of Education Title IV, evidenced by whatever documents may be required under applicable federal law, who has resided in New York for at least 12 consecutive months, and who meets other applicable criteria for establishment of domicile as set forth in this policy.

To be eligible for State student financial aid, a student must be matriculated in an approved program. Section 145-2.4 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education describes the criteria for a student to be considered in matriculated status. 

In certain limited circumstances, a student can be matriculated retroactively and be eligible for financial aid as provided by paragraph (d) of section 145-2.4, as follows:

• Retroactive matriculation by the school shall not establish retroactive eligibility for student aid unless such retroactive action was necessary to correct clerical error or administrative delay in reviewing the application of a student who was in fact eligible for matriculation as of the retroactive date.

The onus is on the institution to demonstrate that the student was eligible and that the delay in establishing the student’s matriculated status was due to clerical error or delays in reviewing the student’s application. 

For financial aid purposes, good academic standing consists of two elements: satisfactory academic progress and pursuit of program. Satisfactory progress is a measure of the student’s achievement, of earning credits toward a degree or certificate with a specified grade point average. Pursuit of program is a measure of the student’s effort to complete a program.

In accordance with section 145-2.2 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, each institution participating in State student financial aid programs must determine whether a student is in good academic standing based on a standard of satisfactory academic progress comprising a minimum number of credits to be accrued (earned) with a minimum cumulative grade point average in each term an award payment is received. The progress standard is most clearly presented in chart format (see below). 

Initially, the regulation provided that each institution establish and submit for the Commissioner’s approval its proposed standard of progress. However, for the 1995-96 academic year and thereafter, new legislation mandated a minimum cumulative C average after a student has received four full-time semester award payments or the equivalent (24 payment points). 

Effective for the 2010-11 academic year and thereafter, New York State Education Law requires a non-remedial student, whose first award year is in 2010--11 and thereafter, must meet new standards of satisfactory academic progress (SAP). Non-remedial students whose first year is 2007-08 through 2009-10 must meet the SAP requirements enacted in 2006. Those meeting the definition of "remedial student" are not subject to the new SAP standards, but will use the requirements established in 2006. The law enacted in 2006 mandated minimum standards of satisfactory academic progress for students receiving their first State award in academic year 2006-07 year. 

Standard of Satisfactory Academic Progress
for the Purpose of Determining Eligibility for State Student Aid

Effective 2010-11 for non-remedial students receiving first NYS award payment in 2010-11 and thereafter. Remedial students and students enrolled in an approved certificate program will use the 2006 SAP charts.

Note: The 2011-12 enacted NYS budget mandates the following standards of progress, enacted in 2006-07, shall be used for non-remedial students who first receive State aid in 2007-08 through 2009-10 and for students who meet the definition of "remedial student" in 2010-11 and thereafter. The enacted budget defines remedial for purposes of SAP. 

Standard of Satisfactory Academic Progress
for the Purpose of Determining Eligibility for State Student Aid

Effective 2006-07

Students who received their first award prior to the 2006-07 academic year continue to be subject to the standards of satisfactory academic progress approved by the Commissioner of Education. However, institutions may choose to adopt for all students standards mandated in Education Law by requesting State Education Department approval.

According to New York State Education Law, an eligible student is entitled to up to four years of Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) awards: five years at the undergraduate level if the student is enrolled in an approved five-year program. Effective with the 2010-11 academic year and thereafter, New York State law does not provide TAP funding for graduate students.

TAP is available for students with remaining eligibility who enroll for a second degree at the undergraduate level. However, the law limits a student to three years of TAP if enrolled in a certificate program or an associate level degree program.

A semester hour is defined in the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education as “a credit, point, or other unit granted for the satisfactory completion of a course which requires at least 15 hours (of 50 minutes each) of instruction and at least 30 hours of supplementary assignments. . . . This basic measure shall be adjusted proportionately to translate the value of other academic calendars and formats of study in relation to the credit granted for study during the two semesters that comprise an academic year.”

According to this definition, the typical 3-credit course would require 45 hours in class and 90 hours of supplementary, outside assignments. 

To be full time for financial aid purposes, a student must be enrolled for at least 12 semester hours in a semester of not less than 15 weeks, inclusive of examination periods, or at least eight semester hours in a quarter.

Although not defined in regulation, a quarter credit hour equals two-thirds of a semester hour of credit. Thus, a student attending a school that operates on a quarter calendar and awards quarter credits must enroll in at least 12 quarter credits in a quarter (twelve quarter credits multiplied by two-thirds equals eight semester hours, as required by the regulation).

Section 145-2.1(a) of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education defines full-time study in terms of enrollment for a minimum number of credits in a specified time period. Thus, full-time study is defined as “enrollment in credit-bearing courses applicable to the students' program of study, for at least 12 semester hours in a semester of not less than 15 weeks, inclusive of examination periods; or eight semester hours in a quarter; or, in programs not organized on a semester or quarter basis, 24 semester hours for an academic year of not more than 12 months or the equivalent, as determined by the commissioner.”

Note: when the regulation refers to “quarter,” such a calendar consists of three terms, used interchangeably with “trimester.” Thus, a two-semester calendar consisting of 12 semester hours in each semester requires the same total semester hours (24) as a calendar consisting of three quarters/trimesters of 8 semester hours in each term.

If a college’s calendar does not conform to one of these calendar types, there is no basis for determining whether the student is full time for financial aid purposes. In such situations, it may be possible to accommodate atypical calendars by creating “simulated semesters.” For example, if a college offers a 12-week spring term followed by a 6-week internship, neither free-standing term satisfies section 145-2.1(a) and neither is, therefore, eligible for aid. However, by linking the two terms to form an 18-week “simulated semester,” the resulting term is eligible for State student aid. Simulated semesters can also be used to accommodate calendars consisting of four terms in the regular academic year. To comply with the regulation, pairs of adjacent terms are linked to form two simulated semesters. 

To adopt a simulated semester calendar arrangement for financial aid purposes, an institution must request approval from the State Education Department and agree to two conditions:

1. the combined terms that make up the simulated semester must be covered by a single tuition charge; and
2. to be full time, a student must register/enroll for at least 12 semester hours to be completed in the simulated semester at the beginning of the first component/module of the simulated semester (the student can enroll in any combination to make up the 12 credits: e.g., 6 and 6, 9 and 3, 3 and 9, etc.).

The student cannot be certified full time until the beginning of the second component of the simulated semester, when the student course load is at least 12 credits.

Good academic standing is determined based on the student’s performance in the combined terms that make up the simulated semester. 

This simulated semester model can also be adapted for institutions operating on quarter/trimester calendars, as simulated trimesters.

For financial aid purposes, good academic standing consists of two elements: satisfactory academic progress and pursuit of program. Satisfactory progress is a measure of the student’s achievement, of earning credits toward a degree or certificate with a specified grade point average. Pursuit of program is a measure of the student’s effort to complete a program.

In accordance with section 145-2.2 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, each institution participating in State student financial aid programs must determine whether a student is in good academic standing based on a standard of satisfactory academic progress comprising a minimum number of credits to be accrued (earned) with a minimum cumulative grade point average in each term an award payment is received. The progress standard is most clearly presented in chart format (see below). 

Initially, the regulation provided that each institution establish and submit for the Commissioner’s approval its proposed standard of progress. However, for the 1995-96 academic year and thereafter, new legislation mandated a minimum cumulative C average after a student has received four full-time semester award payments or the equivalent (24 payment points). 

Effective for the 2010-11 academic year and thereafter, New York State Education Law requires a non-remedial student, whose first award year is in 2010--11 and thereafter, must meet new standards of satisfactory academic progress (SAP). Non-remedial students whose first year is 2007-08 through 2009-10 must meet the SAP requirements enacted in 2006. Those meeting the definition of "remedial student" are not subject to the new SAP standards, but will use the requirements established in 2006. The law enacted in 2006 mandated minimum standards of satisfactory academic progress for students receiving their first State award in academic year 2006-07 year. 

Standard of Satisfactory Academic Progress
for the Purpose of Determining Eligibility for State Student Aid

Effective 2010-11 for non-remedial students receiving first NYS award payment in 2010-11 and thereafter. Remedial students and students enrolled in an approved certificate program will use the 2006 SAP charts.

Note: The 2011-12 enacted NYS budget mandates the following standards of progress, enacted in 2006-07, shall be used for non-remedial students who first receive State aid in 2007-08 through 2009-10 and for students who meet the definition of "remedial student" in 2010-11 and thereafter. The enacted budget defines remedial for purposes of SAP. 

Standard of Satisfactory Academic Progress
for the Purpose of Determining Eligibility for State Student Aid

Effective 2006-07

Students who received their first award prior to the 2006-07 academic year continue to be subject to the standards of satisfactory academic progress approved by the Commissioner of Education. However, institutions may choose to adopt for all students standards mandated in Education Law by requesting State Education Department approval.

At institutions operating on a traditional academic calendar (two semesters—fall and spring--or three quarters/trimesters—fall, winter, spring), the summer term is an optional term over and above the regular academic year.

Under certain circumstances, a student can receive an award for summer study that is in addition to the regular annual award. Such additional awards for summer study are considered accelerated TAP.

To be eligible for an accelerated summer payment, a student receiving a first award in the 2006-07 academic year and thereafter must satisfy these criteria in addition to the standard TAP eligibility requirements:

• Be full time in the prior spring term;
• Earn 24 credits from the same institution in the prior two terms (3 credit equivalents in remedial study in each term are permitted as part of the total 24 credits, or 18 credits plus 6 credit equivalents); this requirement must be met each time an accelerated award is sought;
• Enroll part-time for at least six but fewer than 12 semester hours applicable to the program of study for a half-time accelerated payment.
• Enroll full-time for at least 12 credits applicable to the program of study for a full-time accelerated payment.

Accelerated TAP is available for full-time and half-time undergraduate summer study for students attending degree-granting institutions or two-year programs in registered private business schools. 

For TAP purposes, all summer sessions are combined and treated as a single term.

The Supplemental Tuition Assistance Program (STAP) was initially established in Education Law in 1981 to provide one additional year of NYS tuition support for undergraduate students who were educationally disadvantaged and unable to meet an institution’s requirements for admission as a regular student. STAP enabled a student to receive a year of tuition assistance, equal to a TAP award, for full-time or part-time enrollment only in remedial study. 

However, subsequent amendment to the Education Law changed the STAP program so that tuition assistance is now available only in the summer immediately preceding the first academic year of study and/or in the subsequent summer following the first year of study.

Section 145-2.1(a)(3) of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education defines study for the Supplemental Tuition Assistance Program as follows:

• For the supplemental tuition assistance program (STAP), an approved program of noncredit-bearing remediation shall mean the student’s entire noncredit course load taken in the summer immediately preceding and/or immediately following the initial year of matriculated study, subject to the following conditions:
  1. such course load shall have been approved as educationally sound by an institutional official familiar with the student’s academic deficiencies; and
  2. such course load shall consist of noncredit remedial work designed to remedy academic deficiencies which, if not addressed, might prevent the student from successfully completing a degree or certificate program at the institution.

Statute precludes students enrolled in the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), the Education Opportunity Program (EOP), the Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge Program (SEEK), or the College Discovery Program (CD) from receiving STAP awards.

STAP awards do not count against a student’s TAP eligibility.