The U.S. Department of Education requires that institutions ensure financial aid funds are only used to pay for courses that apply to a student’s program of study (major/minor). Course Program of Study (CPOS) is a Federal regulation that requires that only courses that count directly toward your program of study (major/minor) can be counted toward your enrollment level, which is used to determine your Federal financial aid eligibility.

At Stark State, this isn’t just about financial aid, but rather about ensuring our students are enrolled in the correct classes needed to graduate and make progress towards degree completion.

CPOS will take effect for all students when registration begins for Summer 2021.

If you are impacted by CPOS, you will receive an email from the Financial Aid Office.  Only students with courses found to not count toward their program of study will be notified.  This information will also be visible in the Financial Aid section of Banner Self Service.

No. CPOS affects Federal financial aid including the Pell Grant, Direct Loans, PLUS loans, Federal Work Study, etc.

Example 1: A student is enrolled in 12 credits, but 6 of those credits do not apply to their program of study.
Federal financial aid will be based on a 6 credit enrollment level (half time).

• Federal Pell Grant will be awarded at half-time instead of full-time.
• Federal Direct Loans will not be impacted.
• Federal Work-Study will not be impacted.

Example 2: Student is enrolled in 6 credits, but 3 of them do not apply to the student’s degree or certificate.
Federal financial aid will based on a 3 credit enrollment level (less than half time).

• Federal Pell Grant will be awarded at less than half-time instead of half-time.
• Federal Direct Loans WILL be impacted; Student will not be eligible for Federal Direct Loans at a less than half time enrollment level.
• Federal Work-Study will not be impacted.

MAP is a very useful tool that will allow you to access information regarding your declared program of study, obtain the contact information of academic advisor, or review which course or courses do fulfill the requirements of your program of study. To access MAP you just need to log in to your myStarkState account.

No, there is no appeal process to override CPOS regulations.  If a course is found to not apply toward your program of study, it is not eligible for Federal financial aid.

Yes, you may take a course that does not count toward your program of study, however it will not count toward your enrollment level which is used to determine your Federal financial aid eligibility.  Consult with your advisor if you have questions or concerns about course eligibility toward your program of study.

The course must count toward your program of study and meet the federal and institutional requirements for repeating a course.

If at any point you need to update the major we have on file for you, please complete and return the Change of Major form found here.