Did you know that several financial aid programs have enrollment requirements? That means that in order to receive financial aid from specific aid programs, you must be enrolled in and attending a certain number of credits each semester!
For eligible undergraduate students, state regulations require students awarded the New Jersey State Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) and/or the Educational Opportunity Fund Grant (EOF) to be enrolled full-time (that’s 12 credits or more at Stockton) to receive these grants. Any TAG or EOF eligible student who is less than full time will not receive these funds.
Students who receive supplemental grants like SGIA or SEOG or those who receive institutional merit-based scholarships or the Stockton Promise or Garden State Guarantee are required to maintain full-time enrollment to be eligible to receive this funding.
Federal regulations require students who have been offered Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans and/or Parent/Graduate PLUS Loans to be enrolled at least half-time (that’s at least 6 credits at Stockton) to receive these loans. Graduate students must be enrolled in at least 5 credits each semester (excluding summer, where 3 credits is considered half-time) to receive Federal Graduate Unsubsidized and/or Graduate PLUS Loan(s). Many private lenders follow the same terms and require students to be at least half time. Some private lenders will approve students for loans at less than half time. Click here to explore loan options and view a list of frequently used lenders by Stockton students.
The Federal Pell Grant is awarded to all eligible students enrolled (with the exception of Pell Grants awarded for the summer, where students need to be enrolled at least half time (6 credits)). The award amount, however is pro-rated based on credits enrolled. Students will receive the full amount for which they are eligible if they are enrolled full-time. Students enrolled at least half-time will receive half of the award for which they are eligible. Students enrolled for less than half time will receive a quarter of the award for which they are eligible.
Enrolling full-time will allow you to save money and utilize all of the aid for which you are eligible.
A student enrolled part-time could actually end up having to pay more money out of pocket than someone who is enrolled full time because of grant and scholarship eligibility.
For example, Tuition & fees for a full-time, in-state student during the Fall 2024 semester are $8,133. If this person is fully Pell ($3,698) and TAG ($4,748) eligible, the student’s costs would be completely covered, and they would even receive a small refund of the excess financial aid.
Tuition & fees for the same student, enrolled part-time (8 credits) are $5,040. At part time status, Pell would be prorated based on enrollment, which would considerably lower the amount for which the student is eligible and the student would lose all TAG eligibility. This means that the student would most likely owe thousands of dollars out of pocket or would have to utilize loans to pay for their costs. In this case, it actually costs less to attend full-time than it does to attend part-time.
To maximize your aid, take advantage of our flat-rate tuition, where you can take 12-20 credits for the same price!
For more information, please visit stockton.edu/finaid.
*Please Note: This blog is an edited version of a blog published in September 2020. Edits were made to reflect new costs, aid programs and changes to policies and regulations.