What is CPoS?
Course program of study (CPoS) is a federal regulation that refers to all courses
required to complete your degree: Major, concentration, eligible minor or certificate,
general education, and elective courses. If you haven't chosen a major yet and you
are designated as Academic Focus Area-Gen Ed Core this is your program of study.
Only courses in your program of study count towards your enrollment status for federal financial aid (Pell, Student Equal Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Loans, and Federal Work Study (FWS) and state aid (HOPE, TSAA).
Once you enroll in enough credits in your program of study to be full-time, you will be eligible for maximum federal aid, and you can take additional courses whether or not they're in your program of study.
Undergraduate
If enrolled in 12 CPoS credits in a term, you are eligible for a maximum aid based on your award. You must be enrolled in at least 6 CPoS credits to qualify for federal loans.
- Pell Grant funding is based on the percentage of full-time enrollment at which a student
is enrolled, rounded to the nearest whole percent, known as enrollment intensity.
For example, if full-time enrollment is 12 credit hours and the student is enrolled
in 7 credit hours, the enrollment intensity would be 7 ÷ 12 x 100% = 58%.
- Federal Direct Loans for undergraduate students require 6 hours of enrollment. If you are enrolled in 6 hours and only 3 of the 6 hours are required for your officially declared program of study, you are not eligible to receive a Federal Direct Loan.
- If you are eligible for TN state grants or scholarships and enroll in 12 hours and
only 9 of the 12 hours are required for your officially declared program of study,
the TN
grants/scholarships will be reduced to a three-quarter time award based on 9 credit hours.
Graduate
If you are enrolled in 5 CPoS credits in a term, you are eligible for federal loans. As a graduate student, you do not qualify for the Pell Grant.
- Federal Direct Loans for graduate students require 5 hours of enrollment. If you are
enrolled in 5 hours and only 3 hours are required for your officially declared program
of study, you are not eligible to receive a Federal Direct Loan.
- Full-time enrollment for graduate students is 9 hours. You do not need to be full-time in order to receive Federal Direct Loans; you only need to be enrolled in 5 hours. You will receive the same amount of Federal Direct Loans whether you are enrolled in 5 hours or 9 hours.
What Should I Do?
- Be sure your major, concentration and minor are correct by logging into GoldLink and clicking the Degree Works icon. If you haven't chosen a major yet, Degree Works should say you are enrolled in Academic Focus Area-Gen Ed Core. If you think your information in Degree Works is incorrect, contact your academic advisor immediately.
- Work with your academic advisor and use Degree Works to choose your courses carefully.
- Register early to get the courses you need in your program of study.
Questions?
If you have questions about CPoS contact your academic advisor. If you have questions about financial aid, contact your financial aid counselor.