Student Right to Know

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The average student loan debt for undergraduates from the class of 2023 who borrowed federal or private loans was $29,420. The three-year default rate for fiscal year 2021 was zero percent.

The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, requires RISD to establish minimum standards of satisfactory academic progress (SAP) for students receiving financial aid. RISD applies these standards to all federal, state and institutional funds.

RISD will only disburse financial aid to those students who are in good academic standing and are making satisfactory progress toward completion of their degree.

A student is not meeting SAP if either of the following conditions exists:

• The student’s cumulative grade point average (GPA) is below 2.0 at the end of the first year of his/her academic program.
• The student completes (finishes with a passing grade) less than 67% of all attempted coursework, as calculated at the end of spring semester each year. Grades of “W” (withdrawn) and “I” (incomplete) are not considered passing grades.

SAP is reviewed at the end of each federal aid payment period. If a student is not meeting SAP, they will be placed on financial aid warning. The student will then have one semester to meet SAP requirements. The financial aid warning status will be removed if the student achieves SAP requirements.

If the student does not meet satisfactory academic progress (SAP) requirements, financial aid will be denied the following semester. A student denied financial aid based on SAP may submit a written appeal with an academic plan of study to the Financial Aid Office.

Should the appeal be approved, the student will be placed on financial aid probation for the subsequent semester. The student will have one semester to meet SAP requirements or be deemed ineligible for financial aid until they achieve the required GPA.

Students who are ineligible for financial aid because they are not making SAP may appeal. Appeals are considered when a student has been able to complete coursework in a fashion that corrects the cause of their losing financial aid eligibility, or when extraordinary circumstances (for example, student illness or the illness/death of a family member) have prevented the student from achieving SAP. Students considering an appeal should contact the Financial Aid Office to make an appointment.

Financial Aid staff have always been bound to act in compliance with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrator’s Statement of Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct for Institutional Financial Aid Professionals.

• No staff member shall accept any gift worth more than $10 from a representative of a student loan provider. The Department of Education has defined “gift” as:
  • Any gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan or other item valued at more than a de minimus amount.
  • The term includes services, transportation, lodging or meals, whether provided in kind, by purchase of a ticket, payment in advance or by reimbursement.
• Staff can participate in meals, refreshments and receptions in conjunction with professional association meetings, trainings or conference events open to all attendees.
• Staff will place all unsolicited marketing materials (such as pens, pads and markers) received from lenders in the reception area for the use of students and parents.
• Office visits by representatives of major lenders are normally limited to once per quarter.
• Staff members are free to pursue part-time employment outside of their scheduled work day. However, any staff member who is approached by a lender with an offer for supplemental employment will provide full written details to their supervisor. Staff members cannot accept supplemental employment with a lender that creates any potential “conflict of interest” with the operations of RISD Financial Aid.
• Staff members cannot accept any remuneration nor any expense reimbursement for serving as a member of a lender’s advisory board. Staff may participate on advisory boards that are unrelated in any way to higher education loans.
• RISD does not currently require staff to complete and submit financial disclosure forms as a condition of employment. All staff members in the Student Financial Services office will disclose to his or her immediate supervisor if an assigned task could create a perceived or real “conflict of interest” in the eyes of the public.

Staff who knowingly fail to follow these guidelines will be subject to disciplinary action.

• RISD does not have a revenue-sharing arrangement with any student loan provider. These agreements are prohibited.
• Lender account representatives are not permitted to work within Student Financial Services or to pass themselves off as RISD employees.

Verification is a process in which a student’s financial aid record is selected for further review. Verification selection can either be by the Department of Education or by the college. In accordance with federal regulations, RISD’s verification policy is as follows.

Deadline

RISD’s verification deadline for submitting documents is the end of the academic year or term in which a student is enrolled, whichever is sooner. Failure to provide required verification documentation by the established deadline will result in a student’s federal, state and institutional financial aid to be cancelled. Any balance on the student account that would have been covered by financial aid will immediately become due.

Selection process and notification

Students who are selected for verification will be notified by email to their RISD email address that there are missing documents that must be submitted. Students should log into Workday to review all missing document requests. Because each verification request is unique to a student there is no all-inclusive list of what may be requested, though there are forms that are most commonly required. In addition, most students are required to provide student and parent (if the student is dependent) tax information in the form of federal tax returns, federal tax return transcripts or the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.

Once verification is complete, a financial aid award is finalized or created. Students awarded prior to verification will receive an email that their financial aid file is complete and their final financial aid award is available to view on Financial Aid Self Service. This award will include any award changes that may have occurred due to changes made to the expected family contribution (EFC) during the verification process. Students who have not been awarded prior to verification will receive an email that their financial aid award is complete and available to view on Financial Aid Self Service.

Correction of information

Any information provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that does not match the verification documents will be corrected by Student Financial Services and sent electronically to be processed by the Department of Education. A student will receive an updated Student Aid Report (SAR) when the correction has been processed.

If a student believes that the information verified by RISD is incorrect, they must contact our office. The student will have to identify in writing where they believe there is an error and provide documentation as determined by Student Financial Services in order for the file to be reviewed again.

Referrals

RISD Student Financial Services is required to report any suspected fraud or falsified information to the Department of Education Office of the Inspector General.

If a student withdraws from RISD and has Title IV aid for that term, the amount of the Title IV aid that may have to be returned is based on the amount of the Title IV aid that has been earned as of the date of the withdrawal from RISD. The amount of the Title IV aid that is considered earned is in the same proportion as the amount of the term that the student has completed before they withdrew. If a student has completed more than 60% of the term, then all of the Title IV aid is considered as being earned.

The amount of unearned Title IV aid that RISD must return is based on charges such as: tuition, room and board. The student may also be required to return a portion of the unearned Title IV aid. RISD will notify the student of the amount(s) that the college is responsible for returning as well as the amount the student may be responsible for returning.

If a student is required to return a loan or a portion of a loan, it is the student’s responsibility to repay the loan according to the original terms of the loan. If a student is required to return a grant, only 50% is required to be returned. If a student is due a post-withdrawal disbursement of Title IV aid and has outstanding institutional charges, RISD will notify the student of the awards and the procedures to accept or decline the aid.

Students with private loans who take a leave of absence or withdraw from RISD may retain disbursed private loan proceeds up to documented costs of attendance items, which includes final billed charges.

If the student prefers, we can return the full balance of the private loan. However, we would then request they make a corresponding payment to their student account should the cancellation of the loan result in a student account balance.