Course Program of Study (CPOS)

Course Program of Study (CPOS) is a federal requirement that only courses that count toward a student’s program of study (your declared major) be considered when determining Federal and State of Tennessee Financial Aid eligibility.

CPOS only applies to Federal and State of Tennessee Financial Aid (e.g., Pell Grant, SEOG Grant, Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, HOPE Scholarships, TSAC Grants/Scholarships, etc.). It does NOT impact eligibility for institutional financial aid (e.g., CBU Scholarships/Grants, Graduate Assistantships, etc.).

Students enrolled in courses impacted by CPOS will be notified via their Christian Brothers University email. For the fall term, alerts/emails will be sent in advance prior to the start of the semester. Note that students will only be notified if CPOS impacts their Federal or State of Tennessee Financial Aid eligibility.

It is recommended to not modify your schedule without consultation with a faculty advisor. Your advisor will review your account and determine if the system is accurately assessing your enrollment. If not and your enrollment has been approved to count as part of your declared major, an override request can be submitted by your advisor to have the course(s) count toward your Federal and State of Tennessee Financial Aid eligibility. Your advisor is listed in the header of your DegreeWorks worksheet, or you can use Starfish to setup a meeting with your advisor.

If an advisor determines that a course is not satisfying a requirement for your program of study (declared major), it will not count toward your Federal or State of Tennessee Financial Aid eligibility. You should consult with an advisor and the financial aid office to consider an appropriate course of action (adding a required course, dropping the ineligible course, or remaining enrolled in the ineligible course). Please know that if you are enrolled for 12 credit hours of required courses then additional courses above the required 12 credits may be OK.  It is important to remember that most forms of financial aid, including Federal and State of Tennessee Financial Aid, are limited in nature. Using financial aid to pay for courses that are not required for your program of study is risky as it is a finite (limited) resource. Once it has been used, the only way to regain eligibility is to repay the aid (federal aid only).

Exploratory students who have yet to declare a major must do so by completing 60 credit hours to remain eligible for federal and state financial aid.

Only courses that are part of the program of study, as documented in DegreeWorks, are eligible for financial aid. For example, if you only need three (3) hours to graduate but choose to register for six (6) hours to qualify for a Federal Direct Loan, you will not be eligible for the Direct Loan. However, for CBU Scholarships that require full-time enrollment, exceptions can be requested to receive the scholarship at a prorated rate for your last semester if you have less than 12 credit hours required to complete your program of study. Email Financial Aid at finaid@cbu.edu regarding an exception.

No. There is no appeal process for courses that do not satisfy a requirement of your program of study. However, if a course has been approved as a substitution, your faculty advisor needs to submit a substitution form to the Registrar’s Office so that DegreeWorks reflects the substitution. This will allow the course to count toward your Federal and State of Tennessee Financial Aid eligibility. Additionally, certain courses/scenarios may not be accurately assessed by the system. In these cases, an advisor will need to submit a substitution request if the course is satisfying a requirement for your declared major. Do NOT begin modifying your schedule without consultation with an academic advisor.

Modifications to your enrollment must be completed by the add/drop deadline. Your Financial Aid eligibility will be based off this snapshot. After that, changes to your enrollment will not be considered for CPOS purposes. An exception would be courses added for a second 8-Weeks or later sessions during the summer term.

Modifications to your enrollment must be completed by the add/drop deadline. Your Financial Aid eligibility will be based off this snapshot. Do not wait until the last minute to submit updates as major/minor program changes are not immediate. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that their major accurately reflects their current enrollment and that any updates are submitted in sufficient time to allow for processing. We recommend major/minor updates be submitted 5-10 business days before the beginning of the term, and submitted requests will be processed by the last day of the add/drop period.

Effective Fall 2023: Based on recently updated federal guidelines, there are changes in financial aid that may apply to your declared minor.  The majority of students who wish to receive their maximum aid eligibility while working towards a minor would need 12 or more CPOS hours in addition to any hours applicable to their minor unless the minor coursework is required for degree completion, fulfills elective credits, or meets general education requirements.  Federal and State Aid affected by this guidance includes but is not limited to:  PELL, Federal Direct Loans, HOPE, TSAA.

As long as both are declared majors, then the course required for them will be taken into consideration for CPOS.

ROTC courses are considered electives and must fall within the allowable electives for your degree program or be taken in conjunction with at least 12 hours of degree-applicable coursework.

No. VA benefits do not fall under CPOS. Please contact the Director of Veteran Services if you have questions about course eligibility.

Possibly. Electives must satisfy a requirement of your declared major/minor. If you have been notified that an elective is not counting toward your Federal or State of Tennessee Financial Aid eligibility, contact the advisor. If an advisor determines that the elective is satisfying a requirement and will count toward your declared major/minor, they will submit a substitution request form.

First, the term “financial aid” refers to any funding designed to assist with your educational expenses. Most financial aid flows through the school and is applied directly to your student account.

FEDERAL Financial Aid: This financial aid is generally determined based on the information included on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and comes from the U.S. Department of Education. Examples include the Pell Grant, SEOG Grant, Stafford Loans, and PLUS Loans to name a few. CPOS does impact these awards beginning with the Spring 2019 term.

STATE Financial Aid: This financial aid may also use information included on the FAFSA to determine eligibility, but sometimes require an additional application. The primary difference is the source of funding is from the state government. Examples include the HOPE Scholarship, Tennessee Student Assistance Award, and other TSAC Scholarships/Grants. CPOS does impact these awards beginning with the Fall 2021 term.

INSTITUTIONAL Financial Aid: This financial aid may also use information included on the FAFSA to determine eligibility, but primarily looks at other factors such as high school GPA, standardized test scores, and performance. Examples include  Christian Brothers University Academic Scholarships, Athletic Scholarships, Departmental Scholarships, etc. CPOS does not impact any of these awards.

The CPOS automated review process happens nightly. It can only review updates that are reflected on your account. If the updates have been fully processed and your course is determined to be eligible, the CPOS alert/flag will be cleared within two full business days of the overnight CPOS process. Your financial aid will automatically update to reflect your new eligibility within two full business days of the overnight CPOS process. NOTE: Requests for major changes are not immediate and require manual updates in the system.

Your advisor is listed in DegreeWorks, and you can schedule an appointment through Starfish with your assigned faculty advisor.