By Alex Lang
The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU saw a decrease in the number of students who were put on financial aid warning and suspension during the mid-year period.
In the past, WVU waited until the end of the traditional academic year to inform students if they were being placed on financial aid warning and/or suspension. A student can be placed on suspension or warning if his or her grade-point average falls below a certain level based on the amount of aid they receive and how many credits they completed.
A few years ago, a change at the federal level forced WVU to modify its policy and evaluate students for warning and suspension at the end of the semester.
This year, 1,538 undergraduates and 165 graduate students who received federal aid were put on warning, said Tresa Weimer, interim director of the WVU Office of Financial Aid.
That is down from about 1,600 undergraduates and 236 graduate students who received warnings last year. Most WVU students receive some type of financial aid.
Last year, about 700 undergraduate and graduate students were put on financial aid suspension. This year, about 629 undergraduate students and 54 graduate students were put on financial-aid suspension, Weimer said.
With the change in how WVU measures academic progress, Weimer said, the hope was to see the decrease that the university experienced.
Students who are put on financial-aid suspension lose their financial aid. Weimer said when they are put on warning, they have one semester to improve their grades before aid is suspended.
The financial aid program is just one of many initiatives that WVU uses to help students maintain their grades and graduate. Other measures include the mid-year academy and the new University College, which provides an academic home to undecided students…
