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Graduate Catalog 08-09
Office of Graduate Studies and Extended Education
McKelvie Hall, 102 W. Rosedale Avenue
West Chester University
West Chester, PA 19383
610-436-2943
fax: 610-436-2763
gradstudy@wcupa.edu
Revised March 2008
Financial Aid
The purpose of financial aid at West Chester University is to provide financial assistance and counseling to students who can benefit from further education, but who cannot obtain it without such assistance. Financial assistance consists of gift aid in the form of scholarships or grants and self-help aid in the form of employment or loans. The main responsibility for meeting educational expenses rests with students. Financial aid is a supplement to family contributions and is to be used for educational expenses.
Eligibility for financial aid, with the exception of some assistantships and scholarships, is based on demonstrated financial need. Family income, assets, and family size influence the demonstrated financial need of the student.
All documents, correspondence, and conversations among the aid applicant, his or her family, and the Office of Financial Aid are confidential and entitled to the protection ordinarily arising from a counseling relationship.
In order to receive need-based financial aid, the student must:
1. Meet enrollment requirements for the specific aid program and must be making satisfactory academic progress. See the Office of Financial Aid for a more detailed explanation of this requirement.
2. Submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid before March 1 for priority consideration. All students, regardless of state residency status, must complete this form in order to be considered for financial aid at West Chester University. This application will be used to determine demonstrated financial need for the student. All students are encouraged to complete this application.
3. Submit any other requested documentation concerning financial and family circumstances that may be requested by the Office of Financial Aid, or any agency that administers financial assistance programs.
The submission of the information described above does not automatically entitle a student to receive financial aid. The Office of Financial Aid follows the regulations established by the federal government in awarding aid. Aid applicants are ranked according to unmet need (based on budget, federal and state grants, and expected family contribution), and available funds are offered to the neediest students first. Students must apply for financial aid each academic year.
Direct questions concerning financial aid to the Office of Financial Aid, 138 Elsie O. Bull Center, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383, 610-436-2627 or write to finaid@wcupa.edu. Office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Withdrawal/Enrollment Change and Aid
Students who officially withdraw or change their enrollment status may be entitled to a refund of certain fees, in accordance with University policy. (See section entitled "Fees and Expenses.") If the student has been awarded financial aid for the semester in which the withdrawal or enrollment change occurs, a portion of the refund will be returned to financial aid program funds. Financial aid refunds due to withdrawals or enrollment changes are processed in accordance with federal, state, and awarding agency guidelines and regulations. A student considering withdrawal or an enrollment status change should consult the Office of Financial Aid to determine the impact of that action on current and future financial aid.
Student Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
You have the right to ask a school:
1. The names of its accrediting organizations.
2. About its programs; its instructional, laboratory, and other physical facilities; and its faculty.
3. The cost of attendance and its policies on refunds to students who drop out.
4. What financial assistance is available, including information on all federal, state, local, private, and institutional financial aid programs.
5. What the procedures and deadlines are for submitting applications for each available financial aid program.
6. What criteria it uses to select financial aid recipients.
7. How it determines your financial need. This process includes how costs for tuition and fees, room and board, travel, books and supplies, personal and miscellaneous expenses, etc., are considered in your budget. It also includes what resources (such as parental contribution, other financial aid, your assets, etc.) are considered in the calculation of your need.
8. If you have a loan, you have the right to know what the interest rate is, the total amount that must be repaid, the length of time you have to repay the loan, when you must start repaying it, and any cancellation and deferment provisions that apply.
9. If you are offered a work study job, you have the right to know what kind of job it is, what hours you must work, what your duties will be, what the rate of pay will be, and how and when you will be paid.
10. To reconsider your aid package, if you believe a mistake has been made.
11. How the school determines whether you are making satisfactory academic progress and what happens if you are not.
12. What special facilities and services are available to the disabled.
You have the responsibility to:
1. Review and consider all information about a school's program before you enroll.
2. Pay special attention to your application for student financial aid, complete it accurately, and submit it on time to the right place. Errors can delay your receipt of financial aid.
3. Provide all additional documentation, verification, corrections, and/or new information requested by either the Office of Financial Aid or the agency to which you submitted your application.
4. Read and understand all forms that you are asked to sign and keep copies of them.
5. Accept responsibility for the promissory note and all other agreements that you sign.
6. If you have a loan, notify the lender of changes in your name, address, or enrollment status.
7. Perform in a satisfactory manner the work that is agreed upon in accepting a college work study job.
8. Know and comply with the deadlines for application for aid.
9. Know and comply with your school's refund procedures.
The Federal Perkins Loan Program is a cooperative effort of the federal government and West Chester University which enables qualified students to secure educational loans under attractive conditions. Each borrower must:
1. Be enrolled or accepted in a degree program.
2. Demonstrate financial need.
3. Maintain satisfactory academic progress in the curriculum.
The combined total of undergraduate and graduate loans cannot exceed $40,000. Approval of loans depends on the student's financial need and the availability of loan funds. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid must be filed. For further information contact the director of financial aid.
The Federal Stafford Loan is a cooperative effort of private lending institutions and the state and federal governments which enables qualified students to secure long-term educational loans.
To be eligible for a loan, a student must:
1. Be enrolled or accepted in a degree program.
2. File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
3. Maintain satisfactory academic progress.
4. Be classified as at least a half-time student.
The maximum loan per academic year for graduate students is $20,500 (combined subsidized and unsubsidized) or the cost of the education, whichever is less; no more than $8,500 of this total loan amount may be subsidized. The total maximum indebtedness for all years of undergraduate and graduate study is $138,500 with no more than $65,500 subsidized.
Graduate students may borrow under the PLUS program up to their cost of attendance, minus other financial aid received. Each borrower must do the following:
1. Be enrolled or accepted in a degree program.
2. File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
3. Maintain satisfactory academic progress.
4. Be classified as at least a half-time student.
A limited number of graduate assistantships are available to qualified, full-time and part-time graduate students. Interested students should consult their department chairperson or graduate coordinator and the Office of Graduate Studies to determine the availability of assistantships and their own eligibility. Notification for the first round of awards will be made by May 15. Many assistantships become available after this date or at the beginning of spring semester. To be eligible to receive a graduate assistantship, the student must satisfy the following requirements:
1. Must be a fully matriculated, degree-seeking, graduate student; normally, certification students are not eligible, and provisionally accepted students are not eligible unless the provisions are removed before the semester begins. Exceptions must be approved by the graduate dean.
2. Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 for current graduate students (if a graduating senior, the undergraduate GPA must be at least 2.8).
3. Must submit a statement of professional goals, three letters of recommendation (using the form provided by the Graduate Office).
4. Have applied for a graduate assistantship by April 15 to be eligible for a fall semester assistantship, or by October 15 for a spring semester assistantship.
Assignments are made by the department in which the assistantship is located and may involve part-time undergraduate teaching, participation in research projects, or other professional duties under faculty supervision. Applications are available in the Office of Graduate Studies.
Full-time graduate assistants, in return for 20 hours of assigned duties per week, receive tuition remission and a stipend of $5,000 for the academic year and must be enrolled as full-time graduate students (9-15 credits). Half-time assistantships involving 10 hours per week of assignments also are available. For these, students enroll in six credits of course work and will receive tuition remission for those credits as well as a stipend of $2,500 for the academic year. Full-time graduate assistants are not allowed to hold other on-campus employment simultaneously. Part-time graduate assistants may work on-campus a maximum of 10 hours per week in addition to holding an assistantship.
For maximum consideration for support, applications for the fall semester should be submitted by April 15, although some departments occasionally consider assistantship applications at later dates. Assistantships also are offered by the Academic Programs and Services Division, Residence Life and Housing, the Academic Computing Center, and other offices. Please contact these offices, the adviser and/or graduate coordinator of your academic program, or the Office of Graduate Studies for additional information.
Maintaining graduate assistantships requires students to demonstrate both satisfactory performance in meeting assigned hours, dates, and responsibility, as well as good academic standing.
Students holding graduate assistantships who fail to maintain good academic standing (minimum GPA of 3.0) will have their assistantships revoked or will not have them renewed. This policy includes courses taken during summer sessions. Departments also may stipulate higher academic standards for maintaining assistantships. Full-time graduate assistantships are given for a maximum of four semesters. Half-time assistantships may be granted for up to eight semesters.
Frederick Douglass Graduate Assistantships
These graduate assistantships are named after Frederick Douglass, a great nineteenth-century American abolitionist and writer and a frequent visitor to West Chester. Douglass gave his last public lecture at West Chester Normal School on February 1, 1895. Applicants with excellent academic credentials may apply for these assistantships. Efforts are made to appoint qualified candidates from historically underrepresented and underserved populations who have leadership experiences in their backgrounds or as part of their academic goals. This consideration is in keeping with the spirit of Douglass' life of public service and the University's mission to be a source of encouragement to the African American, Native American, Hispanic American, and Asian American communities. Students with Frederick Douglass graduate assistantships serve the Frederick Douglass Institute. These are full-time (20 hours per week) assistantships that provide a tuition waiver and $5,000 stipend for the academic year. The awards are made on an annual basis and are renewable for a second year. Students may use these assistantships to pursue a master's degree in one of the University's graduate programs. Interested individuals with excellent credentials should contact the Office of Graduate Studies and Extended Education or the Web site, www.wcupa.edu.
Residence Hall Graduate Assistants
Opportunities to serve as residence hall graduate assistants are open to all full-time graduate students. Graduate assistants live in the University residence halls and assist the full-time, professional resident director in providing direction for the personal, social, and educational development of the resident students. Residence life graduate assistants are also supervisors for student workers and serve as University judicial hearing officers. These positions are full-time (25 hours a week) graduate assistantships that offer a stipend, tuition remission, and room and meal plan. Preference is given to students enrolled in a counseling or psychology program and to those with prior residence hall living experience. Applications may be made through the Office of Residence Life and Housing, Sykes Student Union, 610-436-3307.
Institute for Women Graduate Grant
The Institute for Women at West Chester University offers an annual grant of $750 to a woman graduate student who is accepted into a master's degree program at West Chester University. The award is based on high academic achievement; evidence of potential for contribution to the applicant's field of study; a record of leadership in school, community, church, or other setting; and evidence of service to others. Applications, including reference forms, are available from the Office of Graduate Studies and Extended Education. Completed materials must be submitted by March 15. Only students who have filed all required admission credentials and plan to enroll for a minimum of six graduate credits are eligible.
Graduate students may apply through the Office of Financial Aid for University or federal work study funds. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid also must be filed.
Kinesiology (Physical Education) Department Scholarship
One $300 scholarship is awarded to a graduate student in kinesiology. Applications should be submitted to the chairperson, Department of Kinesiology.
Special Education Department Scholarship
The Department of Special Education offers a scholarship of $500 to be awarded annually to a select, nontraditional student. The award is made possible through the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a veterans' organization chartered by Congress for armed forces personnel wounded in combat.
Notification of the award will be made by March 1 of each year. Applications and further information are available from the chairperson, Department of Special Education.
Professor Russell Sturzebecker Scholarship
Professor Russell Sturzebecker Scholarships of at least $1,000 are made each semester to "worthy and needy" graduate students in health and physical education. Through the generosity of Mr. John Unruh, the awards are donated in honor of Professor Sturzebecker.
Each recipient must be working full time in the field of health and physical education and must be a part-time student at West Chester University working towards a master's degree in his or her professional field.
Graduate students who meet the criteria are invited to submit a letter of application for the scholarship along with a resumé of their professional and academic status. These documents should be submitted to the chairperson of the Department of Kinesiology before November 15 for the first semester, and before March 15 for the second semester. Selections will be made by a committee of three graduate faculty members of the Department of Health and the Department of Kinesiology.
Application forms are available from the Department of Kinesiology.
Grace Cochran Research on Women Award
An annual $100 award in each division, graduate and undergraduate, is given for the best research on women. The award, sponsored by the Institute for Women, is given on Research on Women Day held in the spring of each year. Dr. Cochran, an eminent teacher and scholar, graduated from the West Chester Normal School in 1906.
Dr. Charles S. Swope Scholarship Foundation
The Memorial Scholarship Trust Foundation was established by Charles E. Swope and Richard M. Swope in memory of Dr. and Mrs. Charles S. Swope. Dr. Swope served as president of West Chester University for a quarter of a century. Applicants must be enrolled full time and be graduates of West Chester University. Scholarships are $1,000 each. Applications must be filed on or before April 9. Selection is made during May, with scholarships commencing in September.
A financial grant is awarded yearly to an upperclass or graduate student in political science in memory of Charles Mayo, former president of West Chester University. Funded by contributions, the award is administered by faculty of the Department of Political Science. The value of the scholarship is approximately $200.
Sharon H. Ennis Graduate Study Scholarship
This fund was established in memory of Dr. Sharon H. Ennis, associate vice president for information services at West Chester University in 1998. To be eligible, an applicant must be a female M.B.A. student with a concentration in technology and electronic commerce who strives to be versed in management, business, e-commerce, computer technology, the Internet, telecommunications, and related emerging technologies. In addition, an applicant must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and have completed 12-15 credits at West Chester University. Consideration will be given to candidates with financial need. A committee comprised of M.B.A. faculty and chaired by the dean of graduate studies will choose the recipient.
Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce M.B.A./James Hamilton Scholarship
Established by the West Chester Chamber of Commerce, this scholarship is awarded to an M.B.A. student who has resided in the greater West Chester area for at least the previous 12 months. Candidates should have completed a minimum of nine graduate credits with a 3.0 GPA or better. A committee comprised of M.B.A. faculty will choose the recipient.