A degree-applicable course, often referred to as "applicable course" is one that specifically counts towards a student's degree program. Federal Title IV and state regulations mandate that aid cannot be awarded for courses that do not count toward a student's academic program.

Prerequisite coursework may be required in order to take degree-applicable courses but may not eligible for financial aid. If a student is registered in courses that do not count toward their degree or certificate, those courses cannot be used to determine enrollment status and aid eligibility.

Program specific required, and applicable courses, can be found in the SUNY Orange College Catalog for your catalog year.

Federal Title IV and New York State regulations apply to all students receiving financial aid from federal and/or state sources.

Federal Title IV aid and state financial aid programs that are affected include, but are not limited to:

Federal Pell Grant
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
Federal Work Study (FWS)
Direct Loans, including Subsidized, Unsubsidized & Parent Plus.
NYS Tuition Assistant Programs (TAP)
NYS Part-Time TAP (PTAP)
NYS Aid for Part Time Study (APTS)
And other state and federal regulation programs.

Students can see which financial aid programs they are awarded by viewing How to View and Check Your Award Status on our website.

Federal Title IV and New York State regulations mandate that federal and state aid can be awarded for courses that are "applicable" to their degree only.  If a student is registered for a course that is not considered to be inapplicable, then that course cannot be used to determine enrollment status or financial aid eligibility.

SUNY Orange will inform students whether any courses they are registered for are inapplicable towards their degree.  You can also confirm courses by viewing your Degree Works.

Institutional and outside scholarships may be affected.

Each degree program has a specific list of classes and electives that are "applicable" and can be found in the College Catalog for your catalog year you matriculated.  Degree Works is a web-based tool that will allow you to track your program requirements, registered and complete courses, and inapplicable and insufficient courses.  You can review your degree plan with your Advisor and access Degree Works through the MySUNYOrange student portal.

Elective classes are applicable up to the number of electives required for your degree program.

If a student fails or withdraws from a course, a repeat of the course will be eligible for financial aid.  An exception to this is if the student previously passed the course and failed the repeat, further attempts of the course will no longer be eligible for financial aid.

A student may receive federal financial aid to repeat a previously passed course (with a D- or better, including P grades) one additional time, whether or not a student received federal financial aid for an earlier enrollment of a course.  Once a student has completed any course twice and earned a passing grade, they are no longer eligible to receive federal financial aid for that course. 

If a student retakes a course that is no longer eligible for financial aid (degree-applicable), the credits are excluded from the total enrollment and the student's financial aid will be adjusted to exclude these credits

All repeated courses are counted as attempted credits with SUNY Orange's Satisfactory Academic Progress policy.

All repeated courses are counted as attempted credits with SUNY Orange's Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.

Students should contact their advisor to ensure compliance with academic policies governing the retaking of a course.

Repeated coursework, and other coursework, may show in Degree Works as "insufficient". If your courses show as insufficient, please speak with your advisor and contact the Financial Aid Office at 845-341-4190 or finaid@sunyorange.edu.

NYS Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) states that a student can repeat a course and have the course count as part of the minimum full-time or part-time course load for financial aid purposes when the student did not previously earn credit for the course. A student who receives an F or a W in a course does not earn credit; therefore, courses in which F or W grades have been earned can be repeated and count towards full-time or part-time study requirements.

There are certain other circumstances in which a student can repeat a course and have it count as part of the minimum course load.  If a student earned a grade that is passing at the institution but not considered passing in a particular program, then the student ran repeat the course. For example, a student receives a D in a nursing course; D is a passing grade; however, any grade lower than a C in a nursing course is considered a failing grade. The nursing course in which the student earned the D can be repeated as part of the minimum full-time or part-time course load.

A student who earned a passing grade in a course but wishes to repeat the course in the hopes of improving the grade and overall grade point average cannot count the repeated course as part of the minimum course load.

In addition to the effect on full-time and part-time status, a repeated course in which a passing grade was previously earned cannot be used to meet the pursuit of program requirement (completing a certain percentage of the minimum full-time or part-time course load in each term an award is received) to maintain good academic standing. In other words, a course that an institution does not require a student to repeat in order for the student to earn credit toward a degree cannot be considered in determining whether the student has satisfied the pursuit requirement for a State award.

For additional information, contact NYS HESC.

As long as the courses are required in your Degree Works plan, then they can be considered for federal financial aid. If you are taking a prerequisite courses for admissions to another program, the course must be degree applicable to your current degree program to be eligible.

Federal regulations state that a student can be considered a regular student if taking remedial coursework within a program for which the student has been admitted, even if all coursework is remedial before any regular coursework is taken. This student can receive Title IV aid for their remedial courses. There is a limit on the number of remedial courses for which he can receive Title IV aid--that is, up to 30 semester or trimester credit hours, 45 quarter credit hours, or 900 clock hours.

Students should finalize theirs schedules no later than a week before the beginning of the semester/term and before the end of the Add/Drop period. Your required classes are published in the college catalog for the year you matriculated and are programmed Degree Works. Your Degree Works lists completed, registered, and inapplicable credits. Degree Works displays any courses you have registered for that are not required for degree/certificate completion in the “inapplicable” section.

Please note that any course that you are registered for at the start of the semester is considered an attempt, even if you drop it before the add/drop period. 

At the end of the add/drop period, we will lock your credits, review your degree applicable coursework and adjust your aid accordingly.

It is very important to finalize your schedule prior to the start of the semester as to not accrue tuition liability. 

If you have any questions, please contact your Advisor.

Both majors will be used to verify your enrollment in applicable course work.

As long as you officially made those changes before the add/drop period. If you change your major after the add/drop period, the new major will not take effect until the next semester.  Please note that you will still be required to take courses applicable towards your current degree in order to be eligible. 

Example 1:  At the start of the fall semester, the student was a Biology major. They submitted a change of major request and were approved after the add/period period to change their major to Theatre. The new major will not take effect until the next term.  The student registers for only Theatre Courses for the fall term.  The Theatre courses would not be considered degree applicable unless they fit into the current degree program. Therefore, the students financial aid may be affected. 

Example 2:  At the start of the fall semester, the student was a Biology major. They submitted a change of major request, and was approved, before the add/drop period to change their major to Theatre. The new major will take affected in the fall semester.  The student registers for only Theatre courses. The courses are now part of the students current degree program, therefore, they would be considered degree applicable.

Yes, but your aid will be adjusted based on 6 credits (only degree-applicable credits count). Your Federal Direct Loans can still disbursed as you are enrolled at least half-time (6 or more credits).  If you are eligible for other federal grants, your eligibility will be adjusted.

Scholarhip and/or grant eligibility may be reduced, or canceled, if they require that you be enrolled in 12 or more degree applicable credits.

Enrollment breakdown:
12 or more credits = Full Time
9 to 11.5 credits = Three-Quarter Time
6 to 8.5 credits = Half Time
Less than 5.5 credits = Less than half time.

Students are allowed to register of courses that are not degree applicable.  You should always speak to your Advisor and the Financial Aid Office if you have questions about courses that are not degree applicable.

For NY State Aid programs, NYS HESC states, "The requirement for a recipient to be enrolled in 12 credits applicable to his or her program(s) of study per semester is waived during the final year of study, as defined in the Commissioner's regulation. A TAP recipient is deemed to meet the full-time study requirement in his/her last semester if he/she takes at least one course needed to meet his/her graduation requirements and enrolls in at least 12 credits. Additionally, effective December 27, 2017, a recipient is deemed to meet the full-time study requirement in the semester prior to his/her last semester if he/she takes at least six credits need to meet their graduation requirements and enrolls in at least 12 credits."

If you have questions about how this may affect your financial aid, please contact Financial Aid at 845-341-4190 or finaid@sunyorange.edu.

The applicable requirements only affect students receiving federal or state aid. Some non-degree seeking or non-matriculated students fall under the same degree-applicable requirements as degree seeking especially for scholarships or private funding.

Once registration opens for the next semester, and we start packaging financial eligbiility, Financial Aid will confirm degree applicable checks daily until the end of the add/drop period.

At the end of the add/drop period, Financial Aid will lock your credit load, as is, and make any adjustments to your aid eligibility following all federal and state guidelines.

It is the students responsibility to make adjustments to their schedule.  We highly recommend making changes to your course schedule before the first day of semester as to not accrue tuition liability. 

To learn more about SUNY Orange's Tuition Refund policy, please visit:  Student Accounts

You should contact your Advisor and Financial Aid to discuss your enrollment and degree applicable coursework.  If you are unsure who you are advisor is, please review Who is my Advisor?

You should contact the Financial Aid Office to discuss your eligibility. You can contact us at 845-341-4190 or email us at finaid@sunyorange.edu