PROMISE Policy on Deferrals and Leaves of Absence
Deferral Policy
A student who applied for and was deemed eligible for a PROMISE award must enroll for the first regularly scheduled enrollment period after being selected unless granted a deferment under the leave of absence provisions of Section 10.7 or 10.8. A student who was deemed eligible for a PROMISE award but elects not to enroll at an eligible institution set forth in Section 8 of this rule may regain eligibility providing the student discontinues enrollment at the ineligible institution at the conclusion of the initial enrollment period (fall semester) and re-enrolls at an eligible institution.
Leave of Absence Policies
If you find it necessary to request a leave of absence for one of the reasons stated below, please contact the Financial Aid Office of the institution you attend.
- Medical Leave
If a student receives a medical leave of absence from the institution in which s/he is enrolled, the student will not be required to pay back any PROMISE Scholarship funds disbursed on his/her behalf during the term of the leave. The student will also not be required to complete the mandated amount of credits for the academic term for which medical leave is granted in order to retain PROMISE eligibility. The student will have a maximum eight semesters of eligibility if pursuing a baccalaureate degree or maximum of four semesters if pursuing an associate’s degree; a semester of eligibility will be reduced for the term on medical leave if the leave was granted after payment was made to the institution. In an effort to further assist students, an institution will have the opportunity to allow a scholar to “buy back” the term in which the scholarship was disbursed, but was not completed academically. In this scenario, a student may pay back the institution the amount that was given from the PROMISE program in order for it to appear that the student did not attend that term. The money paid back to the institution would be recouped by the PROMISE program.
The student would be deemed eligible to renew in one of the following ways:
- if the student has previously finished two terms and is eligible to renew, s/he may do so for the upcoming term or,
- if the student has completed only one term towards the current year’s award, then the one term completed and the subsequent semester after the leave would be used to determine renewal criteria.
- if a student does not complete the first term of the award, he or she would be deemed eligible based on the upcoming two terms of receiving PROMISE funding.
If a student takes classes at his/her own expense, those too, will be included in assessing eligibility. These classes may have been taken during a summer term, for example, or while on leave. An internet class may be an example in this scenario.
- Family Medical Leave or Bereavement Leave
If a student needs to take time off from college due to the medical care of, or death of, an immediate family member, the PROMISE Scholarship will be suspended until the following semester. The student will have a maximum eight semesters of eligibility if pursuing a baccalaureate degree or maximum of four semesters if pursuing an associate’s degree; a semester of eligibility will be reduced for the term on medical leave if the leave was granted after payment was made to the institution. In an effort to further assist students, an institution will have the opportunity to allow a scholar to “buy back” the term in which the scholarship was disbursed, but was not completed academically. In this scenario, a student may pay back the institution the amount that was given from the PROMISE program in order for it to appear that the student did not attend that term. The money paid back to the institution would be recouped by the PROMISE program.
The student would be deemed eligible to renew in one of the following ways:
- if the student has previously finished two terms and is eligible to renew, s/he may do so for the upcoming term or,
- if the student has completed only one term towards the current year’s award, then the one term completed and the subsequent semester after the leave would be used to determine renewal criteria.
- if a student does not complete the first term of the award, he or she would be deemed eligible based on the upcoming two terms of receiving PROMISE funding.
If a student takes classes at his/her own expense, those too, will be included in assessing eligibility. These classes may have been taken during a summer term, for example, or while on leave.
- Military Leave
A student may defer his/her scholarship for up to seven years if entering military service. If a student is called to duty while attending college, the PROMISE Scholarship will be put on hold during that time. If it is the case that a student must withdraw mid-term, the student will not be penalized and not need to pay back the award amount. The student will have a maximum eight semesters of eligibility if pursuing a baccalaureate degree or maximum of four semesters if pursuing an associate’s degree and a semester of eligibility will not be reduced for the term on military leave even if the leave was granted after payment was made to the institution.
The student would be deemed eligible to renew in one of the following ways:
- if the student has previously finished two terms and is eligible to renew, s/he may do so for the upcoming term or,
- if the student has completed only one term towards the current year’s award, then the one term completed and the subsequent semester after the leave would be used to determine renewal criteria.
- if a student does not complete the first term of the award, he or she would be deemed eligible based on the upcoming two terms of receiving PROMISE funding.
If a student takes classes at his/her own expense, those too, will be included in assessing eligibility. These classes may have been taken during a summer term, for example, or while on leave.
- Other Leave of Absence Requests
Other requests for leaves of absence must be submitted in writing by the student to the Director of State Financial Aid Programs. Student leave of absence requests submitted to the director may include, but are not limited to, programs directly related to the student’s educational program, study abroad, extreme financial hardships of the student or the student’s immediate family, service or volunteerism or other extraordinary circumstances beyond the student’s control when continued attendance would create a substantial hardship for the student.