Course Program of Study

A program of study is the list of courses/credits you must successfully complete in order to be awarded your degree(s). You may also see it referred to as a degree plan. A program of study includes coursework needed for any declared major, concentration, or minor. A course must count in the evaluation of your degree using DegreeWorks to be counted as part of your program of study.

All types of federal financial aid, such as Pell Grant, Federal Work Study, and Direct Loans, will be applied based on the courses that count toward your degree plan.

State aid (e.g., TEXAS Grant, TPEG, and College Access Loan), as well as private/alternative loans and scholarships, are not subject to the same rules and may be eligible to be paid for courses not included in the degree plan. However, these offers could be reduced if your overall cost of attendance is reduced due to courses not counting toward federal aid. Contact the Enrollment Services Center at 210-784-1300 or email BeAJaguar@tamusa.edu.

External and institutional scholarships are not reduced for courses that do not apply to your degree plan with the exception of Jaguar Promise. Jaguar Promise only pays for courses in a student’s degree plan.

The Cost of Attendance is an estimate of what it could cost for students to attend the university. It is based on a student’s enrollment status, which for financial aid consideration is based on eligible courses only. If an undergraduate student is enrolled in at least 12 credit hours that count toward the degree plan, the student will be considered a full-time student for cost of attendance purposes. If a student is not enrolled in full-time credit hours based on eligible courses, the cost of attendance will be reduced.

Visit Cost of Attendance webpage for more information.

Yes, an email will be sent to your campus email if courses on your schedule do not count toward your financial aid eligibility.

Your enrollment will be analyzed upon registration and will be reevaluated upon each schedule change. Degree evaluation will start upon a student's registration and will run through the Census date for each semester. Students should finalize their schedules as early as possible, as financial aid is normally disbursed 10 days before the first day of classes.

You can always see if courses are counting toward your degree requirements in Degree Works. Courses in the “Additional Courses” section near the bottom of the page are not counted toward financial aid eligibility. Undergraduate students who have questions about the courses included in their program of study should contact their academic advisor. Graduate students should contact the faculty advisor/coordinator for their program. Students are encouraged to meet with their advisor prior to registration each semester to make sure the courses they plan to take will count toward their degree requirements.

There is no financial aid appeal process for courses that do not count toward your program of study, as this process is required by federal regulations. However, if your academic department/college has approved a course to apply toward your degree requirements, your advisor will need to update Degree Works to reflect this approval before the Census date. This will allow the course to count toward your federal financial aid eligibility. Please allow time for the updates to be approved by all necessary parties to reflect in the system.

Students’ financial aid offers are calculated based on credit hours enrolled that count toward the degree plan.  If you have questions, please contact Enrollment Services Center at 210-784-1300 or email BeAJaguar@tamusa.edu.

Only courses that count toward a student’s degree are used to determine financial aid eligibility. If a student drops all courses that count toward the degree before the Census date and remains enrolled only in courses that do not count toward their degree, this may result in financial aid being canceled and the student may need to repay all or a portion of the financial aid disbursed to them.

If a student did not earn a passing grade for a course (e.g., grades of D, F, W, or NC), they may retake it to earn credit for the course. The credit hours for a retake will be included in the calculation for financial aid eligibility. A student may retake a course that they previously passed one time for financial aid consideration. For additional details visit our repeat coursework webpage.

Undergraduate students with an Undeclared program of study may only include courses that count toward the Core Curriculum for their financial aid eligibility requirements. Undeclared students should seek to declare their major as early as possible to avoid impact on their financial aid.

Only the declared program of study (major, minor, and concentration) for the given semester will be used when evaluating courses for financial aid eligibility.

Changes to a student’s declared program of study should be made as early as possible to avoid impacts to financial aid, and should be submitted no later than 5 business days before the Census date of the semester. Requests to modify a student’s program of study that are submitted after this date may not be processed before the final financial aid checks are run on the Census date. Important dates, including the Census date, can be viewed in the academic calendar for the given term.

Courses required for a double major are eligible for financial aid. Double majors must be officially declared by the Census date for a term for the courses to count. Courses taken toward an undeclared second major will not count in the financial aid evaluation process.

If a minor is required for your degree program, the courses counting toward the minor are eligible to count toward financial aid.

If you are pursuing an optional minor, the minor coursework would also need to count toward your general degree requirements (Core, Major, Support Work, or required elective credit hours) to be eligible for financial aid.

Minors must be officially declared by the Census date for a term for the courses to count. Courses taken toward an undeclared minor will not count in the financial aid evaluation process.

Elective credit hours required by a student’s program to meet minimum degree requirements will count toward their financial aid eligibility. An elective course will only count toward financial aid eligibility if additional elective credit hours are still needed for a student’s program. Students should be mindful to not exceed the allowed number of elective credit hours specified in their degree plan to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress. Some bachelor’s degrees may require a certain number of upper-division or advanced elective credit hours as well. Undergraduate students who have questions about the number of elective credit hours required in their degree plan should contact their academic advisor. Graduate students should contact the faculty advisor/coordinator for their program.

If a course must be taken as a prerequisite before taking a required course in a student’s degree plan, the prerequisite course may be approved for financial aid purposes.

For instance, if a student’s degree plan requires Calculus I (MATH 2313) but they must complete Precalculus (MATH 2312) to satisfy the Calculus I prerequisite, the student’s Precalculus course can be included in their financial aid hours. If the Precalculus course does not apply toward the student’s degree requirements, the student’s academic advisor may need to verify that it must be completed as a prerequisite for it to count toward financial aid eligibility.

These courses can only be counted toward financial aid eligibility if they count toward your program of study. If they are “extra” courses that are not part of your current program of study, then they are not eligible.

As long as you remain enrolled full-time (minimum of 12 credit hours for undergraduate students) in courses that apply toward your degree, you will be offered full-time financial aid.  Any additional courses may exceed financial aid awards and may need to be paid for out of pocket.