Parts of Term Policy

Part A and Part B of Term Course Sections

Overview

This policy establishes institutional rules for course sections scheduled within parts of a standard semester, including Part A and Part B courses. The policy clarifies how registration deadlines, late course additions, attendance confirmation, administrative drops or withdrawals, tuition refunds, and financial aid regulations apply to courses scheduled in modules within the same semester.

Definitions

Full Semester: The standard academic semester, generally 16 weeks in length.

Part A: A course section scheduled during the first portion of the semester, generally the first 8 weeks.

Part B: A course section scheduled during the second portion of the semester, generally the second 8 weeks.

Module / Part of Term: A portion of a semester in which one or more courses are scheduled. For purposes of this policy, Part A and Part B are considered modules within the same semester/payment period.

Payment Period: The semester for which tuition, billing, financial aid eligibility, and financial aid disbursement are determined.

Enrollment Status: A student’s enrollment status, including full-time, three-quarter-time, half-time, or less-than-half-time, is determined by the student’s total registered credits for the semester/payment period, not by individual Part A or Part B enrollment alone.

Academic Engagement: Participation in academically related activity, which may include attending class, submitting an assignment, taking a quiz or exam, participating in an online discussion forums, or otherwise engaging in course activity as defined by the institution. Logging into a learning management system such as Canvas alone is not sufficient unless it is connected to documented academic activity.

Scheduling of Parts of Term

Course sections may be organized within parts of a 16-week semester.

Part A courses take place during the first 8 weeks of the semester.

Part B courses take place during the second 8 weeks of the semester.

Although courses may be scheduled in separate parts of term, Part A and Part B courses remain part of the same semester/payment period for purposes of billing, enrollment status, financial aid eligibility, financial aid disbursement, census, and institutional refund policy.

Semester Deadlines

All course sections scheduled in a semester, including Part A, Part B, and any sections that do not align exactly with those parts of term, will observe the same semester deadlines for:

Add/drop
Billing
Tuition refund eligibility
Financial aid disbursement
Semester census

The add/drop deadline applies to the full semester and does not reset based on the start date of Part B.

A student who drops or withdraws from a Part B course after the semester add/drop deadline may not be eligible for a tuition refund solely because the Part B course has not yet begun.

Late Course Adds After the Add/Drop Deadline

Students already enrolled in the semester may be permitted to add a Part B course after the official add/drop deadline under limited circumstances.

A late Part B course addition may be approved when:

The student is already enrolled in the semester/payment period;
The late add is completed at least one week before the start of the Part B course;
The course addition does not change the student’s semester enrollment status (full-time/part-time);
The addition is approved through the appropriate academic and administrative processes; and
The student understands that the course remains subject to the semester’s billing, refund, and financial aid rules.

Because financial aid eligibility is based on total semester enrollment, late course additions that change a student’s enrollment status may result in recalculation of aid eligibility, reduction or cancellation of aid, or creation of a student account balance.

Late Part B additions that change enrollment status require review by Academic Services, the Registrar’s Office, Student Accounts, and Financial Aid before approval.

Withdrawal Without Academic Penalty

Withdrawal without academic penalty deadlines are specific to the part of term in which the course is scheduled.

For Part A courses, the withdrawal without academic penalty deadline is the end of the 5th week of the Part A term.

For Part B courses, the withdrawal without academic penalty deadline is the end of the 5th week of the Part B term.

These deadlines are academic deadlines only. They determine whether a student may withdraw without academic penalty. They do not determine tuition refund eligibility or financial aid eligibility.

This applies to all Graduate & Professional Studies (GPS) students.

Billing and Financial Aid

Students are billed for the full semester upfront, regardless of whether their courses are scheduled in Part A, Part B, or both.

Financial aid is awarded and disbursed based on the student’s total enrollment for the semester/payment period, regardless of whether courses are scheduled in Part A, Part B, or both.

Financial aid is not disbursed separately by module.

Initial financial aid disbursement is based on enrollment at the time of disbursement. Subsequent enrollment changes may result in adjustments to aid eligibility.

Changes in enrollment may result in:

Recalculation of aid eligibility;
Reduction or cancellation of aid;
Return of funds to the U.S. Department of Education;
Creation of a student account balance; and/or
A balance owed by the student.

Courses in which the student never began attendance are not eligible for financial aid. Enrollment must be adjusted to reflect actual participation.

Modular Enrollment and Title IV Financial Aid

Students enrolled in Part A and/or Part B courses may be considered modular students under federal Title IV regulations.

For Title IV financial aid purposes, a student may be considered withdrawn from the semester/payment period if:

The student does not complete all courses they were scheduled to attend;
The student does not begin attendance in a later module, such as Part B; and
The student does not provide documented written confirmation of intent to attend the later module within the required timeframe.

If these conditions are met, the institution must perform a Return to Title IV calculation.

A Return to Title IV calculation may result in:

Reduction of Title IV aid;
Return of funds to the U.S. Department of Education;
Adjustment to the student’s financial aid package;
A balance owed by the student.

Institutional tuition refund policies are separate from federal financial aid regulations. A student may owe a balance due to Return to Title IV requirements even if no institutional tuition refund is available.

Intent to Attend a Later Part of Term Module

Students who cease attendance in one module but are scheduled to attend a later module must provide written confirmation of intent to attend the later module.

Acceptable documentation may include:

Email communication;
Institutional form;
System-recorded confirmation; or
Other written confirmation approved by the institution.

Documentation must be received within the institution’s required timeframe, recommended as seven calendar days.

If the student does not provide confirmation of intent to attend the later module within the required timeframe, the student may be classified as withdrawn for Title IV purposes, and the institution may initiate a Return to Title IV calculation.

If the student provides written confirmation of intent to attend a later module but subsequently fails to begin attendance in that later module, the student is considered withdrawn.

The withdrawal date will be determined based on:

The student’s last date of academically related activity; or
The midpoint of the payment period if no attendance can be documented.

Administrative Drops and Withdrawals for Non-Attendance

Students are expected to attend, participate, or engage in academically related activity during the first week of each course, including Part A and Part B courses.

For in-person courses, attendance may include physical presence in class.

For online courses, academic engagement may include participation in discussion forums, submission of assignments, completion of quizzes, or other academically related activity. Logging into a learning management system such as Canvas is not sufficient unless accompanied by documented academic activity.

Students who fail to begin attendance in a course may be:

Administratively dropped, if the non-attendance is identified within the add/drop period;
Administratively withdrawn, if the non-attendance is identified after the add/drop period; and/or
Reviewed for financial aid adjustment if the course was included in the student’s aid eligibility.

For Part B courses, if the semester add/drop deadline has already passed, failure to begin attendance should generally be treated as an administrative withdrawal rather than a standard drop. Exceptions may be decided on a case-by-case basis if warranted, subject to institutional review & approval.

Census and Part of Term Enrollment

A student who is enrolled in both Part A and Part B courses remains responsible for managing their full semester registration.

If a student is administratively dropped or withdrawn from Part A after census, the student is not automatically dropped from Part B unless the institution has a published policy allowing administrative action and the student has been notified of the requirement to confirm future attendance.

Students who are dropped or withdrawn from Part A and remain registered in Part B must confirm in writing whether they intend to attend Part B.

If the student confirms intent to attend Part B, the student remains registered unless otherwise ineligible.

Graduate and Professional Studies Academic Regulations

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Graduate and Professional Studies Academic Regulations