Financial Aid

Professional Judgement is the process of reviewing an individual student's unique circumstances and exercising the option to change the data elements normally applied through the Department of Education Federal Methodology (FM) formula on the FAFSA application that helps compute a student’s family contribution.  Professional judgment changes are made when the financial aid administrator judges the standards used to determine the family contribution are inappropriate for purposes of calculating eligibility for financial aid due to extenuating circumstances.  Normally, it comes as a result of a change in the student and/or family’s income or asset information as reported on the FAFSA.

Changes to FM are done only through individual data element changes and on an individual, case-by-case basis. Substitutions of data elements that result in a changed family contribution are thoroughly documented in the student file, recomputed in and generate a valid ISIR through correction in FAA Access to CPS Online or through the PowerFAIDS Software.

While maintaining the flexibility to respond to individual student circumstances, the Financial Aid Office also strives for consistency in treatment of students with similar unusual circumstances.  When unusual student cases arise, or students appeal award decisions, they are reviewed by the Director of Financial Aid.

 Columbia International University uses PowerFAIDS software to re-compute the family contribution both for corrections to reported data and for changes resulting when professional judgment is exercised.  Therefore, when changes are made to a student's or parents' analysis of financial need, single data element changes resulting from receipt of corrected, updated, or enhanced information are entered and the revised family contribution is automatically recalculated.  The changed EFC is used for eligibility determination for all programs.  No payment is made on Pell Grant until a valid ISIR is received. 

Potential Reasons for Exercise of Professional Judgment

All professional judgment changes apply only to data element changes and apply to all Title IV programs.

A.  Satisfactory Academic Progress

• The Financial Aid Appeal Committee will be granted the use of “professional judgment”.  Thus, for financial aid appeals purposes, the Financial Aid Appeal Committee has the ability to “override” the SAP status and make a SAP ineligible student—eligible for federal financial aid based on the student’s appeal.

B.  Change of Dependency Status

• The ability to change the dependency status is only granted by the Director of Financial Aid.
• Students submitting requests to have their dependency status changed from dependent to independent are required to submit documentation that clearly indicates extenuating circumstances with the students and parental relationship.  Students who were raised by family members other than their parents may be considered for a dependency over-ride.  Documentation must be verifiable.  Support letters should come from “independent” sources not associated with the student—such as a counselor, teacher, medical professional, social worker, or religious leader.  All documentation needs to have contact information on letterhead from the individual writing the letter—including their address and phone number(s). 
• Students with a marital status change from single (dependent on parent) to married within the award year may also submit a request for a dependency override. Required documentation is listed on the Special Circumstances-Change in Marital Status form.

C .  Drop of Income and Income Adjustments

• The ability to use professional judgment for adjustments of data elements on the ISIR is granted to the Director of Financial Aid.
• All income adjustments must be done on a case-by-case basis.
• All income adjustments must be used to address special circumstances where the data elements on the ISIR—based on income from the base year—no longer reflect the family’s (or student’s) ability to contribute to the student’s education.
• When making the adjustment, it is appropriate to take into account a changed circumstance that affects the student’s (or family’s) current and near-term economic situation.  A loss of employment or reduction in work hours can be considered.
• When making the adjustment, projected earnings can be used.
• Third party documentation of changed circumstances should be used, whenever possible, to document the request for professional judgment.  In addition, students (and parents) will need to submit a formal request for an assessment of special circumstances.
• Adjustments on all “dollar” data elements that affect the EFC are allowed by law, including unemployment.  These adjustments, however, must be documented along with the reason for the use of professional judgment.

You may submit the appropriate Special Circumstances Request and supporting documentation to the CIU Financial Aid Office. The Financial Aid Office will begin to process your request for consideration within 30 days of submittal.

To find Professional Judgement documents, you will need to log into your MYCIU account. Click on the Finances tab and scroll down until you see Financial Aid. Click on “Click here to view your Financial Aid information.” That will take you to the Financial Aid portal’s homepage. On the homepage, scroll down to “Your Document Details” and click on “Get More Documents,” then click on “View Forms Here.” Click on the appropriate blue link for the Special Circumstances Request.

Grants and scholarships are a great way to pay for graduate school or seminary because unlike loans, they don’t require repayment. For more information, view the CIU Graduate Scholarships and Grants page.

Federal assistance to pay for college is available from several different programs. These include Pell Grants and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, as well as the Federal Work-Study Program, and subsidized loan programs. Grants are based primarily on financial need.

Federal Loans

Federal assistance to pay for graduate school is available from several different programs. These include unsubsidized loans, federal work study programs, and Grad Plus Loans.

Federal Loans

Graduate Federal Loan Options

• Eligibility Requirements: Rank in the top 75% of high school class; OR 2.7+ GPA; OR 900+ SAT or 19+ ACT
• Award Amount: Determined each year by SC General Assembly
• How to Apply: Submit FAFSA by June 30
• Renewal Policy: Submit FAFSA by June 30; complete minimum 24 credit hours per academic year; sign SC certification form

• Eligibility Requirements: Academic excellence (Contact your high school guidance counselor for details.)
• Award Amount: $6,700 freshman year; $7,500 sophomore; junior and senior years
• How to Apply: Awarded by the SC Commission on Higher Education
• Renewal Policy: Maintain 3.0 GPA and complete 30 hours per academic year; sign SC certifications form

• Eligibility Requirements: Must meet two of these three: 3.0+ high school GPA based on the SC Uniform Grading Scale; 1100+ SAT/24+ ACT; or top 30% of graduating class
• Award Amount: $5,000
• How to Apply: Awarded based on high school transcript for freshman year; awarded based on college transcript after freshman year
• Renewal Policy: Maintain a cumulative LIFE GPA of 3.0+; complete 30 credit hours per academic year; sign SC certification form

• Eligibility Requirements: High school GPA of 3.0+ based on the SC Uniform Grading Scale
• Award Amount: $2,800
• How to Apply: Awarded based on high school transcript for freshman year; may qualify for LIFE Scholarship based on college transcript after freshman year
• Renewal Policy: Not renewable. You may qualify for the LIFE Scholarship after your first year.

The State of South Carolina has created $2500 per year Enhancements for Palmetto Fellows and LIFE Scholarship recipients majoring in science or math fields. To receive the Enhancement, a student must be a second year student or beyond and meet first-year requirements.

Generous friends and alumni have been supporting CIU students for years through a variety of grants and scholarships. The Financial Aid Office works with each student individually to determine the best overall financial aid package based on eligibility at the time of admission. CIU Scholarships and Grants are available to students enrolled full-time for the fall and spring semesters and is not awarded for summer courses.

CIU partners with a variety of organizations to offer a tuition discount to students in all of our programs. These organizations include churches, non-profits, schools, gap years, and businesses. To find out if CIU has partnered with an organization you are associated with, please check out our partnership page.

Eligibility depends on a variety of factors that include maintaining the GPA required for your program of study. For more information on donor scholarships visit www.ciu.edu/donor-scholarships.

CIU offers a discount of $500 off per semester for full-time students and $250 off per semester for part-time students who are full-time employed or volunteer first responders.

CIU offers active-duty service members, veterans, and their eligible spouses' educational benefits in the form of a tuition discount. For more detailed information, please check out our Military page.

CIU works with all branches of the U.S. military to facilitate the use of Federal Tuition Assistance to help pay for tuition and fees for students who are active-duty military. Please check out our Military page for more information.

CIU works with the Department of Veterans Affairs to facilitate the use of VA benefits to pay for tuition and fees for our veteran students and/or their spouses and children. For more information, please check out our Veteran's Benefits page.

An outside scholarship is any scholarship not awarded by the government or the school, such as a scholarship provided by a private sector company, philanthropist, or foundation. Outside scholarships are considered resources, meaning that they may reduce your financial aid package dollar for dollar.  The list below is meant to be a starting point in your scholarship search and CIU has no control over the application process or receipt of these scholarships.

Not all outside scholarships may be applicable for online students.