Maximum Timeframe Requirements

To be eligible for federal aid, students must complete their degree requirements within 150 percent of the program's published length as measured in academic units. For institutional aid, the standard maximum timeframe is four years.

A student can reference the Academic Catalog to find the program's length.

Maximum Timeframe for Federal Aid

Undergraduate degrees, generally, require 45 units. Therefore, the standard maximum timeframe for an undergraduate degree is 45 x 1.5 = 67.5 attempted units.

Some programs require more units than the standard 45. If a program is longer, multiply the required units by 1.5 to arrive at the maximum length.

Once it becomes mathematically impossible to graduate within 150% of the program length, students are ineligible for federal financial aid. If the difference between the maximum timeframe is smaller than what is required to complete the program, the student is then not eligible for financial aid.

Maximum Timeframe for Institutional Aid

In general, the maximum timeframe for institutional aid for an undergraduate degree program is four years, not including aid received over summer terms. All full-time quarters of enrollment (regardless of funding received) will be considered towards the four-year maximum. For more information about how enrollment impacts aid eligibility, check out the Enrollment Status page.