The Mysterious Asterisk

If you teach a credit class, you may have noticed that a couple of your students have an asterisk leading their row of information on your eServices roster. Many teachers have long wondered what that symbol means since the legends at the bottom of the roster do not include any explanation for the mysterious asterisk. What, then, is that symbol for? Come close, if you are dying to know, and I will whisper in your ear. That symbol marks a student receiving federal assistance, according to our Financial Aid Office.

Why do these students need to be so marked? You may wonder. After all, it is illegal to discriminate against anyone based on his or her socio-economic status and a slew of other descriptors. Well, maybe a legitimate concern about these students receiving a different treatment in the class can explain the veil of secrecy that surrounds these stars.

But the truth has to be told now, as, increasingly, faculty are being asked to monitor the attendance of these students and to drop them whenever they stop attending the class throughout the semester because of what's at stake.

In a nutshell, if a student with federal aid stops attending a class before the "freeze date," which, in financial aid parlance, refers to the 50% point of the semester--which, by the way, is this coming Saturday, March 14th, for the current semester--the student needs to repay a portion of the award he or she has received. Completely quit school by the 60% point, i.e. Week #10 of the semester, and you will be returned to the so-called Title IV status, meaning a calculation formula, whose intricacies I will never pretend to know, will be used to determine the money amount you are entitled to. In any case, the college will have to repay a percentage of the money to Uncle Sam--and out of our general fund to boot. Ouch! Especially in these times of crisis.

Since a financial aid student is considered completely withdrawn from the college based on his or her last date of attendance, it is very important for faculty to monitor their attendance and drop them in a timely fashion. Throughout the semester, there are various opportunities for an instructor to report that a financial aid student is no longer attending or participating in their course. In other words, the window for dropping these students for nonattendance is always open, unlike that for other students. Of course, when dropping non-attending financial aid students, you will be asked to enter a last date of attendance, whose importance I hope you now understand clearly.

Want grade differentiation? Try FW and F. The former is preferred by the Financial Aid Office for those students who have stopped attending without dropping the class in a timely fashion, like, before this coming Saturday for a "W" grade. The grade of "F" should be for anyone who has stayed but earned the grade due to the poor quality of his or her coursework. I know, I know, this is controversial, especially among faculty as some have seen a tad of unfairness in this differentiation. But in reality all of these grades--"W," "FW," and "F"--are in the same sub-par category. The student will have to repeat the course to remedy the deficiency and to do so within a given number of times allowed.

We are realistic. We know the great majority of our students, with financial aid or without, are here to learn, but there are some who appear to take the money and run, perhaps more out of innocence and ignorance than out of turpitude. Just as it is our job to provide quality education to anyone without discrimination, it is also our job, in my opinion, to seek win-win solutions first, such as reaching out to the mysteriously-marked students who have been cutting class and trying to persuade them to come back and stay in school.

Of course, when it is necessary to drop such a student, may your click be swift and guiltless.

P.S. Here's a resource handout adapted from information provided by the Financial Aid Office.