ATTENTION
NATIONAL SMART GRANT RECIPIENTS

CONGRATULATIONS!
The Financial Aid Deparment at Western Washington University congratulates you on the academic achievements you have made that lead to your National SMART (Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent) Grant award. The WWU Registrar's Office has confirmed that you are in your 3rd or 4th year of study in a SMART Grant eligible program and have earned a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00. In addition, information that you reported on your FAFSA indicated that you are a U.S. citizen and have met need-based aid requirements for this program.

WHY THIS NOTICE?
Federal requirements to qualify and maintain eligibility for the National SMART Grant program are very strict. We regret the need to follow up with programmatic requirements that pertain to your SMART Grant eligibility. However, recent approval of this program prevented the WWU Financial Aid Department and the U.S. Department of Education from including this information via standard publications. In the interests of helping you maintain your eligibility for this program, we advise you of the following requirements.

MINIMUM 12-CREDIT ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENT
You must be enrolled for at least 12 credits to receive and maintain eligibility for your SMART Grant. If you reduce your enrollment below 12 credits by the financial aid lock date (second Friday of the quarter), you will lose eligibility for your SMART Grant disbursement and must repay it entirely. Although the minimum number of credits needed to meet the SMART Grant enrollment requirement consists of only 12 credits, we recommend that you complete at least 15 credits per quarter because 45 credits must be completed per academic year to progress to the next class level and graduate in a timely manner.

SIMULTANEOUS FEDERAL PELL GRANT ELIGIBILITY/PAYMENT
You must be eligible for and receive a Federal Pell Grant payment during the same quarter in which you receive your SMART Grant. If you lose your Federal Pell Grant eligibility, you will also lose your SMART Grant eligibility.

ELIGIBILITY TIMEFRAME
The SMART Grant can only be awarded to eligible students during theirthird and/or fourth academic years of college. The third academic year at Western consists of a minimum of 30 weeks and 90-134 credits; the fourth academic year consists of a minimum of 30 weeks and135-180 credits. If you have already completed a portion of your third and fourth academic years, you cannot receive a SMART Grant for the remainder of this two-year timeframe, defined in part by the number of credits you have completed.

CANNOT EXCEED CALCULATED NEED
As with other need-based Federal student aid programs, the SMART Grant in combination with other aid you receive cannot exceed your calculated financial need. If conditions arise that create an overaward, efforts will be made to reduce any loan or work study eligibility you have first to preserve your SMART Grant. If this is not possible, your SMART Grant must be reduced in accordance with federal law.

MINIMUM CUMULATIVE 3.00 GPA REQUIREMENT
To maintain your SMART Grant eligibility, you must earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00, as recorded by the WWU Registrar's Office. If your cumulative GPA falls below 3.00, you will lose eligibility for the SMART Grant program. You cannot use an appeal process to regain eligibility. Instead, you would be considered for SMART Grant eligibility again when your cumulative GPA rose to 3.00 or above.

TOTAL WITHDRAWAL WITHIN THE FIRST 60% OF THE QUARTER
If you withdraw from all of your classes within the first 60% of the quarter, you may be required to repay all or part of your SMART Grant in accordance with Federal regulations.

SUBJECT TO SAP REQUIREMENTS
For continued receipt of your SMART Grant, you are subject to published standard satisfactory academic progress requirements for financial aid recipients, as well as the minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA requirement.

AWARDS DETERMINED THROUGH THE FINANCIAL AID DEPARTMENT
Final eligibility for the SMART Grant program shall be determined through the Financial Aid Department, based on federal requirements and availability of funds. The Financial Aid Department may require additional documentation to determine your eligibility for SMART Grant funds.

Please do not return this form; keep it for your records. For additional information, please contact Financial Aid: (360) 650- 3470.