Kent State University is designated as a standard-term institution with a traditional academic calendar
Definition of a "standard term"
- U.S. Department of Education: A semester that lasts 15-17 weeks.
- Ohio Boards of Regents: A semester comprising no fewer than 15 calendar weeks and no more than 17 calendar weeks of instructional time.
What does that mean for Kent State?
- Kent State is required to schedule all courses (at all levels and for all campuses/locations) with start and end dates that fall within the parameters of that term, with only one exception (see below).
- Example: If the fall term starts August 26 and ends December 6, then all Kent State courses must start and end within those dates.
- Courses may last the entire term or occur in modules within the term (e.g. 5-week course)
- Courses start/end dates cannot overlap terms
- One exception to the rule: A course may have a start date one or two weeks (depending on term) before the official start date of that term. However, all courses must end no later than the last official day of the term.
Fall term: No course can start more than one week before the official first day of the term. Example for fall term August 26-December 6: A course may start on August 19; however, it cannot begin any day before August 19 and cannot end after December 6.
Spring term: No course can start more than two weeks before the official first day of a term. Example for spring term January 13-May 2: A course may start December 30; however, it cannot begin any day before December 30 and cannot end after May 2.
Summer term: No course can start more than one week before the official first day of the term. Example for summer term May 19-August 15 (intersession and summer I-III): A course may start May 12; however, it cannot begin any day before May 12 and cannot end after August 15.
Why is this scheduling important?
If even a single course offered by Kent State extends beyond this one or two week allowance, the university is now considered to be a non-standard-term institution. Therefore, all students-not just the ones enrolled in that single course-are subject to a different, and more undesirable, calculation of their financial aid.
What happens if Kent State becomes a non-standard-term institution?
- Kent State will be required to use a different, more complicated, formula to calculate the Pell Grant award and the federal Direct Loan programs.
- Kent State may be required to send multiple disbursements to students (rather than a single disbursement as is done with the current standard-term formula).
- This will create a cash-management burden for Kent State because students will carry outstanding balances longer while waiting for their award to fully disburse to their account.
- Students may become unable to meet their financial obligations to remain at the university.
- Kent State will be required to disburse loam money on schedules unique to each student.
- There would be no standard response to the oft-asked question "When will I receive my loan?"
- Banner is not able to calculate grant and loan amounts using the non-standard-term formula.
- Every calculation for an individual student will need to be done manually.
- More than 19,000 students were eligible to receive a Pell Grant at Kent State for AY 2013-2014.
- The U.S. Department of Education strongly discourages institutions to operate on non-standard terms.