Failure is an option in federal financial aid | The Augusta Chronicle

A potentially costly loophole in Pell Grant funding is creating a system at colleges and universities where taxpayers pay students thousands of federal dollars to fail courses, possibly more than once.

Instead of students filing a late withdrawal and having to repay all or part of their federal financial aid, Pell Grant rules allow an alternative course of action: fail on purpose and avoid reimbursing the government for flunked courses, which at Augusta Tech­nical College and Geor­gia Re­gents University costs between $300 and $590 per class.

The two schools have successfully put policies into place in recent years to prevent dropout scams and online fraud rings. The Pell scheme is one administrators know exists, but they are not certain how to track or stop.

Through preventative measures, which include stricter attendance policies, harsher penalties and tougher eligibility requirements, GRU has reduced warnings and academic probations issued to Pell recipients by 60 percent since 2011, according to data provided to The Augusta Chronicle.

At Augusta Tech, the 72 percent success rate among Pell recipients nearly matched all course enrollment, 75 percent, in 2011, according to an annual school report.

However, in 2012, 71 percent of the 1,805 courses failed at Augusta Tech were by Pell recipients. So far in 2013, GRU has issued 211 warnings and placed 209 Pell students on probation for failing to make satisfactory academic progress, which under federal standards is a GPA of a C or better.

via Failure is an option in federal financial aid | The Augusta Chronicle.