College of Adult & Professional Studies

Frequently Asked Questions:

How Is My Financial Aid Affected by...

Private scholarships?

Bethel encourages students to seek scholarships from other sources. Loan eligibility will only be reduced if needed to keep the student's total aid package within federal limits.

Dropping credits or withdrawing from Bethel?

Students in the College of Adult & Professional Studies usually must be enrolled for at least six credits per semester (half-time status) to qualify for financial aid. Some may qualify for the Federal Pell Grant or Minnesota State Grant with fewer credits, but no one qualifies for federal student loans with fewer than six credits.

Students considering dropping credits or withdrawing totally from classes during a semester are encouraged to contact the Office of University Financial Aid prior to acting to determine the impact those changes may have.

How do I find information regarding student loan consolidation?

The federal consolidation loan program allows a student to put all his/her federal educational loans into one new "consolidated" loan. As a result of adverse financial market conditions and legislative cuts, many lenders are no longer offering federal consolidation loans. For specific information regarding loan consolidation, please contact your lender.

You may use the following list of lenders' toll-free numbers and links to their consolidation information.

AFG (consolidation offered through servicer, SLFC) - 877.740.9334
Bremer Bank - 800.645.7366
Citibank - 800.967.2400
Edamerica - 800.337.1009
Key Bank - 800.539.5363
SLXpress - 866.759.7737
TCF (consolidation offered through servicer, SallieMae) - 800.533.1723
Total Higher Education or T.H.E. (formerly NorthStar) - 800.333.3110
U.S. Bank - 800.242.1200
Wells Fargo - 800.658.3567

Additional information about student loan consolidation can be found at www.finaid.org/loans/consolidation.phtml.