Policy Frequently Asked Question: Ability to Benefit Criteria

One of our student applicants has not received a high school diploma, and she does not have a General Educational Development diploma. She has completed several courses at two separate local community colleges and has done very well. Four of those classes, totaling 12 credit hours, will apply to the program of study in which she’s enrolling at our school. Can we use those 12 credit hours to satisfy the new ability to benefit provisions from last year’s change in financial aid regulations, and not have the student take an ability to benefit test?

The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 provides that a school may consider a student to have satisfied the ability to benefit criteria if the student successfully completes at least six credit hours, or their equivalent, in course work applicable to a degree or certificate offered by the school. Neither the statute nor the Dear Colleague Letter that interprets it specifies that the student must have completed the course work at the school at which the student is seeking the degree. With that in mind, USA Funds^® believes that a school may accept transfer course work that it would otherwise accept to fulfill its usual academic requirements to fulfill the ability to benefit requirement.