Federal regulations require colleges to convert hours for certain diploma programs based on a federally regulated formula. Most often the conversion process results in lower Pell payments per term. This means the determination of enrollment status (full-time, half-time, etc.) for financial aid purposes, by federal regulations, is different for diploma programs.

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This determination of enrollment status is different because the program has one or more courses that cannot be used toward a two-year associates program. Enrollment status determination for diploma programs involves taking each course’s clock/contact hours a student takes each semester and dividing it by 30. These converted credits are used to determine financial aid eligibility, and your status will be based on the financial aid converted hours, NOT the actual credit hours.

Example: If you are enrolled in a 3 credit hour course that has 75 clock hours, you would divide 30 into the 75 clock hours (75/30=2.5). Therefore, you would end up being eligible for only 2 financial aid credit hours. *SPECIAL NOTE: DO NOT ROUND UP WHEN TOTALING HOURS.

See below for a list of Madison College programs that require a Clock to Credit Conversion.

Partial Financial Aid Available

The programs listed below are eligible for partial financial aid assistance. Financial Aid for these programs is based on a federally regulated formula, requiring a Clock to Credit conversion.