Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)

Checking Your Application Status

You can check the status of your TAP Application online on the HESC website.

Common Reasons Why Students Lose their New York State Award Payments

There a number of reasons that can cause students to lose their TAP award. Refer to this article for more information.

Reinstatement of Good Academic Standing

Students who have lost good academic standing may restore this standing in one of the following ways:

• Make up past academic deficiencies by completing one or more semesters of studies without receiving any state grants or scholarships.
• Be readmitted to the school after an absence of at least one calendar year.
• Be granted a one-time TAP waiver.

One-time TAP Waiver

Regulations permit students to receive a one-time waiver of the good academic standing requirement as an undergraduate student except for students applying for a GPA waiver. Reasons for granting a waiver may include:

• Personal illness involving either hospitalization or extended home confinement
• Illness in the immediate family requiring your absence from classes for an extended period of time
• Emotionally disabling condition that prevented you from attending classes
• Change in working conditions of your job on which you and your family are dependent
• Military duty, incarceration, or other involvement with government agencies

The one-time TAP waiver appeal is available on the Financial Aid Resources and Forms webpage.

Ability to Benefit

Students who have not graduated from high school in the United States or earned a high school equivalency diploma (GED) must pass a federally approved  “Ability to Benefit” test.

• The ATB regulation applies to all students who are first-time state aid recipients in the 2006–07 academic year or thereafter.
• Students must take the ATB exam within the add/drop period of the term.

Repeated Courses

Repeated courses in which you have already received a passing grade cannot be included in meeting the TAP full-time study requirement unless:

• You repeat a course for additional credit (e.g., certain seminar courses).
• You need to meet a minimum grade requirement for that course. (Check the college Bulletin or specific department. GPA requirements do not count.)

You can use the student FACTS Guide for State Financial Aid Eligibility to learn how to review course applicability.

Summer TAP

Students must have been registered at Brooklyn College in both the fall and spring semesters prior to summer.

Students must have earned a minimum of 24 credits toward their degree requirements during the prior two semesters and have been full-time in the spring semester prior to summer. The equivalent of three credit remedial hours per semester may be included in the 24 credits earned.

Students must register for a minimum of six credits and will use half the TAP award. Students who register for 12 or more credits will use a full semester award.

All other TAP requirements must also be met.

Remedial Courses

For payment purposes, remedial courses may be counted toward full-time study requirements. Up to one half of a student’s minimum course load can consist of noncredit remedial courses (for example, six credits at a semester institution), except that during the first term of college-level study, the minimum full-time course load of 12 semester hours can include up to nine hours of noncredit remedial hours. Credit-bearing courses need equal only one-fourth the minimum full-time study requirement (e.g., three credits at a semester institution).