Financial aid is handled for CUNY BA students at the home colleges. CUNY BA students follow the same procedures as other CUNY students when applying for and accepting financial aid. Students are responsible for knowing and abiding by all terms, responsibilities and agreements of accepting financial aid; CUNY BA does not provide financial aid advising.
One type of financial aid, TAP (the New York State Tuition Assistance Program), has several requirements for students’ eligibility. One critical requirement is that students must be taking degree-required courses to receive TAP; this can sometimes prove tricky for CUNY BA students.
If you receive an email specifically stating that you are ineligible for TAP because of your course selection, contact your academic advisor at CUNY BA.
You must have an up-to-date Area of Concentration form (or forms) on file with the CUNY BA office, especially if you have or are approaching 100+ credits. CUNY BA students who have reached 120 credits will undergo additional scrutiny.
It may be that you do not qualify for TAP for a reason other than degree progress. For instance, you might not have completed enough credits in your last semester to qualify, you might have received Veteran’s benefits that preclude TAP, or you might even have already received the maximum number of TAP awards (undergraduate students can receive payments for a total of four academic years – eight semesters). CUNY BA can only assist when there is a question of you taking courses that are directly applicable to your degree. For other situations, contact the TAP Certifying Official at your home college financial aid office.
Learn more about TAP here: http://www.cuny.edu/admissions/financial-aid/student-eligibility/require-nysa.html