Financial Aid for Academic Leave of Absence
Students who are considering studying abroad or at another institution should review the following information. This information has been compiled to help you make an informed decision when choosing to study elsewhere and to explain the necessary procedures and documentation once you have chosen to do so.

No campus-based funds will be available to students who take a leave of absence in order to pursue studies at another institution. Federal monies that you are eligible for may be used for studies at another institution. This may include Pell Grant, SEOG Grant and/or Stafford Loan funds. TAP monies from New York State will only be available if you chose to attend another New York institution. If you are a TAP recipient and will be attending another New York institution, then you may check with the financial aid office for further information about using your TAP monies for your study abroad.

Once you have received your approval from Bard for an Academic Leave of Absence, then you should stop in the Financial Aid Office to discuss your aid and what you need to do to use it for your study elsewhere. Our office needs five important things for federal money to be used elsewhere:

1. Approval from Bard that the course work done at another institution will be accepted toward degree requirements at Bard.
2. Actual charges or costs for the study abroad program. This can be satisfied by providing catalogue statements or any official list of costs you may receive from your study abroad program.
3. Enrollment certification from the school or program you will be attending.
4. Written authorization from you, the student, directing Bard to send the refund of your financial aid funds to yourself or to another person. You may wish to have these funds sent to your program, and, if so, please provide the specific address.
5. A consortium agreement between Bard and your study abroad institution. This will be handled by our office, but we will need your program address in order to send them the appropriate documentation.

If any of these documents are missing, then your aid will not be forwarded on. You should follow up with our office to be sure that we have all the necessary documentation. Also, be sure to remember that you still need to complete your financial aid applications and provide tax information, as you would normally. If you are studying abroad when aid application would typically be mailed out for the following year, be sure that you receive yours and that they are completed by the applicable deadlines.

Study abroad does not jeopardize the renewal of your Bard Scholarship, as long as you remain in good academic standing and the appropriate forms (Profile and/or FAFSA) have been filed for the semester that you will be returning.

Click here to download a PDF of the Academic Leave of Absence form.