In accordance with federal guidelines, a student is eligible to receive Title IV assistance if the student is enrolled in an educational program which leads to a degree, such as an associate, bachelor's, graduate, or professional degree.  OR the educational program must prepare the student for "Gainful Employment in a recognized occupation",  which are referred to as "GE Programs", and typically encompasses ‘certificate’ programs which do not culminate into a degree.  GE programs must be identified and reported to the U.S. Department of Education.

 

MSU offers educational programs which will lead to a degree, as above, and students are eligible to receive Title IV assistance. Additionally, the Teacher Certification program is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a ‘certificate’ program in which the student may receive Title IV assistance. However, the Teacher Certification program is not reported to the U.S. Department of Education as a GE program since the GE provisions require that “only teacher certification programs that result in a certificate awarded by a school” are to be considered GE programs; at MSU, the Teacher Certificate is awarded by the State of Texas (not MSU) and, therefore, is not required to be reported to the Department of Education as a GE program. 

At MSU, additional certificate programs are offered, however Title IV assistance is currently NOT approved for such programs by the U.S. Department of Education.   In accordance with current guidelines, financial aid can be offered to students in a 'certificate program' only if the SCHOOL is awarding the certificate. At MSU, the certificate is not awarded by the SCHOOL but rather from the State of Texas; the student completes all required coursework at MSU which allows the student to 'sit' for certification at the State level, but students NOT certified by the State of Texas will not be allowed to 'practice/work' in Texas. Therefore, MSU's 'certificate programs' do not fall under the purview of a Gainful Employment program and the student is not eligible to receive financial aid.  MSU's current 'certificate' programs include:

 

  • Educational Diagnostician Post-Master’s Certification
  • Principal Post-Master’s Certification
  • Kodaly Music Educators
  • Family Nurse Practitioner, Post-Master’s Certification
  • Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
  • Health Services Administration Certification
  • English-Professional and Technical Communications
  • English-Literary Studies
  • Computed Tomography
  • History Graduate Certificate
  • Business Analytics Certification
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Mammography

Additional information regarding Gainful Employment programs is available by contacting the MSU Provost Office, Hardin Administration Building, Room 114, or call 940:397-4226.