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High School Status Discrepancy

Overview

The Financial Aid office issues High School Status Discrepancy forms when a student's high school data in Colleague does not align with the information provided on their FAFSA.

Processing Steps

  1. Access the Student Record

    • Navigate to Colleague → IASU.

  2. Verify High School Information

    • Detail into the student's high school.
    • Verify if we have the correct high school graduation status.
      • If it is correct, the student needs to update their FAFSA application. Once it is updated, the student needs to notify our Financial Aid office.
      • If it is incorrect, proceed to the following steps.

  3. Request Information

    • Request the student's official high school diploma or official high school transcript showing awarding of diploma.
      • Make copies.
      • Scan to Laserfiche.

  4. Update Record

    • Navigate to IASU.

      • Detail into High School or adult education center.
      • Find Graduation Type and update as appropriate:
      Graduation Type What It Means
      Diploma High school diploma from a school; will be on their official transcript
      Proficiency Exam Equivalent to GED
      High School Equivalency GED per Financial Aid
      HiSET GED
      GED State-issued GED certificate
      Foreign Diploma Completed high school in another country

  5. Save Changes

    • Click Save All to apply the update to the student's record.

Completion

  • Mark the form and return it to the student to turn into Financial Aid.
  • We can archive the Financial Aid form instead of having the student fill out a new Change of Information Request.

Edge Cases & Notes

Student Completed High School in Another Country

  • Change to Foreign Diploma.
  • We do not need to ask for documentation.

If It Is an Old Form

  • The form displays the term it is referencing.
  • If it is for a past term, students no longer need it.
  • Have them contact Financial Aid.

Can We Use Unofficial Transcripts?

  • We can use unofficial transcripts per Hung.

From H. Nguyen, 12/30/21

For the high school transcript I would update it since it is self-reported on CCCApply. However, in order for us to remove the bachelor's degree we would need proof of non-enrollment/degree because it may make the student eligible or ineligible for financial aid.

Student Cannot Obtain High School Transcripts or Diploma

  • Case-by-case review.
  • Check w/ Dean/Associate Dean.

After Receiving Letter of Non-Enrollment for University

  • Financial Aid will take over and have the student sign a form stating the student made a mistake in reporting they received a bachelor's degree, and they will no longer be able to transfer units from that program to SAC.

Diploma vs. GED — Full Explanation

From Sarah Salas

High school diploma is different from the GED. High School diploma is a degree program where students complete a minimum of 160 credits. The record will be on their official transcript. GED/HiSET is an aptitude test or an equivalency to the High School diploma — students take a state (California) test and pass or fail based on their score. There are 3 portions to the test and a fee is associated with it. Completion of the GED/HiSET equivalency test is not recorded in their transcript since they are taking the test issued by the state. Students who complete the test get their result directly from the state GED/HiSET office.

  • GEDs are not posted on high school diplomas.