The 4+1 Master’s Programs allow you to enroll in two graduate courses during your senior year at Wheaton, with the courses counting toward both your undergraduate and graduate degrees. Over the next year (summer, fall, and spring terms) you will complete six more graduate courses to earn your master’s degree.
All 4+1 Master’s programs consist of 32 credits (eight 4-credit courses). Two of the courses (eight credits total) are taken during your senior year and your cost is covered by your undergraduate tuition. You’ll pay for the additional six graduate courses (24 credits) taken after you complete your bachelor’s degree. Graduate courses cost $885 per credit for the 2025-2026 school year. The full cost of the exclusively graduate coursework component of the program is $21,240 in 2025-26 (24 credits x $885).
Pending approval from the Dept. of Education, Wheaton will administer both federal and private loans for students to assist with financing their educational costs. There will be no institutional aid available for the 5th year of study.
Continued receipt of federal financial aid depends on your meeting the following academic progress standards. Some of Wheaton’s satisfactory academic progress standards are the same as the academic standing standards that the college applies to all students; others may be more stringent in order to comply with federal regulations governing student eligibility for funding. The Office of Student Financial Services reviews student records for satisfactory academic progress at the end of each academic year. Students must meet the qualitative and quantitative standards for progress to be met.
Satisfactory academic progress standards are cumulative and include all periods of the student’s enrollment in their current degree program, including those for which the student did not receive financial aid.
Wheaton does not have an explicit maximum time frame in which all students must complete their degree program. The Office of Student Financial Services utilizes the federal maximum time frame of 150% of program length as the enrollment maximum for students to maintain eligibility for federal funding. For a 32 credit master’s degree, this is equal to 48 attempted credits.
Students must earn at least 67% of attempted credits to remain eligible for federal funds. A student who has not earned 67% of his/her attempted credits is ineligible for further federal financial aid until s/he has earned enough credits to meet the 67% requirement or has an approved appeal based on an academic plan that demonstrates how credit deficiencies will be made up.
The Financial Aid Office will use rounding when calculating completion rates. As an example, a student with a 66.6% completion rate will be considered to have earned 67% of their attempted credits.
Wheaton’s satisfactory academic progress policy requires that students in a master’s degree program must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. If the student’s GPA does not meet these standards, s/he will lose eligibility for federal financial aid funding until such time as the cumulative GPA meets the required standard or the student has an approved appeal based on an academic plan that demonstrates how the GPA deficiency will be successfully addressed.
Unofficial Withdrawals
Although Wheaton’s official withdrawal policy requires a student to notify the Registrar’s office in writing of their intent to withdraw, the Office of Student Financial Services also reviews the records of all aided students who fail to complete any coursework in a given term. Failure to complete coursework is defined as receiving grades of WD or F in all courses for which the student was registered. In order to determine if such a student completed any single course, the student’s faculty members are contacted to determine a last date of attendance based upon faculty records of attendance (if taken), exams or papers completed, or other participation at an academically related activity. If it cannot be demonstrated that the student remained enrolled in at least one course for the entire period of enrollment, the Office of Student Financial Services will use the last documented date of attendance as the student’s “unofficial withdrawal” date. This date will be used in determining the Title IV refund due back to the programs. If a last date cannot be documented, the college will use the 50% point of the term as the last date of enrollment.
Course Withdrawals
Students must petition the Committee on Admission and Academic Standing in order to withdraw from any course after the add/drop period. If the committee approves the course withdrawal, the student’s record will be updated to show a “WD”, and the student’s earned credits will reflect that the course/credit was attempted, not earned. Course withdrawals will impact whether a student is making sufficient progress toward the degree to meet the quantitative satisfactory academic progress standard.
Course Incomplete
Course grades of Incomplete (I) will not be included in earned credits. When evaluating students for progress, the Office of Student Financial Services will consider any course with an “I” grade to be a credit attempted, but not earned. If this places the student on probation, or if the student is no longer making satisfactory progress based on the incomplete(s), s/he may regain eligibility once the coursework is completed and the GPA recalculated. If the Incomplete is changed to a passing grade during the next academic year, the student will regain eligibility for Federal Direct Loans. Students should contact the Student Financial Services office when their incomplete grades are updated.
At the end of the academic year, after spring grades are posted, the Office of Student Financial Services will perform a satisfactory academic progress review on all students and notify those who do not meet the progress standard (quantitative and/or qualitative).
If a student fails the SAP review, they may regain eligibility by raising their cumulative GPA to the minimum required, or by making up a credit deficiency. No federal financial aid is available for the coursework taken to earn reinstatement.
Students may appeal their ineligible satisfactory academic progress status in writing to the Office of Student Financial Services. The appeal must include an explanation of the student’s current standing, along with any special circumstances that might bear on continued eligibility. The appeal should also explain what has changed to allow the student to succeed academically in the future. The Director of Financial Aid may consult with academic administrators and faculty at Wheaton if they are considered involved parties who may be able to knowledgeably remark on the student’s specific situation.
An academic plan must be submitted documenting how the student plans to improve the grade point average and/or catch up on credits. The academic plan must have the signed support of an Academic Advisor. If it is determined that a sufficient plan is in place, the appeal may be approved to allow for a single term of additional federal student aid eligibility. After the appeal term, a student must be meeting the satisfactory academic progress standards, or making progress as required by the academic plan in order to continue to receive funds. If a student is not making satisfactory progress or meeting the terms of their academic plan after the probationary semester, it is possible for the student to submit another appeal and academic plan for consideration. All appeal decisions are made in writing and are considered final.
Students must notify the Office of Academic Advising in writing that they are leaving Wheaton in order to be eligible for a refund. The date the written notice is received by the Office of the Registrar from Academic Advising is used as the official date of withdrawal. The refund policy does not apply to students asked to leave the college involuntarily during an academic term.
All other eligible students will have their charges refunded as follows:
Fall and Spring Semesters
| If Written Notice of Withdrawal Occurs |
Tuition Refund |
| Prior to term start date |
100% |
| Week 1 |
80% |
| Week 2 |
80% |
| Week 3 |
60% |
| Week 4 |
40% |
| Week 5 |
20% |
| Week 6 |
0% |
| Week 7 |
0% |
| Week 8 |
0% |
| Week 9 |
0% |
| Week 10 |
0% |
| Week 11 |
0% |
| Week 12 |
0% |
| Week 13 |
0% |
| Week 14 – end of term |
0% |
Summer Semester
| If Written Notice of Withdrawal Occurs |
Tuition Refund |
Room Refund |
Meal Plan Refund |
| Prior to term start date |
100% |
0% |
0% |
| Day 1 |
90% |
0% |
0% |
| Day 2 |
90% |
0% |
0% |
| Day 3 |
50% |
0% |
0% |
| Day 4 |
50% |
0% |
0% |
| Day 5 - end of term |
0% |
0% |
0% |
|