Ability Benefit

Ability to Benefit applies to students who are admitted to a post-secondary institution but who do not have a high school diploma or GED. New students admitted after July 1, 2012 on the Ability to Benefit are no longer eligible to receive Title IV Funding regardless of scores received on the ACCUPLACER test. However, students who have attended prior to July 1, 2012 are still eligible to receive Title IV Funding, if they have passed the standardized ACCUPLACER test. A student admitted on the basis of Ability to Benefit must complete the following conditions:

Step 1: Pass an Accuplacer test that measures the student’s aptitude to successfully complete the course of study. If the student does not meet the cut scores of Sentence Skills: 60, Reading Comprehension: 55 and Arithmetic: 34, then the student is not eligible for Title IV funding. These scores are established by the Department of Education
Step 2: If the student fails the Accuplacer test mentioned in Step 1, they will be required to enroll in college introductory coursework.
Step 3: Students currently enrolled in high school can only enroll as a part-time student. High school students are not eligible for Title IV funding. (The compulsory age in the State of Montana is 16 years old or completion of the 8th grade.)