Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
Students must earn a Semester Grade Point Average (GPA) of at least a 2.0 or above on a 4.0 scale.
- Students must maintain a Cumulative GPA of 2.0 or above, which includes all previous coursework. The Financial Aid Cumulative GPA also includes any repeated courses and takes into account all grades that show up on your transcript.
- Students must complete at least 67% or more of all “units attempted” in a semester. For example, if a student attempts 12 units, the student must complete a minimum of 8.5 or more units with a 2.0 or above GPA (12 units x 67% = 8.04 units).
- Maximum Time Frame (maximum units allowed for funding)
Federal regulations allow students to receive financial aid for a limited number of units. Students are required to complete their educational goal (Degree, Certificate, and Transfer) within 150% of the published requirement of their goal.
- 150% completion includes all previous coursework attempted, even if financial aid was not received. Total units attempted refers to all classes a student received a grade in, whether it was a passing, non-passing or a “W” grade.
- Students who reach Maximum Time Frame will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension.
- Effective July 1, 2012, students are eligible for 6 full-time equivalent years (12 full-time semesters) of Pell Grant. This time frame will include all previous years a student has received Pell Grant and include a student’s entire college history. (No Appeals process is available if a student reaches the 6 year limit.)
Examples of Maximum Time Frame:
Educational Goal
Objective |
Units Required to Complete Goal
(100% of Goal) |
Maximum Units
(150% of Required Units) |
Associate Degree |
60 Units |
90 Units |
Transfer Requirements |
60 Units |
90 Units |
Certificate |
24-56 Units (depending on the major) |
36-84 Units |
The Financial Aid Office will review academic progress at the end of every Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters. Students who do not meet the minimum unit and/or GPA requirements will be placed on Warning Status for one semester and will be notified of their status. Financial aid will continue during the Warning period. Warning status may be removed if academic progress requirements are met in the Warning term.
Students who fail to meet the SAP requirements by the end of the Warning period will be ineligible to receive aid for the following semester. (Exception: Eligibility for the Board of Governors Fee Waiver is not subject to SAP Standards.) In addition, students who have exceeded the maximum time frame will be ineligible to receive aid.
Students placed on Suspension status, due to not meeting the SAP policies, have two options to be reinstated into the financial aid program:
- Student must enroll and complete coursework during the semester of Suspension without aid and complete 67% of all units attempted during the semester with a Semester and Cumulative GPA of a 2.0 or above, in order to be placed on good financial aid standing in the following semester. OR
- Student can file a Financial Aid Student Appeal Form. If approved by the Appeals Committee (see #7), students will be eligible to receive aid.
If a student decides to enroll during the semester of Suspension, without receiving aid, the student must notify the Financial Aid Office at the end of that semester in order to reevaluate the student’s financial aid file
Students who have had their financial aid suspended may complete an Appeal, with supporting documentation, if they have had extenuating circumstances that prevented them from meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress. Examples of such circumstances are:
- Illness/injury of the student
- Family Emergency or Death of an immediate family member (i.e., parents, brother/sister, grandparents, spouse, or dependent child).
- Other similar extenuating circumstances that prevented the student from meeting the Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards.
- Probation Status
The Financial Aid Appeals Committee will review all Appeals. If an Appeal is approved, pending, or denied, the student will be notified. Students whose appeals are approved will be reinstated into the financial aid program and placed on Probation status. If a student does not meet the SAP policies in the semester that they are on Probation status, then the student will be placed back on Suspension status for the following semester, until SAP policies are met again.
- Course Eligibility: The following grades will not be considered as credits successfully completed: Failing grade (F), Withdrawal (W), Incomplete (I), No Pass (NP), In Progress (IP), and Report Delayed (RD). Please refer to the College Catalog for further details about these grades. Receiving these grades will count as attempted units, will be included in your maximum time frame assessment, and may negatively affect a student’s financial aid status.
- Pass Courses (P): A Pass (P) grade is at least satisfactory or a C grade.
- Repeated Courses: Policies regarding repeated courses will follow federal regulations determined by the Department of Education. Repeated courses will still be included in the maximum time frame assessment, the Cumulative GPA assessment, and the completion rate assessment.
- Remedial Courses: Students may be paid for up to 30 units of remedial coursework. In addition, all remedial coursework will be included in the maximum time frame assessment, the Cumulative GPA assessment, and the completion rate assessment.
- ESL Courses: Students must be enrolled in an eligible program.
- Short Term/Late Start Courses: Courses will be included in the Pell Grant award if the student is enrolled in the course by the applicable award calculation date. There is no adjustment after the Award Calculation date for Fall or Spring semester. Students who do not attend the short term classes are subject to repayment.
- Course Withdrawal: Any student who completely withdraws from all their courses, after receiving any form of financial aid, may be subject to repayment of funds. Furthermore, students who drop below half-time (6 units) may be subject to repayment.
- Retroactive Payment: Once final grades are posted, a student is eligible to receive retroactive payment if they have met FAFSA eligibility guidelines, submitted all required financial aid documents/paperwork, and have met the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policies in the semester requested for payment. If a student has not met the SAP policies, then they will be ineligible to receive a retroactive payment.
- Transfer Courses: Courses taken at other institutions will be counted when calculating a student’s maximum time frame. Upper division courses from four year colleges and universities will also be counted when calculating Maximum Time Frame. All students with Bachelor’s Degrees will be considered to have exceeded the maximum time frame and must file a Maximum Time Frame Appeal. The Appeal must then be approved by the Appeal Committee before being funded for the student loan program only. Foreign courses will be counted if they have been professionally evaluated and accepted by the District. Students with a foreign Bachelors Degree will be considered to have exceeded Maximum Time Frame. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all academic transcripts are received, evaluated, and posted to their student record by the Admissions and Records Office.
- CHANGE OF MAJOR: Aid eligibility is limited to 150% of a program’s credit even if a degree is not earned.Students who need to remain enrolled beyond their maximum time frame due to a change of major will be required to submit an appeal. Please note that change of major or program may not be sufficient reason to extend the credit limit.
- EARNING ADDITIONAL DEGREES: Students that have completed educational programs, earned degree(s) and desire to obtain additional degrees are subject to maximum time frame calculations. Degrees earned include Certificate of Accomplishment, Certificate of Achievement, Associate’s of Arts and Associate’s of Science.
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