Financial Aid Suspension
Undergraduate students who do not meet the minimum undergraduate standard will be placed on financial aid suspension and lose their eligibility to participate in federal student aid programs. Students on financial aid suspension will remain ineligible for Title IV federal student assistance until they take actions that once again bring them into compliance with the appropriate progress standard.
Right to Appeal
Students who have been placed on financial aid suspension may appeal through the normal institutional academic appeals process to retain eligibility for Title IV assistance. Students may appeal any component of the SAP standard they have not been able to meet including not meeting the minimum GPA and exceeding the maximum time-frame for program completion. An appeal must be based upon mitigating circumstances resulting from events such as personal illness or injury, illness or death of a family member, loss of employment, or changes in the academic program. The student’s appeal must include:
- the reasons why the student failed to make SAP
- what has changed in his or her situation that will allow the student to demonstrate SAP at the next evaluation.
The appeal may be granted if the school:
- Determines that the student will be able to meet the appropriate SAP standard by the end of the next payment period (semester) OR
- Develops an academic plan for the student that, if followed, will ensure that the student will be able to meet the appropriate SAP standard by a specific point in time or achieve completion of his or her academic program.
Title IV appeals will be reviewed by a college committee made up of representatives from counseling, SEEK, student affairs, financial aid and the Registrar, who can make an accurate academic assessment of the student’s capability to meet the appropriate SAP standard by the next payment period/semester. If the committee determines that the student should be able to meet the SAP standards by the end of the next semester, the student may be placed on financial aid probation without an academic plan.
If the committee determines that the student will require more than one payment period to meet SAP, it may develop an individual academic plan that outlines a detailed strategy for the student to regain SAP eligibility within a certain probationary timeframe. The plan can be for one payment period/semester or longer. The academic plan should specify conditions that must be met for the period covered by the appeal such as: the specific coursework that must be taken, the minimum GPA that must be attained, and the number of credits that must be successfully completed.