Satisfactory
Academic Progress Policy
Federal regulations require students to make satisfactory
academic progress toward the completion of a Certificate or Associate Degree
to be eligible for financial aid. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for
financial aid recipients is applied after students have attempted at least
12 credits at GRCC. (Progress at institutions other than GRCC will not be
considered.) Satisfactory Academic Progress will be reviewed at the end
of Winter Semester.
Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress Receiving Financial Aid
A.
Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of not less
than the following:
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Credit Hours
Attempted
1 – 14
15 – 28
29 and above
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Minimum Cumulative
GPA Required
1.50
1.75
2.00
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B. Students must complete, with a passing
grade, a minimum of 65% of all the credit hours attempted at GRCC, whether
or not financial aid was received for those attempted credits.
-
Grades of A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D and D-
are considered passing.
-
Grades of E, I, X, V, W and N are not considered passing,
and must be considered attempted credits.
-
If a student repeats a course, the lower grade is not
considered passing and the higher grade is considered passing (if the
higher grade is one of the grades in item 1 above).
-
Noncredit remedial course work is not included in the
number of credits attempted or completed.
C. Satisfactory Academic Progress also
requires that financial aid recipients complete their Associate Degree or
Certificate within the time frame which, by federal regulation, is 150%
of the published length of the program. For example, if a student is in
an Associate Degree program that requires 62 credits, the degree must be
completed in a maximum of 150% of 62 credits, or 93 credits including both
attempted and completed. (Students should consult the GRCC Catalog to find
the number of credits required in their Degree or Certificate program, then
multiply that number by 1.5 to determine the maximum number of credits.
-
When students have attempted the maximum number of credits,
financial aid will be terminated.
-
All credits attempted must be taken into consideration
when determining the maximum number of credits, whether or not students
received aid for those attempted credits.
-
All grades listed in Section B, Items 1 and 2 above,
and repeated courses must be counted in determining the maximum number
of credits.
Financial Aid
Suspension
Students not meeting
the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements at the end of the Winter
semester will be placed on financial aid suspension. Students on suspension
are not eligible to receive financial aid.
Suspension Appeals
If students fail
to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress guidelines due to circumstances beyond
their reasonable control, they may appeal their suspension. All appeals
must be submitted in writing on the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal
Form to the Financial Aid Office. Students submitting appeals should state
the reasons why satisfactory academic progress was not made and discuss
actions that have been or will be taken to make satisfactory progress in
the future. Neutral third party documentation supporting the reasons
for the appeal must be attached or the appeal will be denied. Statements
from family members and friends are not considered neutral and will not
be accepted. Unusual circumstances beyond the reasonable control of
the student, such as injury or illness, death of a relative, or other special
circumstances may be grounds for a successful appeal.
Appeals must be received no later than one week before the semester begins.
Appeals received after that time will be considered to be appeals for the
following semester, unless the student has registered and paid for their
classes. If an appeal is approved, the student will be placed on extended
probation on a semester-by-semester basis until they meet the SAP requirements.
Federal Financial
Aid Recipients Withdrawal Information
Federal financial aid recipients who withdraw from all of their classes
during a semester are subject to the Federal Return of Funds Policy. This
policy determines the amount of federal aid students earn based on the amount
of time they were enrolled for the semester. Federal aid will be reduced
and students will be required to repay both the federal financial aid programs
and GRCC for the amounts returned to the program. Students who fail to make
arrangements to repay the programs within 45 days of notification will be
reported as overpayments to the United States Department of Education. Students
in overpayment are ineligible for future financial aid at any institution.
Complete examples of the Federal Return of Funds calculations are available
in the GRCC Financial Aid and Cashier's Offices. Students are encouraged
to review these examples prior to withdrawing from classes.
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