Financial Aid Warning
To determine your academic progress status and eligibility for financial aid, your academic record will be evaluated at the end of each term. Following the first term of failure to maintain cumulative satisfactory academic progress, you will be granted one term to regain satisfactory academic progress. This term is known as your “Warning” term. During your Warning term, you may continue to receive financial aid provided you are otherwise eligible.
Participation in the following success strategies while on warning may positively impact students’ performance as well as positively impact any appeal due to the loss of financial aid. It is recommended that students do the following.
- When offered, complete an “Academic Success Workshop” during the semester on warning.
- Meet with student’s success coach or academic advisor twice during the semester on warning.
- Consider repeating failed courses within a program of study.
- Consider limiting enrollment to nine hours or less for the semester.
- Consider the mode (face-to-face, hybrid, online) and length (16 weeks, 12 weeks, 8 weeks, other) of courses for the semester.
- Visit or access student success services such as computer lab, free tutoring services or workshops provided by an instructor or success coach.
If you are able to regain satisfactory academic progress with the courses completed successfully during your warning term, the warning status is lifted. If you have not regained satisfactory academic progress, you are placed on financial aid suspension and you are no longer eligible for financial aid at SCC until your cumulative progress is again satisfactory.
Financial Aid Suspension
Students who fail to meet the conditions of a warning, which are to maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 and complete 67% of classes attempted, are placed on suspension. Once on suspension, the student will be notified of the termination of financial aid. Students who are placed on suspension forfeit their financial aid. Students may either appeal to have their financial aid eligibility reinstated or may notify the financial aid office once they are meeting the satisfactory academic progress policy for students receiving financial aid so that their financial aid eligibility can be reconsidered.
Below are options to regain financial aid eligibility:
Financial Aid Probation
Students who are suspended may appeal to the financial aid office to have their financial aid eligibility reinstated. The reinstatement is for one probationary payment period (semester). (See the appeal process outlined below). A student on probation may not receive financial aid for the subsequent payment period unless:
- The student is now meeting the financial aid satisfactory academic progress policy at the end of the probation period (semester).
- The financial aid office determines the student met the requirements specified in the appeal which is maintaining a 2.0 GPA and a 75% completion rate for each semester while on probation. This is a Financial Aid Success Plan to help students regain satisfactory academic progress.
Continued Probation
As long as the student continues to make progress as identified by the Financial Aid Student Success Plan, the student will remain eligible for financial aid on continued probation until the expiration date of their Financial Aid Student Success Plan. Students will be notified of their status at the end of each payment period (semester) or when they first apply for financial aid.
Financial Aid Appeal Process
Students who are suspended for not making satisfactory academic progress standards may appeal to the financial aid office for reinstatement of financial aid eligibility for one semester if they have extenuating circumstances which are generally beyond their control such as death in the immediate family, serious illness or injury, etc. The procedure for appeal is:
- Complete and submit the appropriate Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals Request form with all required documentation by designated deadline. Appeal forms may be obtained from the financial aid website or the financial aid office.
- The student will indicate to the financial aid office the reasons why he/she did not make satisfactory academic progress and why his/her financial aid should not be suspended.
- Documentation to support the appeal is required and must be attached to the appeal form. Appeals submitted without documentation will not be reviewed.
Approved Appeals
If your appeal is approved, you will be placed on “Probation with Appeal” and expected to follow your Financial Aid Student Success Plan as implemented by financial aid office until the completion of current program of study or expiration of the Plan.
Students that fail to meet satisfactory academic progress during the probationary semester or as designated in the Financial Aid Student Success Plan, may be denied for future financial aid. At this point, students may be referred to the Satisfactory Academic Appeals Committee. The Satisfactory Academic Appeals Committee (SAP Committee) will review the appeal and documentation to determine whether or not students’ financial aid eligibility will be reinstated. Students will be able to view the decision on their Self-Service account under Financial Aid Information. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reinstatement of eligibility for financial aid. Each appeal is reviewed on a case by case basis. Paying out of pocket for classes or sitting out a semester is not grounds for reinstatement of aid. Students must bring their academic progress back into compliance or have an appeal approved to have aid reinstated.
Subsequent appeals may be requested for consideration, but the student will not be allowed to submit it for the same issue that led to the first appeal, such as the same medical condition. A student must have very unusual circumstances to warrant a second appeal.
Denied Appeals
If a student’s appeal is denied or if the student does not meet the conditions of an approved appeal, the student will be asked to attend at his/her own expense and earn the deficiency either in the hours, GPA or both (a student cannot make up a deficiency if his/her appeal was due to exceeding the maximum timeframe to earn a degree). If a student did not maintain SAP due to a deficiency in credit hours, a student may take the credit hours at another institution as long as SCC accepts the transfer hours. After the student completes the semester (or semesters), he/she must submit an appeal form to the financial aid office so his/her progress can be reevaluated.
The decision of the Satisfactory Appeals Committee is final.
NOTE: All notices regarding students’ academic progress for financial aid purposes will be available through the Financial Aid section of students’ Self-Service account. Students are responsible for monitoring this information.