The SAP policy applies to the following types of Title IV aid:
Federal Pell Grant
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
Federal Work Study (FWS)
Federal Direct Loan (Subsidized and Unsubsidized)
Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)
SSC evaluates all components of SAP at the end of each term/payment period. Financial aid recipients and applicants (upon submission of the FAFSA) who are found not to be in satisfactory academic standing will be notified via their SSC email. Students can also check their eligibility status by logging into their MySeminoleState account. The SAP evaluation period covers all enrollment periods regardless of whether a student received financial assistance for courses taken during some or all of that period.
Students who reach or exceed the 150 percent maximum will not receive aid on a warning status. In addition, those students who at the time the College determines will not be able to complete the program within the 150 percent time frame are ineligible at the point of that determination, even if they have not reached the 150-percentage point.
Students who fail to reach all the SAP standards at the end of the term, therefore, are not in satisfactory academic standing and are ineligible to receive further Title IV funding. This status is known as Financial Aid Suspension. A transfer student entering SSC for their first term with a failed SAP, for any reason, will not be eligible to receive financial aid for their first term. Students may re-establish Title IV eligibility by meeting the minimum SAP standards or by having an approved SAP appeal.
The SAP policy may also apply to some other types of financial assistance that are administered by the College, which may include but not be limited to, state scholarships, institutional aid, scholarships (some may require a higher-grade point average than the minimum in the SAP policy), talent grants and athletic grants. Academic progress (and other) requirements for non-Title IV aid are described in the criteria for those forms of assistance.
SSC defines successful completion of coursework as earning a grade of A, B, C, D, P or SP. All other grades including I (Incomplete), F, NG (No Grade Assigned), W1 (Student Withdrawal), W3 (Administrative Withdrawal), W4 (No Shows), W5 (Withdrawal based on Student Petition) and U (Unsatisfactory Progress) are defined as unsuccessful completion.
When an incomplete or NG grade is finalized, it will be factored into the student’s SAP calculations at the time of the next formal evaluation.
- Enrollment Status: This is established by the number of credit hours for which a student is officially registered each term. Students must successfully complete a specific number of credits as determined by their program of study and their enrollment status.
- Total hours attempted: Students are expected to earn a degree or certificate within a specified number of attempted hours and are only eligible for financial aid during this time. The number of attempted hours cannot exceed more than 150 percent of the published length of the educational program.
All students receiving any type of federal financial aid must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards. The requirements for these standards are set by federal regulations. Students must meet all three criteria for ongoing eligibility for federal aid.
SAP Requirements
- A student must maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA);
- A student must successfully complete at least 67 percent (student completion rate - pace) of all Seminole State courses taken (including transfer courses accepted by Seminole State);
- A student must complete his/her degree within the 150 percent time frame (example: an associate degree requiring 60 credit hours must be completed within 90 credit hours). At the point that this is determined to be mathematically impossible, aid will be suspended.
All students receiving any type of federal financial aid must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards. The requirements for these standards are set by federal regulations. Students must meet all three criteria for ongoing eligibility for federal aid.
Minimum Cumulative 2.0 GPA
SSC uses the student’s grade point average (GPA) to measure qualitative progress. To meet this standard, Title IV recipients are required to achieve and maintain a minimum cumulative 2.00 GPA, which is consistent with SSC’s graduation requirements. The cumulative GPA that SSC uses to evaluate the student’s SAP status is calculated based upon all courses that have been attempted and are part of their SSC academic history. Developmental (remedial), repeated (including all previous attempts), accepted transfer credits and/or forgiven courses are also included in the SAP GPA calculation. Thus, the GPA used to evaluate SAP may be different from the student’s transcript GPA. GPAs are not rounded for SAP purposes. For example, a 1.99 cumulative GPA is considered to be not meeting this standard.
Minimum Pace-of-Progression (Pace) - Quantitative
SSC requires that all financial aid recipients successfully complete a cumulative minimum of 67 percent of the credits that they attempt. Successful completion for this standard is defined as earning a grade of A, B, C, D, P or S. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number (i.e., A percentage of 66.6667 is rounded to 67%).
Maximum Time Frame Eligibility - Quantitative
HEA requires a quantitative component that evaluates the maximum time frame in which students must complete their educational program that ensures they will complete the program within the time frame. This calculation includes all courses that are attempted. (See below for specific treatment of remedial/ESL courses.) You are required to complete your degree or certificate within 150 percent of the credits of the published length of the program. Students become ineligible for Title IV aid when it becomes mathematically impossible to complete the program within 150 percent of the length of the program, even when the student has not yet reached 150 percent.
- ESL and Developmental Courses: Developmental and ESL courses are included in the qualitative assessment of SAP. These courses will be excluded in calculating the minimum completion section of the quantitative measurement (67 percent) and from the 150 percent measurement.
Changes of Program: Students are permitted to make changes to their program in accordance with their academic goals. So long as students are meeting all other SAP standards, changes of program alone will not disqualify them for Title IV eligibility. Students who change programs while not meeting SAP maintain a SAP status of “not meets”. The SAP status will not be reevaluated until the next SAP evaluation point. If students are accepted to a bachelor’s degree program and change their program to a bachelor’s degree, at that time the student is eligible to submit a request for their SAP status to be reevaluated.
Repeated, Audited, Consortium: A repeated course, along with the original attempt, will be counted as attempted credit hours.
- All classes taken must be counted in the GPA calculation and as attempted classes regardless of grade forgiveness or academic petitions for withdrawals.
- Audited courses, continuing education, credit by examination, and any credit for prior learning option (as outlined in the catalog) are excluded when determining eligibility for financial aid.
- Courses funded through a consortium agreement are included in determining academic progress. For example, courses taken concurrently at another institution under an approved consortium agreement are included in the SAP evaluation.
Transfer Credits: HEA regulations require that at a minimum, transfer credits that count toward the student’s current program must count as both attempted and completed hours. Transfer credits accepted by SSC are counted both as attempted and completed hours and included in the GPA calculation.
| Category | Completion Rate Affected? | GPA Affected? | Maximum Time Frame Affected? |
|---|
| Incompletes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Withdrawals | Yes | No | Yes |
| Repeated Coursework | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Transfer Credits | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Financial Aid Status:
- Not determined (Undetermined) – Satisfactory Academic Progress has not been calculated at this time. Students must be in a financial aid eligible degree or certificate program of study and admitted to the College for SAP to be determined. Degree seeking status includes all certificates, associate level, baccalaureate level, and eligible clock hour programs.
- Meets SAP (Good Standing) – Student is currently meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress in all three areas: Minimum Cumulative Financial Aid GPA, Completion Ratio (Pace) and Maximum Time Frame.
- Warning – A student in Good Standing who fails to meet any of the Satisfactory Academic Progress standards will be placed on Financial Aid Warning and may continue to receive Federal Student Aid for one term.
- Suspended (Not Meet) – A student is placed on Suspension when they fail to meet any of the requirements for the second consecutive time or more. This status is also for a student who has failed to meet the requirements of their assigned financial aid Academic Plan. A student in this status is not eligible for financial aid. The student may submit a SAP appeal.
- Probation – A student is placed on Probation after submitting a written appeal and it is determined that the student will be meeting SAP by the end of the payment period.
- Academic Plan – A student is placed on probation after submitting a written appeal and the appeal is approved. An individualized financial aid Academic Plan is assigned to the student. The student must adhere to the requirements of the financial aid Academic Plan to continue receiving financial aid. The financial aid Academic Plan will be reviewed at the end of each term. If a student does not adhere to the Academic Plan and is not maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress by the end of the next term, the student will be placed on suspension. No other appeals will be accepted unless specific circumstances exist.
Appealing Financial Aid Suspension
Students on Financial Aid Suspension may submit an appeal to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships if extenuating circumstances prevented them from meeting the SAP requirements. All terms with unsuccessful grades need to be explained along with how the student plans to be academically successful going forward, provided supporting documentation, and an explanation as to what has changed so that the same situation(s) are no longer applicable. (Refer to the appeal for further details).
Students who plan to appeal are encouraged to do so as soon as possible after receiving the notification in order to ensure a determination of eligibility prior to becoming liable for tuition and fees for the following term.
Appeal Deadline
All appeals must be submitted by the last day of drop/add for the “B” session for the term for which the student is requesting consideration of reinstatement of aid eligibility. It is the responsibility of the student to decide when an appeal is appropriate and to initiate an appeal before the specified deadline.
Financial aid will be suspended if any of the following requirements are not met while a student is on an Academic Plan:
- Receive any unsuccessful grades (i.e., I (Incomplete), F, NG (No Grade Assigned), and W1/W3/W4/W5 (Withdrawal)).
If any of the requirements listed above are not met, the student's financial aid will be suspended.
Please note: per federal financial aid regulations, appeals are not automatically approved and may be denied based on failure to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements set forth at Seminole State College.
