| Federal
law requires students receiving federal student
aid to maintain satisfactory academic progress
as defined by the institution. Federal student
aid includes the Federal Pell Grant, Federal
Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant,
Federal Work Study and Federal Family Educational
Loan program. The North Carolina Student Incentive
Grant and the North Carolina Community College
Grant also require maintenance of satisfactory
academic progress. Regulations for satisfactory
academic progress were published Apr. 29,
1994 in the Compilation of Student Aid Regulations,
34CFR, 668.7 (c) (1-3), published May 1995.
The school’s Satisfactory Academic Progress
policy must include (1) a qualitative measure
and (2) a quantitative measure.
Qualitative Measure
A qualitative measure is defined as the
Grade Point Average (GPA) on the courses
a student has completed. The cumulative
GPA grade point average schedule as stated
below is the qualitative measure followed
for financial aid purposes.
Cumulative
Hours Attempted |
GPA
Satisfactory Level |
6
- 25 |
1.5 |
26
- 40 |
1.75 |
41
or more |
2.0
|
Any student who has a cumulative GPA of less
than the satisfactory level will be placed
on financial aid probation. Students will
receive a letter from the Financial Aid Officer
notifying them of this probation time period.
Students receiving financial aid benefits
must be aware that a 2.0 GPA in their respective
academic programs is necessary for graduation.
Students
enrolled in any term on financial aid probation
will be required to earn a minimum GPA of
2.0 during the probation term.
If
the student does not earn a 2.0 GPA during
the probation term, then all financial aid
will be suspended. The student will remain
on financial aid suspension until the student
earns a 2.0 GPA on a subsequent term. It
is the responsibility of students to notify
the Financial Aid Officer when they earn
the 2.0 to re-establish eligibility.
The
student will be considered to be on continued
financial aid probation as long as the cumulative
GPA is under a 2.0. The student will be
removed from financial aid probation and
considered to be in good standing when his
cumulative GPA reaches or exceeds the satisfactory
level as stated above.
Qualitative
standard are cumulative and include all
periods of enrollment, even those for which
the student did not receive funds from student
financial aid programs.
Quantitative Measure
A quantitative measure is defined as the
number or percentage of courses, credit
hours or clock hours completed. Students
receiving financial aid will have a maximum
time frame in which they are expected to
complete the program. At SCC, this time
frame is 150 percent of the established
length of the program for full-time students.
This time frame is measured in terms of
credit hours attempted.
Example:
If 75 credit hour are required to complete
a degree, students may attempt a maximum
of 113 hours before they exceed their eligibility
for Federal Student Financial Aid (75 hours
X 150% = 113 hours). This means a student
in Automotive Technology (A60160), which
requires 75 credit hours, must complete
the program in 113 hours to still be eligible
for financial aid.
In
order to complete a program in the 150 percent
time frame as stated by federal regulations,
the student is required to earn or complete
70% of the credit hours attempted at the
end of designated increments during the
academic year. Those designated increments
are the end of fall semester and the end
of spring semester.
| Example: |
| Fall
Semester |
|
14 |
credit
hours attempted |
| Spring
Semester |
|
12
|
credit
hours attempted |
| |
|
_____ |
_____________________________________________ |
| Total
|
|
26 |
X
.70 = 18 credit hours must be earned |
Only
grades of A, B, C, D, or S will be considered
as earned hours. Grades of F, I, CS and
W will not be counted as hours earned, but
will count as hours attempted.
Quantitative
Satisfactory Academic Progress is cumulative
and covers all periods of enrollment, including
those for which the student did not receive
funds from Title IV programs.
If
the student has not earned 70% of the credit
hours attempted at the end of the incremental
period, then the student will be placed
on financial aid probation. The student
will be allowed one more increment to re-establish
satisfactory academic progress. If the student
fails to re-establish satisfactory academic
progress, financial aid will be suspended.
Financial aid will remain suspended until
students enroll for subsequent terms at
their own expense and complete the terms
to satisfy satisfactory academic progress.
Once standards are re-established, eligibility
will be reinstated for the subsequent academic
term.
| Withdrawals |
Grades
of “W” are calculated as
hours attempted |
| Incompletes |
Grades
of “I” are calculated as
hours attempted |
| Never
Attendeds |
Grades
of “NA” do not count as
hours attempted or hours earned |
| Repeats |
Courses
which students are repeating are calculated
as hours attempted. Refer to college
policy for details. |
| Audits |
Grades
of “AU” are not counted
in determining eligibility for receiving
or maintaining financial aid |
|
