ES4300 - Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress

1. Institutional Regulations
   
   The College shall outline requirements that comply with Federal Regulations requiring the monitoring of satisfactory academic progress of Title IV financial aid recipients as outlined in the Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for financial aid eligibility federal regulations (34 CFR 668.34).
    
2. Procedure
   1. DMACC will comply with the federal regulations requiring that institutions monitor SAP of Title IV aid recipients as outlined in the Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress for financial aid eligibility federal regulations (34 CRF 668.34).
      
      Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid Eligibility Federal regulations (34 CFR 668.34) require a student to move toward the completion of a degree, diploma or eligible certificate within an eligible program. Specific requirements for academic progress indicate that standards are to be tracked for financial aid Warning, financial aid Suspension and financial aid Reinstatement. Federal regulations state that SAP standards must include a review of all periods of enrollment, regardless of whether or not aid was received.
       
   2. SAP will be monitored for each term of attendance. Academic progress is evaluated at the end of each payment period.
   3. Students not maintaining SAP will be identified who:
      1. Did not complete 67% of attempted credits measured cumulatively,
      2. Did not maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.00.
      3. Did not complete the student’s current program of study within 150% published timeframe as measured by attempted credits (i.e. Associate degree of 64 credits must be completed with 96 credit hours). The calculation of duration of eligibility (150%) will take precedence over the qualitative measure of GPA and quantitative measure of rate of completion.
   4. Financial aid recipients and applicants notification:
      1. Financial aid Warning status occurs after a student’s first term of not meeting the criteria outlined in Section II, subsection C 1 and/or 2. Notification is provided to students via DMACC email.
      2. Financial aid Suspension occurs when a student on Warning status fails to meet the cumulative SAP requirements (as outlined under section C, 1 and/or 2) following their subsequent term of enrollment. Students on a Suspension status will not be eligible for further financial aid. However, students subject to a Suspension status may be eligible to appeal as outlined within section K. Notification is provided to students via DMACC e-mail and US Mail.
   5. Students who choose not to appeal their Suspension status or have had an appeal denied may reestablish eligibility by completing sufficient credit needed to achieve the minimum SAP standards. A student will not be eligible for any financial aid resources that require SAP as outlined within this policy during this period of enrollment. Sitting out a period of enrollment is not the basis for an appeal of the minimum standard nor does it allow a student to re-establish eligibility.
   6. Students not on Suspension may use financial aid to repeat coursework that was not successfully completed (as measured by earned credit). Students may also use financial aid to repeat a successfully completed course one time for the purposes of improving an earned grade. Repeated coursework is counted as attempted credit each time it is attempted and earned credit once.
   7. Continuing education and credit by examination coursework are excluded when determining eligibility for financial aid and are therefore excluded when determining attempted and earned credits.
   8. All attempted developmental/remedial coursework will be included when evaluating SAP as outlined under section C, 1 and 2.
   9. Any academic amnesty/renewal procedures through which a student can apply to have credits attempted and grades earned in previous semesters excluded from the calculation of the student’s grade point average are not applicable when evaluating a student’s SAP as outlined by this policy. There is no academic amnesty/renewal process or procedure that a student may apply for associated with the measurement of SAP.
   10. Course incompletes, withdrawals, repeats, audited courses, test-out courses, and transfer credits are included in the calculation of student progression and the SAP requirements outlined under section C, 1. This includes DMACC coursework attempted while in high school via concurrent or dual enrolled credits. Course incompletes are considered credit attempted but not earned until which time credit is earned for the incomplete course (grade changes). Students are required to notify the DMACC Financial Aid Office upon a grade change in order to perform a recalculation of SAP.
   11. Appeal Process
       1. Circumstances for Appeal: A student may submit an appeal documenting extenuating circumstances that prevented him/her from meeting minimum standards. Extenuating circumstances that may be considered include: personal illness or accident, serious illness or death within immediate family, or other circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the student.
          
          Students submitting an appeal must have completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applicable to the term for which the student is appealing to have financial aid eligibility reinstated. A student that fails to complete the appropriate FAFSA will not have his or her appeal reviewed.
           
       2. Filing of an Appeal:
          1. The deadline for an appeal will be indicated on the appeal form and is established by the Financial Aid Office for each term. No late appeals will be accepted by the Financial Aid Office. An exception to this rule may be granted on a case-by-case basis by the Financial Aid Director.
          2. The student will be directed to meet with an academic advisor/counselor to develop an Academic Plan. All Academic Plans must outline specifically when a student will be back into compliance with SAP standards, provided the student follows the plan.
          3. An appeal form will be available electronically for student access.
          4. Financial aid recipients are allowed a maximum of two appeal approvals during their enrollment at DMACC. One additional appeal will be considered for students that successfully complete six credit hours applicable to their current program of study using resources other than federal financial aid. The six credit hours do not need to be taken during the same term of enrollment. This will be the final appeal. No additional appeal will be considered beyond this, regardless of the SAP Appeal Review Committee’s decision to approve or deny the appeal.
          5. All prior appeal approvals are included in the maximum number of appeals noted in paragraph I, 2, d.
          6. After review by the SAP Appeal Review Committee, an outline of the Committee’s decision will be communicated to the student by e-mail. If approved, the student will have his or her financial aid reinstated on an academic plan status pending the receipt of any additional requirement requested by the Committee. The Financial Aid Department will verify students are following their Academic Plans at the end of each term. Students subject to an Academic Plan must successfully complete 100% of their attempted credits with a minimum term GPA of 2.0. This is required to ensure that the student is on track to achieve satisfactory progress within a specific point in time.
       3. Appeal of the Financial Aid Committee’s Decision.
          Students may appeal the decision of the SAP Appeal Review Committee to the Director of Financial Aid. The request for re-appeal must be received within five business days following the appeal denial. The re-appeal must have relevant information added to the appeal that was not included in the original appeal and must be properly documented. The Director’s decision of this appeal is the final step of the financial aid SAP appeal process.
   12. Duration of Eligibility
       1. Students who have attempted 150% of the number of credits required to graduate in their current program will be notified that their eligibility for aid has ended. (Example: The student’s program requires 64 credits for completion. The student has earned 96 credits without completing the program.) He/she may appeal this decision by submitting an SAP Appeal and Academic Plan completed with an Academic Advisor/Counselor to the Financial Aid Office.
       2. In order to successfully complete an educational program of study within the maximum time frame (duration of eligibility) a student must complete a minimum of 67% of their attempted credit at the end of each payment period (term).
       3. Course incompletes, withdrawals, repeats, audits, and transfer credits are included in the calculation of student progression for duration of eligibility purposes.
       4. Only coursework acceptable for the student’s current program of study are included in the calculation of student progression for duration of eligibility. Acceptable coursework is limited to only those courses accepted by DMACC in order to meet a graduation requirement.
       5. All attempted developmental/remedial coursework are excluded from the measure of maximum time frame (duration of eligibility).

June 25, 2024 - Minor wording revisions.