Maintaining Federal Eligibility

Federal Academic Requirements for Aid

To maintain eligibility for federal financial aid (Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG Grant, Federal Direct Loans, Federal Work-Study, and the GI Bill^®), it's important to meet certain academic standards. Our Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy ensures that students are successfully completing their coursework and working toward their educational goals. SAP standards include maintaining a minimum GPA, completing courses at a satisfactory pace, and finishing your program within a set timeframe.

If you fail to meet these standards, you may lose your financial aid eligibility. However, you may have the option to appeal or take steps to regain your aid by improving your academic performance.

SAP is typically reviewed at the end of each semester after final grades are posted. This evaluation determines your eligibility for financial aid for the upcoming term.

Federal SAP Requirements

Minimum Cumulative GPA: You must earn a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) based on the number of attempted credits; and

Pace of completion: You must successfully (earn a passing grade) complete 67% or 2/3 of all courses attempted; and

Maximum Timeframe toward completion: This sets a limit on the amount of credits you can take to complete your degree or certificate program while remaining eligible for financial aid. You must complete your program within 150% of the published length of the program. For example, if your program requires 60 credits to graduate, you must complete your degree within 90 attempted credits. You fail the maximum timeframe measure at the point at which it is determined that it is not possible for you to complete your program within the maximum timeframe, not at the point you actually reach the maximum timeframe. If you exceed or are unable to complete your program requirements within the maximum timeframe, you will be denied future federal financial aid.

Treatment of Coursework & Grades

Coursework is evaluated differently for federal SAP than Academic Standards. This section identifies how these course statuses are treated in the evaluation of SAP.

• Dropped courses (D): Courses in which the student dropped during the applicable Add/Drop period will not be included in the SAP calculation.
• Nonpunitive Grades: "W" (Withdrawal), "X" (Administrative Drop), "MW" (Medical Withdrawal, "AW" (Administrative Withdrawal), "NA" (Never Attended), "Q" (Never Attended), "T" (Transfer) are included in the pace calculation of SAP as attempted credits but do not affect the GPA calculation.
• Repeated Courses: All attempts of a repeated course are included in the calculation of attempted credits. All attempts of a repeated course are included in the calculation of GPA.
• Audited courses: Do not count towards attempted or completed credits and do not affect GPA.
• Pass/Fail Courses: Pass/fail courses count as attempted credits for the quantitative component (pace). "S" (pass) grades do not affect the GPA, while "U" grades do.
• Incompletes: Incompletes are included in the calculation of attempted credits but do not count as completed coursework for pace. Incomplete grades are treated as an "F" in GPA.
• Remedial Courses: Remedial courses are included in the GPA calculation of SAP evaluation. Remedial courses are not included in the pace calculation of SAP.
• Transfer Credits: Transfer credits that are accepted by the FLCC Office of Student Records are included in both the hours earned and hours attempted categories when calculating pace. Transfer credits that are accepted by the FLCC Office of Student Records are not factored into the GPA calculation of SAP at FLCC.
• Winter session courses: Unlike summer, which is considered a distinct academic term for SAP, courses taken during the winter term are counted in the SAP calculation at the end of the spring semester, as the winter session is combined with the spring for federal financial aid purposes. Grades will be evaluated as described in this section.

Federal SAP Statuses

Good Standing: Students meeting all criteria of federal SAP requirements (cumulative GPA, pace, and maximum timeframe) are considered in good standing and eligible for federal aid in the subsequent semester.

Financial Aid Warning: Students who fail the cumulative GPA or pace criteria for the first time will be placed in a Financial Aid Warning status for one semester. The Office of Financial Aid will notify the student of this status and how they can regain good standing in the subsequent semesters. Students on financial aid warning must meet SAP standards by the end of the warning period or they become ineligible for federal financial aid. Students cannot have consecutive terms where they are on warning. If a student fails to meet SAP standards immediately following a warning period, their financial aid will be suspended.

Financial Aid Suspension: Students who fail the cumulative GPA or pace criteria for a second consecutive time after the Financial Aid Warning semester become ineligible for federal financial aid and are placed in Financial Aid Suspension. Students who have not met the maximum timeframe criteria will be placed in Financial Aid Suspension Status. The student may appeal this status. The Office of Financial Aid will inform the student of their status and how they can regain good standing in subsequent semesters and within 150% of their program length.

Financial Aid Probation with Academic Plan: Students who successfully appeal the Financial Aid Suspension status will be placed in Financial Probation status, required to meet with their Processional Academic Advisor (PAA), and required to develop an academic plan outlining how they will regain good standing in subsequent semesters based on the GPA and pace requirements determined by financial aid.

Financial Aid SAP Appeals

If you fail SAP, you may appeal for reinstatement of your federal financial aid if there are extenuating circumstances. The extenuating circumstances documented by the student must align with the terms you failed to make SAP at FLCC. Your extenuating circumstances must have been reasonably unforeseeable and beyond your control. Your SAP appeal will be denied if the circumstances were reasonably foreseeable, preexisting, deemed to be within your control, or present when they decided to enroll at FLCC. Federal regulations limit the circumstances that we may consider to personal injury or illness, the death of a relative, or other circumstances beyond the student's control.

All appeals must include the following:

• An explanation as to why you failed SAP.
• An explanation of what has changed in your situation and how you plan to regain good standing in the subsequent semester.
• Documentation and/or a statement from someone knowledgeable of your situation (third party), in support of your appeal.

SAP appeals must be submitted in writing using the official SAP Appeal Form with substantiating documentation to the financial aid office. The SAP appeal form outlines what types of documentation are acceptable. The appeal form is available on the FLCC website and is assigned as a checklist item on MyFLCC when you fail SAP.

For more information on SAP Appeals, please visit the College Catalog.

FLCC's Academic Forgiveness

Although FLCC's Academic Forgiveness Program (formerly Fresh Start) allows students, after an absence, to petition to have their prior coursework excluded from their academic GPA, this does not apply to federal SAP standings.