Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) - Maintaining Eligibility for Financial Aid

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MCC will review the academic progress of financial aid applicants enrolled in an eligible degree and/or certificate program at end of every semester. The purpose of this review process is to determine whether a student is making satisfactory progress towards their educational goal. The following measures are used in this determination:   

  • Completion of at least 67 percent of all attempted credits
  • Minimum 2.0 overall GPA.
  • Completion of at least one credit per attending semester.
  • Completion of degree/certificate within 150 percent of the total number of credits required to graduate.

All credit hours taken at MCC (as well as transfer credit hours from other institutions) are counted towards the determination of your SAP status, even if you were not receiving financial aid at the time the credits were attempted or if you had credits changed to administrative withdrawals.  

Students may file an appeal to regain eligibility for financial aid.  

View the complete Satisfactory Academic Progress policy. 

Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy 

Background 

Each institution of higher education that receives Federal Title IV Funds is required by the U.S. Department of Education to define and enforce standards of satisfactory academic progress. Satisfactory Academic Progress measures a student's performance in the following three areas: cumulative completion rate, cumulative grade point average (GPA), and maximum time frame. The Financial Aid Office at each Colorado Community College System college is responsible for ensuring that all students applying for or receiving federal, state of Colorado, or designated institutional financial aid funds, are meeting these standards. The Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress apply for all applicable financial assistance programs including Federal Pell Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study (FWS), Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Family Education Loans (Stafford and PLUS), as well as assistance from the state of Colorado and the college.

Introduction 

Each Institution will review the cumulative academic progress of financial aid applicants enrolled in an eligible degree and/or certificate program. The purpose of this review process is to determine whether a student is making satisfactory progress towards their educational goal in both qualitative and quantitative measurements. The qualitative measurement consists of the cumulative grade point average as determined by the Colorado Community College System Standards of Academic Progress. The quantitative measurement contains two components: (1) the cumulative completion rate of credit hours completed versus credit hours attempted expressed as a percentage rate of completion and (2) the maximum time frame allowed for a student to complete their certificate or degree program expressed as a percentage of total credits required. Review of Satisfactory Academic Progress will take place at the end of each semester.

Federal regulations require that a student's entire academic record be reviewed for satisfactory academic progress, whether financial aid was received. This includes those institutions that offer academic amnesty programs that exclude previous grades from being calculated into their current GPA. All applicants will be evaluated in the same manner, whether they have previously received financial aid at that institution. (See Article VI for Information on Review of Satisfactory Academic Progress for First Time Financial Aid Applicants).

This procedure applies to all Colorado Community College System (CCCS) colleges.

Basis 

The U.S. Department of Education establishes requirements for enforcing standards of Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). Each college may have slightly varying internal processes based upon the organizational structure at its institution.

Procedure 

  1. Overview and Applicability
    SAP measures a student's performance in the following three areas: cumulative completion rate, cumulative grade point average (GPA), and maximum time frame. The Financial Aid Office at each college is responsible for reviewing the cumulative academic progress of all enrolled students at the end of each term. The purpose of this review process is to determine whether a student is making satisfactory progress towards their educational goal in both qualitative and quantitative measurements. The qualitative measurement consists of the cumulative grade point average as determined by the Colorado Community College System Standards of Academic Progress (CCCS ES 4-81).

    CCCS Academic Progress Standing ES 4-81

    CCCS Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid SP 4-20d

    The quantitative measurement contains two components:(1) the cumulative completion rate of credit hours completed versus credit hours attempted expressed as a percentage rate of completion and (2) the maximum time frame allowed for a student to complete their certificate or degree program expressed as a percentage of total credit hours required. Review of SAP will take place at a minimum of once per term for all enrolled students. A student's entire academic record will be reviewed and evaluated for SAP whether financial aid was received. The process to review Financial Aid SAP eligibility will be the same for all enrolled students. All coursework, including coursework for which a college has offered academic amnesty (including credit hours excluded from the GPA cumulative calculation as in the Academic Second Chance or Academic Renewal Policies), must be included in the review process. Colleges will notify financial aid applicants of their SAP status. A student is considered to be a financial aid applicant if they complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid 
    (FAFSA) or if they are offered funding to assist in educational costs through the Financial Aid Office. The SAP standards apply to all applicable forms of financial assistance programs including Federal Pell Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study (FWS), Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Direct Stafford Loans, Direct PLUS loans as well as assistance from the State of Colorado. Colleges will determine what institutional funds will be affected by the student's SAP status. 
  2. Definitions of Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress
    Academic Progress Status

    Students who fail to meet either the quantitative or the qualitative criteria will be notified of their status in accordance with the definitions below: 
    1. Good Standing: Student is eligible to receive all types of aid.
      • Student has cumulative GPA at or above 2.0.
      • Student has cumulative completion rate at or above 67%.
      • Student has attempted less than 110% of required number of credit hours for enrolled degree or certificate program.
    2. Alert: Student has attempted 110% but less than 150%of required number of credit hours needed for their degree or certificate program. Student is eligible to receive all types of financial aid.
    3. Warning: Student was previously in Good Standing but failed to meet one of the SAP criteria states below. Student will continue to receive aid while on Warning status.
      • Student has cumulative GPA below 2.0; and/or
      • Has cumulative completion rate below 67%
    4. Ineligible for Aid: Student has 0% completion for evaluation period and/or failed to comply with stated SAP criteria while on Warning or Probation. Student is not eligible to receive financial aid (federal, state or designated institutional financial aid).
      • Student has under a 2.0 GPA and/or 67%cumulative completion rate.
      • Student has attempted 150% or more of required number of credit hours needed for degree or certificate program.
      • Student did not receive acceptable grades in any course(s) within a single term [see (VI)(b)].
    5. Probation: Student will be placed on Probation if the student was previously ‘Ineligible for Aid’, made an appeal and the appeal was granted (see VIII). Student will be eligible to receive financial aid for one term while on Probation.
    6. Academic Plan: Student who has eligibility reinstated under an approved Academic Plan and is successfully following that plan is eligible to receive financial aid and continues to be eligible for aid while following the approved Academic Plan.
      • Financial aid eligibility will be reviewed at the end of each term according to the approved Academic Plan.
  3. Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress
    Progress Criteria

    In order to meet SAP requirements, financial aid applicants and recipients must meet the qualitative and quantitative measurements outlined below: 
    1. Qualitative Measure: cumulative GPA Requirement Students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 for all credit hours attempted. 
    2. Quantitative Measure: Cumulative Completion Rate
      • Students must complete at least 67% of cumulative attempted credit hours.
      • The completion rate is defined as the percentage of the total number of credit hours completed divided by the total number of credit hours attempted over the entirety of a student's academic record at the college performing the calculation. (Credit hours Completed/Credit hours Attempted) x 100=Completion Rate.
      • Transfer credit hours on the student's record are included when computing the student's completion rate.
      • Remedial/ credit hours are included in the calculation of the cumulative completion rate.
    3. Quantitative Measure: Maximum Time Frame
      • Students who have attempted 110% of the number of credit hours required for their degree or eligible certificate program will be sent an alert notification. This notification will explain to students that they will be Ineligible for Aid when their total attempted credit hours are 150% of their total program credit hours.
      • Federal regulations allow financial aid recipients to receive financial aid for a maximum number of attempted credit hours. Students attempting credit hours more than 150% of the required number of credit hours to complete their program of study will be Ineligible for Aid. If at any point in time it is determined that a student cannot complete their program of study within 150% of the program length, the student will be Ineligible for Aid.
      • Transfer credit hours are included in the calculation of maximum time frame.
      • Attempted credit hours under all courses of study are included in the calculation of attempted and earned credit hours.
      • Up to 30 remedial credit hours may be excluded from the maximum time frame calculation.
      • ESL courses may be excluded in the maximum time frame calculation.
  4. Intersection of SAP Status and SAP Criteria
    The following table demonstrates the intersection between SAP status and SAP criteria as defined in Sections II and III of this document. All measures are cumulative 
  GPA 2.0 or above GPA below 2.0 Completion rate at 67% or above Completion rate below 67% Attempted less than 110% Attempted between 110%-150% Attempted more than 150% Failed to complete any course during a single term Plan approved for 1 term Plan approved for more than 1 term
Good Standing x   x   x          
Alert           x        
Warning   x   x            
Ineligible for Aid   x   x     x x    
Academic Plan                 x x
  1. Evaluation of Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress
    1. Review of SAP will take place at a minimum of once per term. The student's academic history if reviewed for: 1) cumulative GPA requirement; 2) cumulative completion rate; and 3) maximum time frame.
    2. A student's entire academic record will be reviewed and evaluated for SAP, whether financial aid was received. Based on all academic history a student may be considered Ineligible for Aid.
    3. The SAP evaluation process will occur at the end of each term of enrollment. When the student applies for financial aid (receipt of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid), the evaluation process will be completed based on the student's last term of enrollment and then updated at the end of each term for which the student is enrolled.
    4. All students who fail to meet SAP criteria will be placed on Warning or Ineligible for Aid. Financial aid applicants will be notified of their status.
      • ESL courses may be excluded in the maximum time frame calculation.
    5. Students who have attempted 110% to 149% of the required number of credit hours for their program will receive an alert notification.
    6. The Financial Aid Office will review GPA and credit hours attempted/completed through consortium agreements.
  2. Treatment of Completion and Repeats
    1. Grades of A, B, C, D, S, S/A, S/B, and S/C earned during all periods of enrollment will be considered acceptable for courses completed.
    2. Grades of F, U, I, W, AW, Z, U/D, U/F, SP, and AU earned during all periods of enrollment will not be considered acceptable for SAP.
    3. Repeated courses are counted for all qualitative and quantitative measurements, as is coursework removed from the permanent transcript.
  3. Treatment of Grade Changes
    1. Students are responsible for notifying the College Financial Aid Office of all grade changes that might affect current or future financial aid eligibility. A reevaluation of the student' status will be performed by the Financial Aid Office once the grade change has been communicated to the financial aid Office.
    2. Colleges reserve the right to notify students of this requirement based on the College's official means of communication.
  4. Student Financial Aid Academic Progress Appeals
    Each college is required to have a primary and a secondary process for students to appeal their eligibility. The secondary process is meant to address appeals of denied appeals from the primary process. All decisions made at the secondary level are final.

    The process for appeals at the primary and secondary level will be defined by the College. A student may appeal when they have been placed on Ineligible for Aid status. These appeals must be submitted to the College Financial Aid  Office or designated location with supporting documentation.

    The student is responsible for presenting sufficient information and documentation to substantiate the existence of extenuating circumstances. Each college may request additional documentation as student's extenuating circumstances warrant it. 
    1. Appeals must include the following information:
      • Why the student failed to make SAP; and
      • What has changed that will allow the student to make SAP at the next evaluation.
    2. Appeals may be submitted for extenuating circumstances, such as:
      • Medical problems (family illness).
      • Family emergency (death of a family member); or
      • Other documented extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control.
    3. Students may also appeal based on:
      • funding for an additional degree or certificate.
    4. Colleges may approve an appeal if:
      • the college has determined the student will be able to meet SAP standards at the end of the subsequent term given the merits of the appeal and reasonable resolution of a student's extenuating circumstance; or
      • the college and the student develop a plan that ensures the student can meet the college's SAP standards by a specific time or that the plan takes the student to successful program completion.
    5. Students will be notified by the College of the outcome of their appeal. Under no circumstances can Probation be assigned to a prior term.
    6. Colleges may notify students prior to the end of the term or prior to official posting of the financial aid SAP status if the student's academic progress indicates they will be ineligible for aid at the end of the term. This includes students who withdraw from the term or fail to meet the terms of their conditional probation.
    7. Colleges may set deadlines for SAP Appeal submissions to allow for processing of the appeal and, if successful, the processing of financial aid prior to the end of a term.
  5. Reinstatement of Aid
    1. Students who lose financial aid eligibility because they are not meeting the college's SAP standards will regain eligibility when they are again meeting the qualitative and quantitative standards as set previously in this policy.
    2. Students may also regain eligibility through the appeal process.
    3. Upon success reestablishment of eligibility, the student will be awarded financial aid based on the availability of funds at the time of reestablishment. Students may, or may not, receive all funds awarded prior to the loss of eligibility.

Revising this Procedure 

CCCS reserves the right to change any provision or requirement of this procedure at any time and the change shall become effective immediately.