Federal regulations require that financial aid recipients make satisfactory academic progress toward earning a degree in order to remain eligible for assistance. Satisfactory academic progress (SAP) standards apply to students receiving financial assistance from all federal, state, and institutional aid programs. The SAP Policy has two components: qualitative and quantitative. Students must meet the requirements for both components as outlined below.
Qualitative Requirements
- A student with less than 57 credit hours must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 1.75.
- A student with 57 or more credit hours must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00.
Quantitative Requirements
- A student must have completed 67% of the credit hours attempted. - For example, if after the second semester the student has attempted 32 credit hours, they must have completed 21 hours (32 x 67%).
- A student must complete a program within an established time frame.
- Financial aid will be awarded according to the number of the required credit hours for the program multiplied by 150%.
- A student will lose eligibility for financial aid for all future semesters after the semester in which the maximum hours allowed are exceeded.
- For example: The Bachelor of Arts degree requires 120 credit hours. A student could receive aid for up to 180 (120 x 150%) credit hours.
- Both qualitative and quantitative progress will be checked at the end of each semester.
- Students meeting the standards listed above will be in good standing.
- If the above standards are not met, the student will be placed on financial aid warning. During the financial aid warning semester, the student will continue to receive aid, if otherwise eligible, but they must meet SAP standards by the end of the warning semester or have an academic plan in place.
- If at the end of the financial aid warning semester SAP standards are not met, the student will be placed on financial aid suspension. Financial aid suspension means a student will receive no further federal, state, or institutional aid until the minimum standards have been met.
- Courses shown as failed, incomplete, audited, or withdrawn are not included in the number of credit hours earned. Repeated courses which were previously passed will not add to the credit hours earned.
- There are selected courses which may be repeated for credit and those are specified in the catalog.
- Credit hours earned by testing will be included in the number of hours earned. This includes Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB).
- Financial aid suspension may be appealed if unusual circumstances affected academic progress. Such circumstances may include a severe illness/injury to the student or immediate family member, the death of a student’s relative, or other special circumstances. A letter of appeal must be submitted to the executive director of financial aid and student accounts within the time specified on the notice of financial aid suspension. The letter should include why the student failed to meet SAP standards and what has changed that will allow the student to be successful at the next evaluation.
- Transfer students with no grade history at Cottey will enter on SAP good standing. Complete academic transcripts for work attempted at other institutions must be submitted to the Enrollment Management office before the beginning of the first semester at Cottey. Transfer students will be evaluated at the end of the first semester at Cottey just like all other students.
- Former Cottey students who were not enrolled at Cottey for the most recent semester will re-enter at the SAP status earned at the end of their last Cottey enrollment.