Satisfactory Academic Progress

SAP Policy (Satisfactory Academic Progress)

SAP is a federal regulation which outlines the standards a student must maintain in order to be eligible to receive federal Title IV funds. These standards are:

1. Qualitative: A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 or greater.
2. Quantitative: A minimum cumulative completion rate (credit hours earned/credit hours attempted) of 67%.
3. An earned credential within 150% of the published credits required to complete your current program of study (Maximum Timeframe).

SAP is evaluated at the end of every semester. Letter grades of E, F, MP, W (withdrawal), and I (Incomplete) are considered attempted credits but not earned and will negatively affect the quantitative measure. Letter grades of A, B, C, D, and P are considered earned credits. If a student repeats a course, the highest letter grade will be used in the qualitative standard but all attempted credits will be used in the quantitative standard.

After your first semester of not meeting the qualitative or quantitative standards, you will be placed on a “Warning.” You still have eligibility for financial aid at this time, but must work to meet the standards.

After the second semester of not meeting the qualitative and quantitative standards, you will be suspended from financial aid, and are ineligible for funds. SAP is a cumulative measurement. The GPA, completion percentage, and attempted credits, are not erased after any period of time.

If you are unable to complete your program within 150% of the time frame normally required to complete it, you are suspended from financial aid and are ineligible for funds. There are no "warning" periods for exceeding the maximum timeframe (MTF).

Students may appeal their suspension through the Student Self-Service. All appeals for failing the quantitative or qualitative requirements must also be submitted with supporting documentation. You will have the ability to upload your documentation while completing the appeal process on the Student Self-Service.

The appeal will be reviewed by an appeals committee. If the appeal is approved, the student will be notified that they must login and acknowledge the decision of the committee. All committee decisions are final. The committee may put restrictions on appeals. Any restrictions on an approved appeal must be adhered to, until you have proven you can be successful by SAP standards. Note that students who are MTF-only (do not have GPA and/or completion issues) may be an exception, and would have to be reviewed. If you are able to successfully complete reduced hours while on your plan of action, and you do not change your program plan, you will not be restricted the following semester, unless, at any point you fail to meet the criteria of the plan.

Once you have an approved appeal, you must complete a plan of action with your advisor. This plan is an agreement that you will only be taking courses required to graduate from your current program, that you will successfully complete all courses for which you register, and that you will not change your major while on the plan.

Along with the plan of action, you must submit a program plan, which you and your advisor should discuss, which outlines the courses you will be taking and when you might expect to meet SAP standards or graduate if you stay on track. Federal SAP guidelines ask for a student failing to meet SAP standards, and who is not on pace to graduate within 150% of their program, to devise a program plan with their advisor. The plan is a tool to help ensure that you stay on track to graduate in a timely manner and that you maintain your eligibility for financial aid.

Failure to adhere to the signed plan of action, an agreement to successfully complete all courses, and remain in your program will result in the suspension of your financial aid. The college allows a second appeal; however, the appeal cannot be for the same reason as the prior appeal, and the circumstances must have been unforeseeable. Additional documentation may be required.

Once you have used two approved appeals, or if you have an appeal that has been denied, the only way to regain financial aid eligibility is to take courses, and pay your expenses out-of-pocket, without the use of federal financial aid (including loans), until you have reached a 2.0 GPA and a 67% completion percentage, and have not yet reached maximum time frame.

You may securely upload your supporting documentation to your Student Self-Service or bring it to campus and turn it into the Financial Aid Office. Documentation may also be emailed to somersetappeals@kctcs.edu. Please do not send any documents with personally identifiable information (PII) through email.