Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements

How to Earn and Keep Your Aid

Federal and state financial aid regulations require schools to set minimum standards for satisfactory academic progress and to hold students accountable for meeting the standards. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is checked prior to awarding aid, even if students did not receive financial aid in past quarters and students who did not receive financial aid will be held to the same SAP process as students who have received financial aid. It is also checked at the end of every quarter aid is received. This document outlines the requirements for financial aid satisfactory academic progress at Clover Park Technical College. This policy applies not only to aid that is awarded by the Financial Aid Office, but also to Worker Retraining, WorkFirst, Opportunity Grant, and BFET funds.

Credit Completion Requirement 

Students must make a minimum “pace of progression” in order to be eligible to receive financial aid. The pace of progression is the completion of at least 66.67% of the credits attempted. Students must not only complete at least 66.67% of the credits they attempt each quarter, they must also complete at least 66.67% of the total (cumulative) credits they have attempted.

How “Credits Attempted” is Determined

The total number of credits a student was registered for and aid was either applied toward their tuition & fees or was disbursed via BankMobile, will be considered the number of credits attempted by the end of the 10th business day of the quarter.

Quarterly Pace of Progression Chart

For example, a student who attempts 12 credits for a quarter must complete a minimum of 8 credits to meet the 66.67% “pace of progression” requirement.

For students who attempt more than 30 credits, the minimum quarterly credit completion requirement is 66.67% of the credits attempted, rounded up to the nearest whole credit.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Statuses

Each quarter, Satisfactory Academic Progress status will be reviewed. 

Good Standing: Student met all Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements in the most recent quarter of attendance or it is the student’s first quarter of attendance at CPTC.

Warning: Student began a quarter in Good Standing. At the end of the quarter, the student’s cumulative grade point average drops below 2.00 and/or the student completes 50% - 66% of the credits he/she enrolled in.

Suspension: 
Students will be placed on Suspension status for any of the following reasons

• A student on warning status does not meet all Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements for that quarter.
• A student on probation status does not meet all Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements for that quarter.
• A student in Good Standing completes less than 50% of the credits he/she was enrolled in (rounded up to the nearest whole credit).
• A student’s cumulative grade point average is below 2.00 for two consecutive quarters.
• A student does not complete any of the attempted credits for a quarter. Possible repayment of federal and state aid may be required. See repayment of financial aid funds for student who “Drop to Zero" in the Conditions of Award.

Academic Progress

If a student experiences three consecutive quarters of work in which the GPA is less than 2.0 (each quarter), the student will be suspended from attendance at the college and may not register for the next academic quarter. Students placed on academic suspension will also be placed on financial aid suspension. Financial Aid recipients are subject to the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.

Probation

If a student placed on Suspension status submits an appeal based on unusual or extraordinary circumstances beyond his/her control and the appeal is approved, the student will be on Probation status for the next quarter of attendance.

Grades that DO NOT COUNT Towards the Credit Completion Requirement for any Type of Aid

Grades of “*”, “F”, “I”, “N”, “V”, “W”, and “X” do not count as completed credits. Only credits completed by the end of the scheduled quarter will count as “completed” for Satisfactory Academic Progress. However, students who were placed on financial aid Warning or financial aid Suspension because they received one or more grades of “I” can request to have their Satisfactory Academic Progress re-checked if they convert any of their “I” grades to a passing grade no later than the 10th business day of the following quarter.

Running Start, high school completion, basic studies, GED, audit, ESL, and Continuing Education courses, as well as Math and English courses below the 80 level (for example, Math 60 and English 79), do not count towards the financial aid credit completion requirement because these courses are not financial-aid eligible.

Maximum Credit Limit Requirement

Students must complete their program of study within a maximum time frame in order to receive financial aid.

Associate Degrees and Certificate Programs Students pursuing an associate’s degree or a certificate cannot receive financial aid after the number of credits they have attempted equals 150% of the credits required for their degree or certificate (rounded down to the nearest whole credit).

If the number of credits a student needs to complete his/her program is greater than the number of remaining credits of financial aid eligibility, the student will no longer be eligible for most types of financial aid funding.

Credits transferred in from other institutions count toward the time limit requirement.

The following courses do not count toward the time limit requirement: Basic Skills, GED, high school completion, Running Start, ESL, non-credit courses, Continuing Education, and up to 45 credits of developmental courses (developmental courses are for-credit English and Math courses below the 100 level.)

Prerequisites for LPN program Students taking prerequisites for entrance into the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program are eligible for student loans only, unless they were conditionally accepted into the LPN program by the Nursing Department prior to November 1, 2013, and for a period of no more than 12 consecutive months. Students will lose their loan eligibility if they enroll in courses that are not LPN prerequisites while receiving their loans funds.

Requesting Additional Credits Appeal Process Students can appeal for additional credits by submitting a “Request for Additional Credits” appeal form. The form is available online by clicking on the link. A written statement explaining why the program of study was not completed within the maximum time frame must be submitted with the request form.

Repeated Courses

Students can repeat failed courses for which they receive financial aid. Courses may not be retaken using financial aid if the class was previously taken and a grade of C or above was earned. Each time a class is repeated, whether or not financial aid paid for the course, the credits are counted toward the time limit requirement.  

Cumulative GPA Requirement of 2.00

For all types of aid, students must have a 2.00 cumulative GPA at the end of each quarter. Students without a calculated cumulative GPA due to the type(s) of grade(s) received will be considered to have met the 2.00 cumulative GPA requirement if they meet the credit completion requirement for their most recent quarter of attendance.

Changing Your Program of Study

Students who start pursuing a new program of study without completing their first program are considered to have changed programs. If the program of study is changed ONCE, the attempted credits from the first program will not be counted toward the credit limit requirement for the new program.

However, students who change programs TWO OR MORE TIMES, may not be able to complete their new program within the maximum allowable time frame for financial need. This is because when students change to a third program (or fourth, etc.), their attempted credits count will not start over. All attempted credits starting with the student’s 2nd program of study will be counted toward the credit limit requirement for the new program.

Limit on the Number of Programs You Can Pursue While Receiving Financial Aid

Although multiple certificates and degrees can be attained, students can receive funding for only one program at a time as found in the CPTC catalog. Financial aid for second/additional associate degrees will not be awarded until the student’s academic transcript is updated to show that the student either graduated from the first program, or successfully earned a certificate/credential. This means that students are eligible to receive aid for a second program, but only after completing an initial program first. 

Earning Reinstatement after Being Suspended from Aid Eligibility

Students who are suspended from financial aid eligibility for reasons other than having reached the time limit requirement can be reinstated one of two ways:

Option #1: Earn Reinstatement on Your Own 
Pay for at least one quarter at your own expense that results in:

• Having achieved a cumulative “pace of progression” of at least 66.67% for all attempted credits.
• Having achieved a 2.00 cumulative/quarterly grade point average.
• Having completed 100% of the quarterly attempted credits based on your enrollment level (at least 6 or more credits) without the benefit of financial aid assistance. 

AFTER your grades have been posted for the quarter, you must notify the Student Aid & Scholarships Office that you earned reinstatement by submitting a Satisfactory Academic Progress appeal form.

Option #2: The Appeal Process 
Submit the Suspension Appeal Form. The appeal should be based on unusual or extraordinary circumstances beyond your control that can be documented (appeals without documentation are automatically denied). If your appeal is denied, you must earn reinstatement on your own.

Submit your appeal no later than the first 5 days of the quarter you are requesting reinstatement. If your appeal is not submitted within the first 5 days of the quarter immediately following your suspension, your appeal will instead be reviewed for the next following quarter.

Appeals will be reviewed once per quarter after the 10th day of the quarter. The review process takes place approximately two weeks after the 10th day of the quarter. Once your appeal has been reviewed, you will be notified by mail and through ctcLink by the 4th week of the quarter.