TEXAS COLLEGE
Satisfactory Academic Progress for Federal Student Aid
Effective July 1, 2011

Federal and State regulations require all schools participating in state and federal aid programs to have a Standard of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to measure a student’s progress toward achieving a certificate or degree. The standard will be applied to all applicants and recipients of financial aid as a determination of eligibility. These standards assess academic progress for classes taken at Texas College only and require a quantitative and a qualitative measurement.

Quantitative Requirement

Federal regulation states that the maximum allowable time frame to complete a degree is 150% of the published length of the educational program. For example, students in a four-year degree program may receive financial aid a maximum of six (6) academic years. If a student withdraws or is administratively withdrawn during a semester in which Title IV aid was received; the semester counts as one (1) semester of financial aid eligibility. Students must also meet the academic standards shown below.

Standards for Quantitative Progress

All credit hours as of the census day for each term will be included in credit hours attempted regardless of whether the class was successfully completed. Successfully completing a course mean finishing the semester with a letter grade of D or higher.

Required hours of completion of the Satisfactory Academic Policy will be evaluated on an annual basis, before financial aid is extended for the following academic year. Students will be either in “good standing” or “ineligible” for financial aid. Financial Aid ineligibility means that ALL financial aid funding will be terminated for the next academic year. Students ineligible for financial aid will be notified by mail at the address on file after grades are posted for the spring term.

Withdrawal from a Course

The first 5 days of class, no course or grade is recorded on the transcript. If a student wishes to withdraw from a course after the 5th day of class, they must begin the process of obtaining a withdrawal form from the Registrar’s Office and complete the entire course withdrawal process. Ceasing to attend class does not constitute a withdrawal from the course. Students who do not complete the proper withdrawal procedures will receive an “F” for the course. In addition, a final grade of “W” (withdrawn) will not count as a completed class when evaluating SAP.

Withdrawal from All Courses

If a student wishes to withdraw from all courses, they must request a withdrawal form from the Registrar’s Office. A student must complete the entire process. Properly following this procedure will result in a grade of “W” for each class. A grade of “W” will not affect the qualitative standard (GPA) of SAP, but will affect the quantitative standard. It will also count towards the 150% maximum allowable time frame.  The Registrar’s Office will note the final grades on the student’s transcript. Students who do not officially withdraw will be administratively withdrawn and given a grade of “W” for all courses registered from that semester. The Registrar’s Office will also notify the Financial Aid Office of the student’s last day of attendance. The date of the student’s last day of attendance will be used in determining how much, if any, of the student’s federal aid must be returned (see the Texas College Return of Title IV Funds Policy located on Texas College’s webpage). If a student withdraws before 60% of the semester is over, part or all of the student’s federal aid must be sent back.

Incomplete Classes

Incomplete classes will result in a grade of “I”, and will be considered the same as an “F” when evaluating SAP. A student MUST do the work to complete the class in order for the “I” to be changed to an actual letter grade (A, B, C, D, or F) by the last day to enroll in the following term. Grades left as an “I” will not count toward the quantitative or qualitative requirements. Classes taken and left with an “I” grade will count towards the 150% maximum allowable time frame.

Repeated Courses

Repeated courses enable the student to achieve a higher cumulative GPA. However, repeating courses adversely affects the student’s ability to meet the completion rate requirements as a repeated course is counted toward credit hours attempted each time the course is taken. Students may retake courses for which they have previously received a grade of “F” as many times as it takes to successfully complete the class. However, once a student receives a grade of “D” or higher; financial aid can only pay for one retake of the class.

Transfer Students

The Financial Aid Office will be notified of any students transferring from another institution. All transcripts from previous institutions attended will be reviewed by our Registrar’s Office. Only those hours that transfer are counted when determining a student’s grade level. (i.e. A student takes 30 hours at College #1, but after review, only 25 of those transfer to Texas College. The student will be considered at a freshmen level when determining aid amounts.) However, the full transcript will be reviewed in order to determine SAP and aid eligibility for Texas College. Also, Texas College will also count all credits from previous schools toward the maximum allowable time frame for degree completion. (150% of the published length of the educational program)

Part-time Students

Cumulative GPA requirements are the same as for full-time students. The number of semesters required to complete the program will depend on hours registered. Students must successfully complete the majority of credit hours attempted each semester. However, no student will receive financial aid once 150% of the required credit hours to complete the program have been attempted.

Qualitative Requirement

Qualitative Progress is measured in terms of grade points earned during the preceding semester, which are tabulated on a 4.00 grading system. Students receiving aid (grants, including Pell, TEG, FSEOG, LEAP/SLEAP, student loans and/or work-study), must maintain the grade point average standards required for enrollment. Following are the standards for maintaining qualitative progress at Texas College:

Standards for Qualitative Progress

** A Grade Point Average of 2.0 is equivalent to a “C” average.
** Remedial/Developmental classes will counted towards the 150% maximum allowable time frame AND will be considered in the review of SAP.

At the end of each increment, the Registrar’s Office will provide the Financial Aid Office with a list of students, attempted hours, completed hours, and cumulative GPA. This is what is used to determine SAP. Academic progress will be reviewed at the end of academic year to determine future eligibility. SAP will also be reviewed after the census date at the beginning of each year to determine if a student is sufficiently working toward the completion of a degree in the 150% maximum allowable time frame. Only classes a student is enrolled in on the census date will be considered. Texas College may disburse funds to an eligible student ONLY after we determine that the student has SAP for the payment period. Students not meeting these requirements after one academic year will lose future aid eligibility. If a student fails to meet SAP, they will receive a letter from the financial aid office stating they have lost eligibility.

Loss of Aid - Regaining Eligibility

Financial Aid Suspension

Students who fail to meet the standards at the end of the academic year will be ineligible for financial aid beginning the next semester of attendance.

A student will be automatically ineligible for financial aid when they receive grades of “F” in all courses attempted. In evaluating satisfactory progress, a grade of “I” will be considered and “F”.

Students who pre-register before grades are evaluated and who use financial aid to defer tuition and fees; may owe a financial aid repayment if they do not maintain satisfactory academic progress and become ineligible for financial aid once grades are posted and reviewed.

Financial Aid Suspension does not prevent a student from enrollment but it does prevent receiving aid. However, the student should be aware that the college’s policies for academic eligibility and financial aid eligibility closely mirror one another. Both are measures of satisfactory academic progress intended to encourage behavior which leads to academic success.

When students lose their eligibility due to lack of academic progress, there are three (3) different ways to regain that eligibility. They are as follows:

Paying on Your Own

To re-establish aid eligibility, students must pay for their classes (must be taken at Texas College), and at the end of the semester, the student must have met the quantitative and qualitative requirements. (see chart above) The student will be denied future aid until regaining eligibility by meeting these standards. Paying on your own in and of itself is not enough to regain eligibility, but semesters paid for by the student will count towards the 150% maximum allowable time frame.

Notification of Grade Change

If a student’s grade changes after grades were initially posted, it is the student’s responsibility to notify the financial aid office of the change. If the student meets the standards for satisfactory academic progress after the grade change, financial aid will be reinstated.

Appeal Process

A student who fails to meet the required standards and has lost eligibility for financial aid may appeal this decision by citing extenuating circumstances which have caused a hardship. Appeals must be in writing and must be accompanied by appropriate supporting documents. In the appeal, the student must explain why he/she was not making progress and what has changed so they will begin making progress. Appeals should be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid before the beginning of the student’s next semester of enrollment.

Extenuating circumstances are generally beyond one’s control, such as (1) serious illness or accident on the part of the student; (2), death, accident or serious illness in the immediate family; (3) change in academic program; (4) other extenuating circumstances. The reasonableness of the student’s ability for improvement to meet the appropriate standards for the certificate or degree program in which the student is enrolled will be taken into consideration.

Appeals will be reviewed by the Financial Aid Committee and will issue a decision in writing to the student. If the appeal is approved, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Probation for one term and will be expected to successfully complete the appropriate number of credits for their level of enrollment and earn the appropriate GPA. At the end of the term, the student’s number of hours completed and cumulative GPA will be sent the Financial Aid Office by the Registrar’s Office as proof of SAP. If the student does not meet SAP standards by the end of the one semester, aid will be denied for future terms until SAP standards are met.

If an appeal is denied, the student will be responsible for their own educational costs. After completing a term, the student may submit another appeal and provide a transcript as supporting documentation. Then if SAP standards are met, aid will be reinstated for future semesters. The completion of additional self-paid semesters or filing an appeal does not guarantee regaining aid eligibility. A student MUST show academic progress.