All students who receive need-based financial aid must maintain standards of satisfactory academic progress (SAP). Under new federal government rules that go into effect July 1, 2011, DCCCD’s SAP policy is changing.
View the letter (PDF - 16KB) that was sent to all students who received financial aid during the 2010-2011 school year.
These changes could impact your eligibility for financial aid for the 2011-2012 school year.
Please review this page for an overview of the changes, and contact your college’s Financial Aid Office or an academic advisor if you have questions or need assistance.
What’s Staying the Same
- You must still maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA and completion rate of at least 67 percent of the credit hours for each term of enrollment.
What’s Changing, and What You Should Do About It
- No more probation period/appeals process: Under the new SAP policy, if your GPA falls below 2.0, or you do not complete the required number of credit hours, you will now be placed on “warning.” You will still be eligible to receive financial aid during the “warning” semester, but you will not be able to appeal your status as you could in the past.
- If you fail to bring your GPA to a 2.0 and complete the required number of credit hours during the “warning” semester, you will be placed on “suspension” for the next term of enrollment.
- If you are placed on “warning,” you should visit the Financial Aid Office at your college and talk to an advisor who can provide guidance on how to avoid having your financial aid suspended.
- Under the new regulations, if you are placed on “suspension” and you enroll in any classes through a DCCCD college, you must pay your own tuition, fees and cost of class materials until you earn the required SAP and your financial aid “suspension” is removed.
For Transfer Students
- If you are a transfer student who plans to take classes at a DCCCD college this summer, you will be placed on “warning” immediately when you enroll because financial aid SAP calculations cannot be calculated and completed before the summer semester begins.
- If you’re a transfer student, you must submit all transcripts from previous schools to DCCCD before the end of your first semester. Once we have your transcripts, we will calculate your SAP to determine continual eligibility for financial aid at DCCCD.
Have Questions?
We know these changes may be confusing. If you have questions about how they may affect you, please contact our: