**Please note: The Satisfactory Academic Progress policy for financial aid will change significantly as of July 1. These changes could impact your eligibility for financial aid for the 2011-2012 school year. Please read our SAP Update page for more details, and visit our Financial Aid Offices for additional information.

The colleges of DCCCD are required by law to formulate standards to measure a student’s progress toward completion of a program of study while receiving financial assistance through federal, state or institutional student aid programs by applying both qualitative and quantitative measurements to academic work (34 CFR 668.34). To comply with applicable laws and accreditation standards, DCCCD has developed a policy describing Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for both applicants and recipients of student financial aid.

The following SAP policy measurements are effective July 1, 2011. These measurements shall be used to determine student eligibility for all need-based and federal Title IV financial assistance, unless the terms of a particular grant or funding source state otherwise.

All students returning to DCCCD after a lapse in enrollment of one semester or longer will be re-evaluated under the current SAP policy.

Note: Some nonfederal student aid programs (i.e., state grants and private foundations) have specific SAP requirements unique to the individual program. In those instances, the program requirements will supersede the general SAP policy stated here. It is your responsibility as a student to understand the requirements of each financial aid program from which you receive aid.

Time Frame Used in Measuring Progress
 
Satisfactory Academic Progress is measured at the end of each semester. If you fail to meet minimum SAP standards at the end of a semester, you will be given one Warning semester in which to correct the deficiency and meet the standard.

The warning period only applies to failure to maintain the required cumulative GPA or failure to maintain the required pace of completion. If you have attempted hours in excess of 150 percent of the minimum required to complete your program of study, as detailed below, you have exhausted financial aid eligibility and cannot again meet the standard required within the maximum time frame allowed.

Qualitative Progress: Minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average

You must attain a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2.00 or higher by the end of your first semester of enrollment at DCCCD. You must maintain this average at the end of each subsequent semester to continue to receive financial aid.

If you do not meet this minimum CGPA requirement, you will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for one semester only. If you do not reach a CGPA of 2.00 or higher by the end of the warning period, you will be place on Financial Aid Suspension. Financial Aid Suspension cannot be appealed. You must pay enrollment costs without the benefit of financial aid awards until you meet the minimum CGPA again.

Note: According to DCCCD academic grading policy, only the latest grade for a repeated course is calculated in the CGPA. More detailed information on how the CGPA is calculated and the effect of withdrawals, incompletes and grade changes can be found in the Grades and Transcripts section of the catalog. However, for the DCCCD financial aid SAP policy, all repeated coursework will be counted in the completion rate and against the overall maximum time frame. Please see the section on Measuring the Pace of Progress (below) for more information.

Quantitative Progress: Maximum Time to Complete a Degree/Program

You may apply for, and if eligible, receive financial aid for attempted credit hours that do not exceed 150 percent of the minimum number of hours required to complete your declared program of study. All hours attempted toward the completion of a program of study will be counted in the maximum number of allowed hours regardless of whether financial aid was received.

Credit hours transferred to DCCCD are counted when calculating the 150 percent maximum. To receive aid for an educational program within the maximum hours allowed, transfer students must select an eligible program of study and must submit official transcripts of all previous college course work.

When SAP is calculated, if you have attempted 150 percent of the allowed number of credit hours, or if it would be mathematically impossible for you to complete a program of study within the 150 percent maximum, you will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension regardless of your CGPA, and regardless of whether or not you received financial aid during previous semesters.

If you are placed on Financial Aid Suspension for exceeding the maximum time frame to complete your program of study, you have exhausted financial aid eligibility to complete the program and may not again receive financial aid benefits. Financial Aid Suspension cannot be appealed. If your DCCCD academic transcript is cleared for a “fresh start,”  previous hours attempted will continue to count toward your 150 percent maximum limit.

Examples:

1. If you are completing an associate degree program that requires 66 hours, you must complete the degree within 99 attempted hours. You will lose eligibility for additional financial aid to complete the program after 99 attempted hours.
   
   
2. If you are completing a certificate program that requires 30 hours, you must complete the certificate within 45 attempted hours. You will lose eligibility for additional financial aid to complete the program after 45 attempted hours.

Financial aid recipients are expected to complete a program of study in the scheduled amount of time. Your progress may be evaluated for only one program at a time. You must select a primary program of study on eConnect (login required) prior to receiving financial aid payments.

You may not change your program multiple times for the purpose of extending financial aid eligibility. Once a semester starts, any change in your primary program of study within that semester will not take effect until the following semester.

Measuring the Pace of Progress

To avoid exceeding the maximum time frame required to complete a program of study using financial aid, you are expected to maintain a “pace of completion.” At the end of each semester, you must have successfully passed a minimum percentage of credit hours from all hours attempted at DCCCD. You must maintain a cumulative pace of completion that is at least 67 percent of attempted hours at the end of each semester.

Grades of W, WX, E, F and I will be counted as hours attempted but will not be counted as hours successfully passed. Repeated course enrollments will be counted in the completion rate and against the overall maximum time limit required to complete the program of study. Repeated course enrollments also will be calculated in the cumulative GPA according to the DCCCD academic grading policy.

If you do not complete the minimum percentage of credit hours required to maintain a 67 percent pace of completion, you will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for one semester only. If you do not reach a 67 percent cumulative pace of completion by the end of the warning period, you will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension. Financial Aid Suspension cannot be appealed. You must pay enrollment costs without the benefit of financial aid awards until you meet the minimum required pace of completion again.

Financial Aid Suspension and Reinstatement Procedures

The DCCCD Office of Financial Aid will review academic records at the end of each semester and determine each student’s Satisfactory Academic Progress status. If you fail to meet the SAP minimum standards, you will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for one semester. If you fail to attain the minimum standards of progress by the end of the warning period, you will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension. Effective July 1, 2011, Financial Aid Suspension cannot be appealed.

During the period of suspension, you will have to pay out of pocket for all of your school costs, including tuition and books, without the benefit of financial aid awards, until you meet the minimum SAP standards again.

If you are placed on suspension, your progress will continue to be reviewed at the end of each semester of enrollment. Your eligibility will automatically be reinstated for the next term of enrollment upon successful completion of a term of enrollment in which you meet the required SAP standards. No appeal for reinstatement is required. The DCCCD Office of Financial Aid will notify you when you have met the requirements for reinstatement.

Important Note: If you are placed on Financial Aid Suspension for exceeding the maximum time frame to complete your program of study, you have permanently exhausted financial aid eligibility to complete the program and may not again receive financial aid benefits.

Other Important Financial Aid Information and Rules

All College Transcripts Required for Transfer Students

If you are a transfer student (have attended college outside DCCCD), you must submit official transcripts from all previous colleges attended. All transcripts must be received and evaluated to determine your eligibility for financial aid at DCCCD.

Important: Unevaluated transcripts with a print date over three years old cannot be evaluated. You must submit a new, updated transcript for evaluation.

If college transcripts are not received and evaluated prior to the start of your enrollment, SAP standards cannot be calculated to determine your eligibility for financial aid. Therefore, you will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for your first semester.

If your other college transcripts are not received and evaluated prior to the deadline date for transcript evaluation during the warning period, you will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension until the end of the term in which your transcripts are received and evaluated.

The deadlines for submitting transcripts to be evaluated in order for your SAP to be calculated for the next term are Nov. 1 for Fall, April 1 for Spring, June 10 for Summer I and July 15 for Summer II. If you turn in your transcripts after one of these deadlines, your SAP will not be calculated, and you will remain on FA Suspension for the next term.

SAP Treatment of Developmental Course Work

If you are otherwise eligible, you may receive financial aid for a maximum of 30 attempted credit hours in developmental/remedial course work. Once the 30-credit-hour maximum is reached, additional developmental credit hours will not be used to calculate the award amount.

If you are taking ESOL classes, which are counted as developmental hours, you may submit a written request to the Financial Aid Office to exclude ESOL classes from the 30-hour maximum if additional ESOL classes are necessary after the 30-hour maximum has been reached.

Developmental hours are not included in the calculation of the overall maximum time frame to complete your academic program or in the CGPA calculation. However, developmental and ESOL attempts and grades are used in the measurement of the pace of completion.

WARNING: Repayment of Federal Funds

If you receive federal financial aid and withdraw from all courses at or before the time when 60 percent of the term is completed, you will be required to repay a portion of the federal aid received.

The “60 percent dates” for upcoming terms are:

Financial aid will not pay for:

• Courses taken by audit
• Credit hours earned by placement tests
• Courses you register for after the official certification date of the semester:
  - Summer II 2011 courses registered after July 16, 2011
  - Fall 2011 courses registered after Sept. 12, 2011
  - Spring 2012 courses registered after Jan. 31, 2012
  - Summer 2012 courses registered after June 11, 2012
• Transfer students attending for summer only
• Credit hours that start prior to and end after the identified standard term of enrollment

Loan Eligibility Is Validated at Every Disbursement

In accordance with federal regulations, a school must verify that a loan recipient is meeting SAP each time funds are released to the student. If you have been awarded money under the Federal Direct Loan Program, you will have all or part of your loan canceled if you are not meeting SAP at the time loan funds are available for disbursement. You will not be considered for future loans until you meet the SAP requirements again.