Satisfactory Academic Progress

Federal regulations require that students receiving Title IV financial assistance must maintain satisfactory academic progress.  Each student will be evaluated for Satisfactory Progress before aid is awarded and at the end of each semester regardless of their degree program.

General Requirements

Any student receiving Federal Student Financial Aid at Carteret Community College (CCC) must maintain satisfactory academic progress in the course of study they are pursuing in order to continue receiving aid.  CCC’s satisfactory academic progress (SAP) requirements are:

1. Maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.00. Course work includes student withdrawals, automatic withdrawals, remedial,  incompletes, and repeated courses.
2. Pass two-thirds (67%) of the cumulative course work attempted. Course work attempted includes withdrawals, automatic withdrawals, remedial, incompletes, and repeated courses.
3. Complete degree requirements within 150% of the published program length for a full-time student. For example, a student in the college transfer curriculums must complete the degree by the time they have attempted 97 credit hours (65 x 150%). Students who exceed this maximum time frame will not be eligible for any further aid.

Financial Aid Warning Period

Students who do not meet the requirements in (1) or (2) above will be placed on warning and notified of their status by mail.  Students may continue to receive financial aid while on warning.

Continued eligibility for aid is determined at the end of the warning term. Students still not meeting the requirements in (1) or (2) above will be placed on Financial Aid Termination and future financial aid will be terminated until the general requirements are met.

NOTE: Students cannot receive funds from any Federal or State financial aid program while on financial aid termination.

Appeal Process

A student may appeal termination from financial aid in the case of extenuating circumstances. Appeals generally will be considered when the student has experienced: 1) an extended illness or hospitalization; 2) an accident which incapacitates the student; 3) an extended illness of an immediate family member which results in greater family responsibilities for the student; or 4) a grade change.

The procedure for an appeal is as follows:

1. The student must indicate in writing to the Financial Aid Office the reason why he/she did not meet the satisfactory academic progress requirements. Documentation from the student’s advisor, family physician or others involved in the situation is required to support the appeal.
2. The student must develop an academic plan with an advisor/counselor.  This plan should also include a timeline to be meeting satisfactory academic progress.
3. For maximum time frame (150% rule) appeals, the student must document why they require additional time to complete the program, past transcript history, why they are in their current program and length of time for completion.
4. An Appeals Committee will consider extenuating circumstances to determine whether reinstatement of aid is justified.  The Financial Aid Office will notify the student in writing of the decision.  Additionally, the Financial Aid Officer reserves the right to use his/her professional judgment to approve the appeal.

Reinstatement of Aid after Suspension

If a student’s aid is reinstated after termination by a successful appeal, then the student is placed on probation. Students may continue to receive aid each semester even if the cumulative satisfactory progress requirements are not met as long as the following conditions are met:

·         GPA must be a 2.0 or better for each semester thereafter if cumulative GPA is below a 2.0;

·         The student has not attempted the maximum number of hours (150% of the published program length); and

·         The student earns a passing grades in all attempted hours each semester thereafter or its equivalent, which is two short sessions.  A short session is one-half the length of a full semester.

·         Additional conditions as determined by the academic plan or the financial aid advisory committee.

All CCC courses attempted, repeated, and/or completed (all grades including F, UW, W, WF, WF* and I) and transferrable courses in the student’s program of student will be assessed each semester.  College preparation (developmental) courses are not considered in this calculation

NOTE: For financial aid purposes:

a)    Students cannot receive financial aid for audited classes and credit by exams and these classes are not counted as hours attempted;

b)    Classes dropped during the “drop/add period” are excluded from financial aid satisfactory progress determinations;

c)     When a student enrolls in a class and subsequently switches to another section of the same class, that class is not counted twice when computing the hours attempted.

d)   Student may not receive financial aid for more than 30 semester hours of college prep coursework.

A student who fails to adhere to the conditions set forth by the committee will be re-termination. Students who are re-termination will not be allowed a second appeal.

The Financial Aid Administrator will notify the student of their status by mail when placed on warning or termination. However, it is the student’s responsibility to track his/her progress and not totally rely on the school’s notification.