Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

San Juan College
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy Summary
Effective Fall 2005

* If a student has less than 15 cumulative attempted credits at the end of the Spring term and has a Completion Rate of less than 50% but at least 0%, the student will be placed on Warning, not Suspension.

Note: The Cumulative Completion Rate, Maximum Time Frame, and Cumulative GPA standards exclude up to 30 credits of developmental coursework in their calculations.

Note: Financial Aid SAP is reviewed at the end of Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters.   Zero Completion can affect a student’s aid eligibility each semester.  Students pursuing a 1-year or less certificate program have their SAP measured each term. Students pursing a degrees program have their SAP measured annually at the end of Spring semester. During the year, they are notified if they are in jeopardy of being placed on Warning or Suspension at the end of Spring.

San Juan College
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy Summary
Effective Fall 2005

The following Satisfactory Academic Progress policy is effective Fall 2005 semester. All students will be evaluated on the basis of the new policy beginning the end of Spring 2006.

Federal regulations require San Juan College (SJC) to establish satisfactory academic progress standards (SAP) for student financial aid recipients. The SAP standards measure a student’s performance in all terms of enrollment, including terms in which the student did not receive financial aid.

Standards

Note: If a student is enrolled in a 1-year or less certificate program, SAP is reviewed each term, not once a year

Cumulative Completion Rate Standard
A student must successfully complete SJC credits equal to at least 66.67% of the total cumulative SJC and transfer credits attempted to be making satisfactory academic progress. Except as provided in the Zero Completion Standard, a student earning less than 66.67% but at least 50% will be placed on SAP Warning and eligible to receive financial aid for the following summer, fall, spring terms. Completion of less than 50% of courses with cumulative attempted credits of 15 or more will result in SAP Suspension and ineligibility for financial aid. The student may appeal the SAP status. See the Appeal Process below.

If, at the next SAP measurement (the end of the Spring semester) the student’s completion rate remains below 66.67%, the student will be placed (or remain) on SAP Suspension.

Zero Completion Standard
A financial aid recipient that:

• withdraws, i.e., receives grades of “W”,
• stops attending, i.e., receives grades of “AW” or “X”, and/or
• earns grades of “F” and/or “U”

in all courses in a term will automatically be placed on SAP Suspension for all future terms until the student achieves at least a 66.67% completion rate. The student may appeal the SAP status. See the Appeal Process below.

Maximum Time Frame Standard
A program of study must be completed within 150% of the number of credit hours required for degree graduation or certificate completion to maintain aid eligibility. The 150% is measured on the basis of SJC and transfer attempted credits. For instance, if an associate degree program requires 64 credits for graduation, it must be completed within 96 credits.  Because programs’ credit hour requirements vary, check the Academic Catalog for the precise number of credits required for a program, then multiply the figure by 1.5. 

If the number of attempted credits exceeds 150% of the active program’s requirement for graduation/completions, the student will be placed on SAP Suspension. The student may appeal based on circumstances or a change in major/program/certificate. See the Appeal Process below.

Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) Standard
A student is required to maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative grade point average, which is calculated by dividing total number of grade points earned by the total credits attempted for courses with grades of A, B, C, D, F, or X

At the end of Spring semester if the student does not have a 2.0 cumulative GPA, the student will be placed on SAP Warning and will be eligible for financial aid during this warning period. At the next SAP measurement (the end of the following Spring semester) if the student’s cumulative GPA remains below a 2.0 cumulative GPA, the student will be placed on SAP Suspension and will be ineligible for aid.

Federal regulations make no provision for academic amnesty. If a student’s prior coursework was given special treatment under SJC’s provisions for Academic Renewal, the student’s cumulative GPA must be calculated based on the inclusion of all courses attempted at SJC. If the student does not have/maintain a 2.0 GPA, the student must appeal to the Financial Aid Office for special consideration. See the Appeal Process below. The calculation will be performed at the beginning of a student’s return to SJC.

Appeal Procedures

A student may appeal the suspension of financial aid eligibility. An Appeal Form is available from the Financial Aid Office and online. If you wish to appeal, submit the appeal form and any additional documentation directly to the Financial Aid Office. Please note that students who appeal should be prepared to meet their own educational expenses. Appeals should be made in a timely manner, but no later than the appeal deadline announced by the Financial Aid Office for each term.

Reinstatement

A student that is making unsatisfactory progress and has had financial aid suspended due to a low completion rate or GPA may enroll in subsequent semesters at his/her own cost. Financial Aid eligibility may be reinstated once all satisfactory academic progress minimum standards are met. A student’s eligibility will be automatically calculated at the end of Spring semester of each academic year. If a student meets the minimum requirements at the end of Summer term or Fall semester, the student should file an appeal for reinstatement.

Treatment of Academic Program, Coursework and Grades

The following items describe the treatment of academic programs, coursework, and grades in the measurement of the SAP standards.

• All attempted coursework is included in the measurements whether or not the student received financial aid.
• Course credits are treated as attempted credits if a student is enrolled in the credits on the census date of the course’s term.
• All SJC coursework will be treated as attempted credits, if the coursework may be applied toward a certificate or degree program, with the exception 30 credits attempted in developmental courses. A list of these courses is available in the Financial Aid Office. Note: These courses are included in the measurement of the Zero Completion Standard.
• Grades of A, B, C, D, S, and CR will be treated as attempted and earned credits that are successfully completed.
• Failures (grade of “F”), failing work when student stops attending (grade of “X”), official student withdrawal (grade of “W”), unsatisfactory work (grade of U), administrative withdrawal (grade of “AW”), no credit earned (grade of “NC”), re-register (grade of “RR”), no grade reported (grade of “NR”), and Incompletes (grade of “I”) are considered credits attempted but not earned.
• Credits from coursework that earns an A, B, C, D, F, and X will be included in the calculation of cumulative grade point average (GPA).
• Repeated courses and courses for which the student has been granted academic renewal are included in the calculation of both attempted and an earned credits. NOTE: The Financial Aid SAP policy abides by the College’s academic policies regarding the treatment of repeated courses in the determination of the cumulative GPA.
• Audit courses, and a grade of “AU”, are not considered credits attempted or earned.
• Transfer credits are not counted in the calculation of the Cumulative GPA standard, but are included in the calculation of the Completion Rate and Maximum Time Frame. They are counted as both attempted and earned credits.
• Credits earned by examination or testing are not counted in any measurement.
• If a student changes program(s) or certificate(s), the credits from the previous program(s)/certificate(s) will be counted in the attempted and earned credits. However, if the student does not meet the minimum standard requirements, the student may appeal on the basis of a change in program/certificate.

Examples of SAP Policy Enforcement

Example 1
Nancy enrolled at San Juan College and completed Fall and Spring semesters. She registered for 12 credit hours (i.e., four courses) in the Fall semester and earned a B, C, D, and F. In the Spring semester, she enrolled for 15 credit hours (i.e., 5 courses), but dropped from one course (3 credits) before the census date and withdrew from another course (3 credits) mid-term. She earned three Cs in the remaining courses.

At the end of the Spring semester, Nancy would be placed on SAP Warning because her cumulative GPA was below 2.0. That is, Nancy earned a cumulative GPA of 1.7, i.e., the GPA calculation only counts the credits that earned a grade of B, C, D, and F (not W). Her cumulative completion rate was 75%. That is, dividing the number of earned credit hours by the number of attempted credits (dropped courses are not attempted, but a W counts), the student attempted 24 credits and successfully completed 18 credits (courses in which she received B, C, and D) for a completion rate of 75%, which exceeded the minimum requirement of 66.67%. The student has not exceeded the maximum time frame for the program (150% of 66 credits for the degree program or 99 credits).

The student would be placed on SAP Warning for one year, because her cumulative GPA was less than 2.0. To be making Satisfactory Progress the student must meet all three requirements. While on financial aid warning, the student is eligible to received financial aid.

Example 2
Paul started Fall semester enrolled in 12 credits. He stopped attending before the end of the term. He received grades of “X” in all courses. Based on the Zero Completion Standard, Paul would be placed on SAP Suspension and will not qualify for financial aid until he achieves a 2.0 GPA and a 66.67% completion rate.