All credits taken at SLCC are included toward your completion rate. Your completion rate is the percentage of earned hours compared to attempted hours. To calculate this percentage, divide your cumulative earned hours by your cumulative attempted hours. You must complete at least 70% of your cumulative attempted hours to meet this standard.

For example, if you take 10 credit hours, you must complete 7 of those hours to achieve a 70% completion rate. “E”, “W” and “I”, grades are not considered earned hours and will lower your completion rate. Repeating classes may lower your completion rate as a class can only be counted as earned one time but is counted as attempted each time taken. Transfer hours are included as both attempted and earned hours.

Satisfactory academic progress standards are reviewed at the end of each semester based on your cumulative academic history at SLCC.

Progress can only be checked after all your grades have posted. If an instructor fails to post your grade, progress cannot be determined. Aid will not be disbursed for future terms until the missing grade has posted.

If you did not meet any of the SAP requirements, OFAS will send an email to your BruinMail account notifying you that SAP was not met. The email will explain the process to appeal SAP to request financial aid eligibility to be reinstated.

If you fall below the 2.0 CGPA or the 70% completion rate, you will be placed on warning for the next term you attend. During the warning term you remain eligible to receive financial aid. At the end of the term, you must have a 2.0 CGPA and a 70% cumulative completion rate to remain eligible for future aid.

An appeal process is available if you experienced circumstances beyond your control that prevented you from meeting academic progress standards. The purpose of a SAP appeal is to allow students, who have lost eligibility for financial aid due to SAP, to explain the circumstances that prevented them from meeting SAP standards during previous semesters. The outcome of the appeal will depend on the nature of the circumstances, the quality of the documentation, and the student's plan for future success.

Your statement must include:

• List of all semesters that contributed to poor satisfactory academic progress
• Unavoidable circumstances that occurred during the semesters listed. Examples of unavoidable circumstances may include illness, death or immediate family member, legal issues, or employment
• Steps taken to address and manage similar circumstances in the future

Additional Third-Party Documentation may include:

• Illness - Detailed letter, on letterhead, from doctor including: condition, dates treated, restrictions, dates of restrictions, and release information
• Death of Immediate Family Member - Death certificate
• Legal Issues - Divorce decree, police reports
• Employment - Letter from supervisor, on letterhead, with contact information. Must state that scheduling conflicts were mandatory and not at the discretion of the student.
• Other - Signed supporting statements from individuals that corroborate your written statement.

Appeals are reviewed by the appeals committee to determine if the documented circumstances warrant an extension of aid during a probation period.

Your appeal and supporting documentation must be submitted by the following deadlines in order to be considered:

• Fall Semester: November 16
• Spring Semester: April 1
• Summer Semester: July 20

Maximum time frame is 150% of the credit hours required to graduate in your major. You may receive financial aid for a maximum of 150% of the credit hours required for your program. When evaluating maximum time frame, OFAS will consider your full academic record at SLCC, including transfer hours, regardless of whether you received financial aid during those terms. Eligibility for financial aid is lost at the point you can no longer complete the program within the maximum time frame.

As you near the 150% limit, you may be asked to contact Academic Advising to get an audit showing what classes you still need to graduate. The audit will be used by the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships to evaluate your maximum time frame and determine if you can complete your degree within the maximum time frame limit.

If it is determined you can’t graduate within the maximum time frame, you are no longer eligible for financial aid. However, an Appeal to Extend Maximum Time Frame is available. You may use this appeal as an opportunity to explain unavoidable circumstances that led to non-completion or poor grades during your attendance at SLCC. This information is returned to the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. Appeals are reviewed to determine if additional hours will be granted.

If you drop classes each semester, after receiving aid, it may be determined you are not progressing at a reasonable rate towards graduation. Reasonable progression toward your degree is shown by completing the courses for which you register.

If you repeat a class previously taken at SLCC, the lower grade will automatically be removed from the GPA calculation which may improve your CGPA. However, repeat courses will lower your completion rate. Repeating courses may negatively impact your completion rate and maximum time frame.

You may repeat a course until a valid grade is received. Valid grades include “D-“ and above as well as “P” grades. Once a valid grade has been received, you may retake the course one additional time. Any subsequent retake credits cannot be counted toward financial aid eligibility and must be paid by you.