Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

To be eligible for Title IV federal student aid, a student must maintain satisfactory academic progress (SAP) toward the successful continued progression of an educational degree or certificate. Progress is measured by an objective set of standards at the end of each payment period for the fall, spring and summer semesters. All acceptable hours appearing on transcripts from prior schools will be used to determine SAP status. Hours are included in the calculation whether federal student aid was received or not. Violation of any section of this policy will result in the loss of federal student aid eligibility.

Categories of Students

All Title IV federal student aid recipients will be measured using the same objective standards: GPA, PACE and maximum timeframe. ICC does not group Title IV recipients into categories for the purpose of monitoring SAP. Additionally, the same SAP requirements must be met by all students regardless of enrollment status, i.e. full time, part time or less than half time.

Evaluation Periods

The financial aid office will evaluate SAP for all Title IV federal student aid recipients at the end of each payment period, fall, spring and summer, to ensure students are meeting qualitative and quantitative standards as well as maximum time frame.

Requirements for Satisfactory Academic Progress:

Title IV federal student aid recipients are required to meet the following standards at the end of each payment period, fall, spring and summer:

Withdrawals, Incompletes, Audits and Repeat Courses:

Withdrawals and Incompletes do not count as a passing grade. These grades are counted in attempted credits. Once an Incomplete grade has been changed to a passing grade, the updated grade will be recalculated in the next semester’s SAP calculation. Audited courses do not earn academic credit and are not eligible for financial aid payment. As such, they are not evaluated in the review of the student's satisfactory academic progress. Repeated coursework is also counted as attempted credits, with all grades related to this repeated coursework included in cumulative GPA calculation.

Change of Major and Second Degrees

Once a student completes all the requirements for an academic program, they can no longer receive financial aid unless they enter a new degree program. All applicable courses in the completed program will count as part of the 150% attempted credits in subsequent degree programs.

Falling Below Academic Progress Standards

Students who are not meeting financial aid SAP standards are notified of their ineligibility for Title IV aid by email and will also be available on the self-service portal. Notifications of Title IV ineligibility include information on the SAP appeal process and how the student may re-establish eligibility to receive Title IV aid and information, what the student must submit regarding why SAP was not met, and what has changed in the student’s situation that will allow SAP to be met during the next evaluation.

Financial Aid Warning

Students who fail to meet either the PACE component, GPA component, or both, will be placed on financial aid warning for one payment period. Students on financial aid warning remain eligible to receive Title IV funds and should work to improve his or her GPA and PACE. Failure to meet all SAP standards at the end of the warning period will result in financial aid suspension and the loss of Title IV federal student aid eligibility. There is no warning period once a student reaches his/her maximum time frame. Most institutional scholarships require, at minimum, a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Therefore, even if a student remains eligible for federal student aid in SAP warning status, students who do not meet the terms of their scholarship each semester will have their scholarship revoked.

Financial Aid Denial

Students who fail to meet the requirements of this policy will be suspended from financial aid. Funds affected by this policy include all applicable federal, state, and college funds including but not limited to Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Federal Direct Loans, Federal Direct PLUS (Parent) Loans, Federal Work Study, Kansas Promise, and First Mate.

Students on financial aid suspension have the right to appeal. A student may appeal the suspension of financial aid due to extenuating circumstances. Exceptional circumstances may include but are not limited to illness, death of an immediate family member, or traumatic events in the student’s life.

Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals

If a student has faced extenuating circumstances that have affected academic progress, the student may appeal the academic progress denial. Students with terminated academic plans and those with academic amnesty are not eligible to appeal. Extenuating circumstances include, but are not limited to: serious illness, accident, death of student or immediate family member, or other mitigating circumstances beyond the student’s control. The appeal form is available through the Office of Student Financial Aid website at www.indycc.edu/financial-aid/forms

Appeals

A student on financial aid suspension may appeal if they do not meet the GPA and/or PACE requirements. Students on financial aid suspension may appeal once per semester. The student must complete the steps on the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal Checklist and provide the following:

• Typed statement, explaining the circumstances which prevented the student from maintaining SAP. The typed statement must address the following: Why the student failed to meet SAP standards? What has changed in the student’s circumstances? What the student plans to do differently from the past in order to meet minimum SAP standards?
• Required documentation that supports the circumstances in the written statement. Acceptable documentation can be, but is not limited to, medical or legal documents, police reports, letters from college staff or faculty, employers, counselors, attorneys, or other objective persons who are knowledgeable of the student’s circumstances. Acceptable documentation does not include letters from friends and/or family.
• Completed a degree audit. This should be signed by an ICC Academic Advisor and indicate the number of hours remaining to complete the degree (including the current semester).

Additionally, a student on financial aid suspension may appeal if they exceed the maximum time frame. A request for an extension of excessive hours should be submitted using the appropriate form to the financial aid office. Student must include the following for the appeal:

• Completed Request for Extension of Excessive Hours form,
• Typed statement explaining why the student has attempted more hours than allowed for his/her program.
• Documentation of relevant circumstances.
• Degree Audit signed by an ICC Academic Advisor indicating the number of hours remaining to complete the degree (including the current semester).

All official college transcripts must be on file with the Registrar, by the appeal deadline for the semester the appeal is being submitted. The decision of this appeal process takes precedence over any previous award notifications received for the academic semester indicated above. Appeal deadlines are stated on the Appeal forms. Students who fail to submit an appeal and have official transcripts on file with the Registrar by the appropriate deadline will remain on financial aid denial.

Financial Aid Probation

A student whose financial aid appeal is approved will be placed on financial aid probation. Students on financial aid probation are eligible for Title IV Federal Student Aid. Students who require more than one payment period to meet the minimum GPA and PACE standards will be placed on an academic plan. Students on an academic plan will be placed on financial aid probation until the student completes the academic plan, at which time they must meet all the minimum qualitative and quantitative standards. Failure to successfully complete or comply with the provisions of the academic plan will result in financial aid suspension and the loss of Title IV Federal Student Aid eligibility.

Academic Plans

When a student fails to meet GPA and/or PACE SAP standards and wishes to submit an appeal to the financial aid office, he or she must also submit an academic plan. Academic plans are developed in collaboration with a ICC Academic Advisor in the Advisement Office. An academic advisor will counsel the student and review their degree audit, program requirements, and academic progress, and financial aid will provide the SAP calculator. The SAP calculator is a mathematical tool to determine the plan’s target completion date given the specified GPA and PACE rate.

On an individual, case-by-case basis, the academic plan will establish the student’s needed GPA and PACE rate in order to meet minimum SAP standards. Additionally, the academic plan, if successfully followed, will identify when the student will be able to meet the minimum SAP standards.

Upon development of an agreeable academic plan, the student will submit the plan along with other appeal requirements to the financial aid office. Students on an academic plan will be evaluated at the end of each payment period, fall, spring and summer. Failure to successfully complete and/or comply with the provisions of the academic plan will result in financial aid suspension and the loss of Title IV federal student aid eligibility.

College SAP Committees

ICC has established a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Committee consisting of representatives from several departments. The committee is composed of six individuals, including both ICC staff and faculty. Serving on the committee is a 12–18-month obligation for all members with the exception of the Financial Aid member. The Financial Aid member is responsible for attending the committee meetings to provide guidance to the committee and to ensure compliance with the regulations. Committee members are routed to an electronic file of pending appeals. Committee members will review SAP appeals, supporting documentation and academic plans through ICC’s appeal folder. Upon reaching a decision, the committee chairperson will enter the decision into our system which will subsequently update the student’s record in Colleague.

Committee Decisions

If an appeal is approved by the SAP committee, the student will be placed on financial aid probation. Students on financial aid probation are eligible for Title IV federal student aid. Students who require more than one payment period to meet the minimum GPA and PACE standards will be placed on an academic plan until the student completes the academic plan, at which time they must meet all of the minimum qualitative and quantitative standards. Failure to successfully complete and/or comply with the provisions of the academic plan will result in financial aid suspension and the loss of Title IV federal student aid eligibility.

If an appeal is denied by the SAP committee, the student will remain on financial aid suspension. Students on financial aid suspension are ineligible for Title IV federal student aid. Students should successfully complete at least six credit hours at their own expense at ICC or attend another accredited institution of higher education and earn at least a 2.0 GPA before submitting another appeal.

Regained Eligibility

Students may re-establish financial aid eligibility by:

1. Successfully completing course work until the minimum standards are met, or
2. Successfully appealing financial aid suspension.

When a student appeals financial aid suspension, there is no guarantee the appeal will be approved. Once suspended, there is no guarantee a student may receive financial aid until he or she is meeting minimum standards again. Upon reaching the minimum standards, the student must notify the financial aid office to have his/her progress to be reviewed.

Notification

Students will be notified by ICC email of any changes to their satisfactory academic progress status such as Warning, or Probation. The email will direct them to their Financial Aid tab in the Self-service portal where they will see detailed information about their SAP status and notification of their right to appeal. Additionally, if a student has appealed their suspension they will be notified via ICC email that the SAP Committee has reached a decision. The email will communicate the committee’s decision to the students.