In order to maintain eligibility for receiving financial aid, federal regulations require that all Title IV aid recipients make satisfactory academic progress (SAP) toward achieving a certificate or degree. Progress is measured at the end of each term by evaluating the student’s cumulative grade point average, credits earned in relation to attempted hours (Pace), and the length of the academic program. These standards apply to each student’s entire academic history, regardless of whether Title IV aid was received or not.
Pace: Is the number of successfully completed hours divided by the number of attempted hours. Students must pass at least 67% of all attempted hours (not earned) in order to maintain eligibility for financial aid. Attempted hours include: “W, AU, I, IP, N, N/C, W, WD, WF, X, FA”. Students placed on Warning, Probation or Removal will be notified via MyWS.
Cumulative Progress: In addition to the above standards, students must achieve a cumulative GPA of 2.0.
If a student does not meet the academic requirements as stated above, he/she will be placed in a financial aid “warning” status. The student will be allowed to receive financial aid for the next term that he/she attends; however, the student’s status will be evaluated after the “warning” term, and the student must meet the required academic standards including pace and GPA to continue to be eligible to receive financial aid. If the student reaches or exceeds the maximum hour limitation, he/she will not be eligible for financial aid.
Students placed on financial aid removal may continue to enroll at Walters State without financial aid if they are eligible to re-enroll according to institutional policies and have the resources to pay their fees.
If a student registers for a future term prior to grades being evaluated for the current term, the aid posted for future terms will be canceled as a result of being placed on financial aid removal.
Students who receive all unsatisfactory grades, any combination of: F, FA, AU, I, IP, N/C, W, WD, WF, X for a term will automatically be placed on financial aid warning. This applies to grades transferred from other higher education institutions. This may be appealed by following the appropriate procedure stated below. Students will return to “Good Standing” by satisfactorily achieving the required academic progress standards at the next evaluation period. Students will be placed on financial aid removal if academic progress standards are not met at the next evaluation period.
Appeal Process
If extenuating circumstances precluded a student from meeting the standards, the student may file an appeal. Documentation must be provided to substantiate the reason of appeal. Only complete and legible appeals will be considered. Submitting an appeal does not constitute approval. Students are limited to 3 appeals during the course of their enrollment at WSCC.
Once a determination has been made regarding the results of the appeal, it will be posted to the student’s MyWS account. If the appeal is approved and the student is placed on probation, the student must meet the satisfactory progress standards by the next evaluation period. Failure to meet these requirements will result in the student being placed on Financial Aid removal for subsequent terms. Students that are placed on an Individual Academic Plan (IAP) must meet the requirements of the plan, which will also be evaluated at the end of each term. If the student does not meet the conditions of the IAP, he/she will be placed on Financial Aid Removal and will not be eligible for financial aid until he/she meets the SAP standards. All decisions made by the Appeals Committee are final and cannot be re-appealed.
Academic criteria for other programs –Scholarships and other third party sources of financial aid may have additional requirements regarding satisfactory academic progress. Please refer to the guidelines of the specific scholarship or third party source for additional requirements (ie.TN Lottery). Standards are available on the WSCC Financial Aid website.
Walters State offers counseling, career guidance, testing, tutoring and academic advising free of charge in order to assist students in achieving their educational goals.
The Financial Aid Office encourages all students to use these services as needed.
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