2.6.1 Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress

Policy

Qualitative Measure: All enrolled students are required to maintain a 2.0 cumulative grade point average.

Quantitative Measure:

• All enrolled students are required to complete with a passing grade a minimum of 67% of cumulative attempted credits.
• Students are limited as to the number of cumulative credits that can be counted for determining status for the payment of financial aid. The Maximum Time Frame in credits for financial aid is 150% of the published credit length of the programs(s) of record. Financial aid recipients pursuing more than one program/major may be required to appeal to continue to receive financial aid because of the maximum time frame restriction and the limits of the student record system.

Evaluation Period: All students with registered credits will be evaluated at the end of every term.

Failure to Meet Standards:

• Any student who fails to meet the qualitative or quantitative measures at the time of evaluation will be placed on financial aid probation immediately.
• Any student who fails to meet the qualitative or quantitative measures at the end of the probationary period will be a candidate for immediate suspension of financial aid eligibility. Candidates whose GPA is a minimum of 2.5 and whose completion rate is a minimum of 75% for the term being measured will be either granted an automatic appeal or the suspension code will be removed and the student will remain on continued probation contingent upon the student's ability to complete their degree, diploma or certificate within the maximum time frame and meet the minimum satisfactory academic progress criteria. All other candidates will be suspended and notified.
• Extraordinary circumstances: Alexandria Technical College may immediately suspend financial aid eligibility in the event of extraordinary circumstances, including but not limited to previously suspended students whose financial aid eligibility was reinstated whose academic performance falls below acceptable standards during a subsequent term of enrollment, students who register for courses, receive financial aid, and do not attend classes, and students whose attendance patterns appear to abuse the receipt of financial aid.

Notification: Notification of probation or suspension status will be e-mailed to your college address and sent in writing to students at their permanent address within five days of the change in status.

Appeals:

• Any student whose financial aid eligibility changes has the right to appeal based on mitigating circumstances.
• Mitigating circumstances are situations that are out of the control of the student and were not present at the time of initial enrollment.
• Appeals must be submitted in writing on a form available in the financial aid office and must be returned to the Director of Financial Aid or the director's designee.
• Appeals must be submitted within 10 business days of the date on the probation or suspension letter unless the Director of Financial Aid otherwise accepts the appeal request.
• The results of an appeal will be sent to the student at their permanent address within five (5) days of the receipt of the appeal.
• The Director of Financial Aid or the director's designee will approve or deny all appeals.
• Any student whose appeal was denied by the Director of Financial Aid or the director's designee has the right to appeal this denial to a secondary appeals committee. The secondary appeals committee will use the same criteria in rendering its decision.
• Request for appeal to the secondary appeals committee must be made in writing within 10 business days of the date of the denial letter.
• Forms for request for secondary appeals committee consideration are available in the Financial Aid Office and must be returned to the Vice President's office or the Vice President's designee.

Reinstatement: A financial aid recipient who has been suspended from financial aid eligibility can be reinstated only through an approved appeal or by meeting the minimum standards for satisfactory academic progress.

Additional Elements:

• Treatment of Grades: Courses for which a student receives a letter grade of A, B, C, D, S, or P are included in the calculation of cumulative credit completion percentage as courses successfully completed. Courses for which a student receives a letter grade of I, W, F, U, Z, FW or IP will be treated as credits attempted but not successfully completed. An “FN” grade does not impact financial aid eligibility.
• Academic Amnesty: Academic amnesty does not apply.
• Audited Courses: Audited courses will not be funded by financial aid and are not included in any financial aid satisfactory academic progress measurements.
• Consortium Credits: Credits for which financial aid is received under a consortium agreement will be included in cumulative GPA, completion percentage, and maximum time-frame calculations.
• Remedial/Developmental Credits: Remedial/developmental credits are included in the GPA and percentage completion measurement. Remedial/developmental credits will increase the length of the program(s) of record for calculation of maximum time frame. The increase is limited to a maximum of 30 semester credits.
• Repeated Credits: Students may repeat courses. There is a limit of three attempts per course on the number of repeats. The repeat grade will become the grade calculated for GPA purposes. All attempts will count for determining percentage completion rate and maximum time frame.
• Transfer Credits: Transfer credits accepted by the college are not counted as credits attempted for calculation of cumulative completion percentage, and grades associated with these credits will not be used in calculating cumulative GPA. Transfer credits accepted by the college and applied by the college toward a student's general education, program, or degree requirements will apply toward the maximum time frame calculation. If at the point of admission a transfer student's prior academic record does not meet the college's minimum cumulative qualitative or quantitative satisfactory academic progress standards, the college may immediately place the student in a probationary status for financial aid eligibility.
• Withdrawals: Credits for which a grade of “W” or “FW” is received are considered attempted credits but not successfully completed credits for the purpose of monitoring satisfactory academic progress. A grade of “W” or “FW” does not impact GPA but does negatively impact the cumulative completion percentage and counts toward calculation of maximum time frame.
• CR and NC: These credits are never eligible to be counted for determining status for payment of financial aid.

Definitions/Conditions/Additional Information Concerning Financial Aid

Enrollment Status: Enrollment status will be determined after the close of business on the fifth school day of each term. If a student has begun attendance in all classes for which awards were calculated, the college will not recalculate awards for changes in enrollment status that occur after the fifth school day of each term. Enrollment status for Federal Title IV and Minnesota Higher Education Services Office (MHESO) programs is as follows except for the excluded MHESO programs:

Federal Programs: Pell, SEOG, Stafford and PLUS loans, Federal Work Study

• Full time = 12 credits or more
• Three-quarter time = 9-11 credits
• Half-time = 6-8 credits
• Less than half-time = 5 or fewer credits

MHESO Programs

Minnesota State Grant uses average tuition and fees to determine each semester award. The formula is credit sensitive from 3 to 15 credits. Post-Secondary Childcare varies by credit level from 6 to 15. All other MHESO programs follow the Federal definitions.

Level Two for Borrowing: Students who have successfully completed or transferred in 30 semester credits will be considered level two students.

Academic Year: The academic year will be two semesters in length – fall and spring.

Non-standard Terms: Non-standard terms occurring within the start and end dates of all terms are combined and treated as a standard term. If a student ultimately does not attend at least one class session for courses in these non-standard terms, the student's status for payment of financial aid must be recalculated and adjusted awards will be applied to the student's account. Any balances created will be owed to the college by the student.

Eligible Student for Financial Aid: A regular student in an eligible program as defined by Federal regulations is eligible to apply for Financial Aid. A regular student is one who is enrolled for the purpose of obtaining a degree, diploma, or certificate offered by the college. Qualifications for MHESO programs vary by program and are determined by MHESO rules.

Approved by: ATC Leadership Council
Effective Date: 5/19/08
Last Date Revised: 5/16/08