Paul Quinn College Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic (SAP) Policy

Paul Quinn College is required by law to formulate standards to measure a student’s progress toward
completion of a program of study while receiving financial assistance through federal, state, or institutional student aid programs by applying both qualitative and quantitative measurements to academic work.

To comply with applicable laws and accreditation standards, PQC has developed a policy describing
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for both applicants and recipients of student financial aid.

These measurements shall be used to determine student eligibility for all need-based and federal Title IV financial assistance, unless the terms of a particular grant or funding source state otherwise. All current and returning students to PQC, after a lapse of one semester or longer, will be re-evaluated under the current SAP policy.

The following SAP policy measurements became effective as of May 17, 2016. Satisfactory Academic Progress is measured at the end of each semester. Some Financial Aid programs have specific requirements. In those instances, the program requirements will supersede the general SAP policy stated here.

Each financial aid applicant must select a primary program of study prior to receiving financial aid payments. Students may not be allowed financial aid funding for multiple changes of programs for the purpose of extending financial aid eligibility. All previously repeated courses will be counted.

Qualitative Measure

A Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 2.00 or higher must be attained by the end of a student’s first semester of enrollment at DCC. This average must be maintained at the end of each subsequent semester for a student to continue to receive financial aid. Students who do not meet this minimum CGPA requirement will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for one semester. If a CGPA of 2.00 or higher is not reached by the end of the warning period, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension.

Quantitative Progress (Maximum Time Frame 150%)

A student may apply for, and if eligible, receive financial aid for attempted credit hours that do not exceed 150% of the minimum number of hours required to complete the student’s primary program of study. All hours attempted toward the completion of a program of study will be counted regardless of whether financial aid was received. Credit hours transferred to PQC are counted when calculating the 150% maximum.

When SAP is calculated, students who have attempted 150% of the allowed number of credit hours, or for whom it would be mathematically impossible to complete a program of study within the 150% maximum, will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension.

Students placed on Financial Aid Suspension for this issue have exhausted financial aid eligibility to complete the program and may not again receive financial aid benefits to complete their program of study.

Examples:

1) For a student completing a bachelor’s degree that requires 120 hours, the student must complete the degree within 180 attempted hours. The student will lose eligibility for additional financial aid to
complete the program after 180 attempted hours.

2) For a student completing a certificate program that requires 30 hours, the student must complete the certificate within 45 attempted hours. The student will lose eligibility for additional financial aid to complete the program after 45 attempted hours.

Quantitative Progress (Pace of Completion 67%)

To avoid exceeding the maximum time frame required to complete a program of study using financial aid, students are expected to maintain a “pace of completion”. At the end of each semester, students must have a cumulative passing rate of at least 67%. Grades of “I”, “W”, “NR”, “NC”, “IP”, and “IU” will be counted as hours attempted, but will not be counted as hours successfully passed. Repeated course enrollments will be counted in the completion rate and against the overall maximum time limit required to complete the program of study.

Students who do not meet this minimum requirement will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for
one semester. If the 67% pace of completion is not reached by the end of the warning period, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension.

Warning and Suspension Period

If a 67% cumulative pace of completion and/or GPA of 2.0 or higher at the end of the semester, the student will be placed on a warning period for one semester. During the warning period, the student is still eligible to receive financial aid.

However, if the 67% completion rate and/or CGPA of 2.0 or higher is not reached by the end of the warning period, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension. During the Suspension period, the student is not eligible to receive financial aid.

Withdrawals & Incompletes

In the calculation of the 67% Pace of Progress, Grades of “I”, “W”, “NR”, “NC”, “IP”, and “IU” will be counted as hours attempted, but will not be counted as hours successfully passed. All other letter grades (A, B, C, D, F) will be counted.

In the calculation of Cumulative GPA, Grades of “I”, “W”, “NR”, “NC”, “IP”, and “IU” will be counted as hours attempted, but will not be counted as hours successfully passed. All other letter grades (A, B, C, D, F) will be counted.

In the calculation of 150% Maximum Time Frame Grades of “I”, “W”, “NR”, “NC”, “IP”, and “IU” will be counted as hours attempted, but will not be counted as hours successfully passed. All other letter grades (A, B, C, D, F) will also be counted.

Treatment of Remedial Courses

An otherwise eligible student may receive financial aid for a maximum of 30 attempted credit hours of developmental/remedial course work.

Once the 30-hour credit hour maximum is reached, additional development/remedial credit hours will not be used to calculate the award amount. Developmental hours are not included in the calculation of the overall maximum time frame to complete the student’s academic program or in the GPA calculation.

However, developmental/remedial attempts and grades are used in the measurement of the pace of completion.

Treatment of Transfer, Change of Major, Second degree & Second Major Courses

Transfer students must submit official transcripts from all previous colleges attended. If transcripts are not received and evaluated prior to the start of your enrollment, SAP standards cannot be calculated.

Each financial aid applicant must select a Primary Program of Study prior to receiving financial aid payments. Students may not be allowed financial aid funding for multiple changes of programs for the purpose of extending financial aid eligibility. All previously repeated courses will be counted.
Students must be in an eligible program of study leading to a degree or certificate in order to receive federal aid and most non-federal aid.

A Second major being added to a previous degree is not considered an eligible program of study.

Completion of Degree Requirements

A student who has completed all the coursework for his or her degree or certificate but has not yet received the degree or certificate cannot receive further financial aid for that program.

Appeals

A student who has been placed on financial aid suspension for not meeting the required SAP guidelines may appeal his/her suspension if there were unusual or extenuating circumstances that contributed to the student’s failure to meet these guidelines.

If the appeal is granted, the student will be placed on a SAP Probation Status and will be allowed to receive financial aid. A student who wishes to appeal must submit a completed appeal form to the Office of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships. Financial aid will only be awarded if an appeal is approved.

The student who was placed on an academic plan will be reviewed for SAP at the end of the probationary semester. If the student is still not meeting SAP requirements as stated in the academic plan, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension and will be ineligible for financial aid.

Students may appeal Financial Aid Suspension

If the student’s appeal is denied, the student will be ineligible for financial aid until the student meets the SAP requirements.

Regaining Eligibility

To regain financial aid eligibility, a student placed on suspension may pay enrollment related expenses from personal resources until minimum SAP standards are met. The student’s progress will continue to be reviewed at the end of each semester of enrollment.

Eligibility will automatically be reinstated for the next term of enrollment upon successful completion of a term of enrollment in which the student meets the required SAP standards described in this section.

This process will be enacted at the end of each term. The Director of Financial Aid will serve as the single point of contact for the process, collecting reports on progress from members of each unit (Registrar, Bursar, Retention Manager(s), Financial Aid Officer(s)) and serving as chairperson of the SAP Committee.