Postsecondary education institutions are required by title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, amended (HEA), to establish, publish, and consistently apply reasonable satisfactory academic progress standards to students.  An institution’s standards are considered reasonable if they were in accordance with the satisfactory academic progress federal regulations.  Failure to comply with those rules can bar a school and its students from receiving federal financial aid funds.  Federal regulations (34 CFR 668.34) stipulate nationally consistent terminology and tighter controls for measuring the satisfactory academic progress (SAP) for the eligibility of all matriculated students (including Title IV students) to receive federal financial aid.

GRADE POINT AVERAGE (GPA)

At the end of each semester (Spring, Summer, Fall), students can access grade reports online on the www.generations.edu website through the college’s SonisWeb electronic student record system.  Only final grades are entered on a student’s academic record and used in computing the student’s GPA.  The GPA is determined by multiplying the number of semester hours attempted for each course by the grade points earned and them dividing the number of semester hours attempted.  Computation of the grade point average excludes credits earned by proficiency, for which no grade was earned; course withdrawals; grades earned at other institutions.  GPA is used to determine eligibility for good academic standing, graduation, Dean’s List selection, President’s List selection, Academic Honors selection, scholastic awards, and other purposes.

Repeating Courses Students who wish to repeat a course should report to the Registrar. Upon completion of the course, the original grade for the course and the new grade for each repeated course will appear on the transcript. The original grade and the new grade are used in GPA computation. All courses repeated, whether passed or not, including the original course, will be calculated in the student’s grade point average. Only one registration for the course counts toward the total number of credits required for graduation.

GOOD STANDING

A student who has attempted semester hours of coursework, including developmental courses, and has achieved a 2.0 GPA.

ACADEMIC WARNING

Students who have attempted credit hours, including developmental courses, but have not achieved a cumulative 2.0 GPA will be placed in an Academic Warning status.

ACADEMIC SUSPENSION

Students who have a subsequent semester without earning a cumulative 2.0 GPA will be placed on Academic Suspension and must complete the SAP appeal process for consideration. All students who successfully appeal their SAP status must have an academic plan demonstrating they will achieve Satisfactory Progress within the Maximum Time Frame. The conditions established for the SAP Academic Plan are as follows:

1. To stay in good standing at Generations College by keeping your GPA at no less than 2.0.
2. You must have a “C” grade or better in each course you are enrolled in (if your semester GPA is less than 2.0 in the semester that you return, you will not be allowed to continue in your program).
3. You must attend no less than 5 CAPPE tutoring sessions in the semester you return and must participate in weekly check-ins with our Director of CAPPE.

ACADEMIC PROBATION

Students who have successfully appealed financial aid suspension are placed on Probation Status. Students on Probation Status are eligible to receive financial aid for one payment period, during which the student may continue to receive FSA funds.

• If the student is not meeting SAP at the end of their probationary semester, but they are meeting the terms of their academic plan, their academic plan can be rolled over to the next semester, and the student will be aid eligible for that semester.
• If the student is on probation and does not meet the SAP requirements or the terms of their academic plan, they will be suspended from the College and from receiving financial aid in future semesters.

QUALITATIVE STANDARD

All students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0. The GPA is determined by multiplying the number of semester hours attempted for each course by the grade points earned and then dividing the number of semester hours attempted.

• Computation of the grade point average excludes credits earned by proficiency, for which no grade was earned; course withdrawals; grades earned at other institutions. GPA is used to determine eligibility for good academic standing.
• Grades of A-P are considered successful completions. Grades of incomplete (I), course withdrawal (W or CW), or Failure (F) are NOT considered successful completion. However, withdrawals from courses within the 100% tuition refund period will not be considered against the completion rate. Remedial hours are included in the calculation.

QUANTITATIVE STANDARD

COURSE COMPLETION REQUIREMENT (PACE)

The Pace threshold is 67% successful completion of attempted credit hours.  A student’s Pace is a percentage that is calculated by dividing the sum of completed cumulative credit hours and accepted transfer hours by the sum of the attempted hours and accepted transfer hours.  Remedial hours are included within the calculation. The program change caused by the new rules was the requirement to include the transferred hours in both the numerator and denominator of the calculation.  Since Pace calculations require the inclusion of transferred credits, students whose SAP appeal was denied may be required to make up their Deficit Pace Units at another institution.

Grades of A, B, C, D, and P’s are considered successful completions. The college does not offer non-credit remedial courses. Grades of incomplete (I), course withdrawal (CW), Failure (F), are NOT considered successful completion. Excused withdrawals will count toward hours attempted for the cumulative completion rate as well as cumulative GPA.  However, withdrawals from courses within the 100% tuition refund period will not considered against the completion rate.

Students will have until the end of the following semester from the time of the incomplete to make up all missing work and exams and may have less time at the discretion of the instructor or Dean of Academic and Student Affairs.  An “I” (Incomplete) will initially be assigned to the grade report and transcript. When the student makes up all work the new grade will replace the “I” grade.  If a student fails to make up work within the time-frame of receiving an Incomplete, then the grade will automatically be converted to an “F” (Failure) on the student’s grade report and transcript.

MAXIMUM TIME REQUIREMENT (TIMEFRAME)

All students must complete their degrees within 150% of the program length measured in semester hours. The U.S. Department of Education has established a requirement that students receiving Federal Student Aid complete their degree within 150% of the time frame. Students will not be allowed to receive financial aid after 150% of their academic program is exceeded. For instance, if your academic program can be completed within 61 credit hours, the maximum period must not exceed 93 (61 x 1.5) attempted credit hours. This includes transfer work and coursework equivalent to an awarded Associate’s Degree.  All enrollments such as repeats, incompletes, and withdrawals at Generations College are considered attempted hours even if no financial aid was previously received. The time frame is evaluated by the number of hours attempted. Students may change programs, or pursue a second degree, provided they are within the Maximum Timeframe rules.

REGULATORY CHANGES

The United States Department of Education (ED) modified the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) regulations for multiple reasons.  Proposed rules were made effective date of July 1, 2011.  The SAP regulations (34 CFR 668.34) can be found on the website for Electronic Code of Federal Regulations.   Furthermore, the website for the Department of Education offers various tools to assist with the planning and execution of SAP policy and practices.

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

Transfer Hours: All earned college level credit hours are to be evaluated for transfer and added to the calculation of SAP.  This means that accepted transfer hours are included in both the attempted and the earned hours.

Probation Status: The term of probation status can only be attributed to students who have successfully appealed the SAP issue.  Students previously labeled as Probation must now be either Warning for a first offense or Suspension for a subsequent offense.

SAP Academic Plans: All students who successfully appeal their SAP status must have an academic plan demonstrating they will achieve Satisfactory Progress within the Maximum Timeframe.

Equality: All students must adhere to SAP regulations.  This includes those who are not using any financial aid dollars.  All appeals, GPA, Pace and Timeframe must be reviewed by the SAP team.

Documentation: All SAP appeals must include documentation.

SAP APPEAL PROCESS AND PROCEDURE

Students who have been identified as being placed on Suspension will be required to successfully complete the SAP appeal process.  They will be required to complete the official appeal form for each subsequent term until their performance has attained the thresholds for minimum GPA and Pace standards within their timeframes.  SAP Suspension students will be required to follow SAP Academic Plans in addition to completing appeals.  Students placed on Warning will not be required to complete SAP appeals, as it is their first offense.

Federal guidelines provide conditions of appeal as death of a family member, injury or illness of student, or other special circumstances.  Students, in consultation with designated Generations College personnel who have been trained and authorized to process SAP Appeals, may have to help to draft a summary narrative.  The narrative must first describe the mitigating circumstances that had hindered their attempt to attain the SAP thresholds and then must describe the changes that had been made to assure progress towards attaining the SAP thresholds.  Student may be required to provide documents that demonstrate items written in their student summary narratives.

Student appeals may be denied if failure to achieve satisfactory academic progress could not attributed to mitigating circumstances.  SAP appeals may be denied based solely on failure to provide third party documentation that prove stated mitigating circumstances.  Student appeals may be denied based solely on failure to follow and/or attain the goals of their SAP Academic Plan.

SAP ACADEMIC PLANS

A student should be required to file an appeal and explain the reason that the SAP standards have not been met.  Furthermore, the student must state what has changed regarding their particular situation.  It is important for the student to have ownership in his or her current situation and the resulting academic plan, with an understanding of the consequences the student faces if he or she fails to follow the academic plan. Finally, as an institution, it is the responsibility of the institution to assist a student in plotting a course to successful completion within a new maximum timeframe and to then monitor this pace toward completion.  An academic plan would need to take into account the student’s progression toward completion of the intended program, which could, in fact, be the next term.

Academic plans need not be very complicated or too detailed; the purpose of these plans is merely to put the student on track to successful program completion. Students may be restricted and/or limited to part-time status under their SAP Academic Plan until they have met the cumulative satisfactory academic progress standards. Students may be required to complete placement and/or diagnostic tests to facilitate the development of a SAP Academic Plan.

Students who were unable to follow the SAP Academic Plans may be allowed to apply for an amended or new Plan by presenting evidence of a documented extenuating and/or mitigating circumstance.

If a long-lasting or recurrent medical condition had been incorporated with the appeal processes, students may be required to provide official documents from their health care providers that explicitly indicate they can handle a part-time or full-time load of classes.

PROCESS MANAGEMENT EXPECTATIONS

To ensure a high quality process with the intent to serve both the student and the college the following controls should be in place:

1. At the end of each Semester a list of SAP impacted students will be created
2. Each SAP impacted student will be contacted by the Office of the Registrar informing them of the SAP status
3. All SAP Appeal forms must be signed, dated, and submitted by the student to the Office of the Registrar prior to the posted deadline date
4. All appeal packets should have copies of all student submitted information and copies of appropriate academic screens from SonisWeb
5. Each approved appeal form must contain the full signature and title of the college official(s) who are authorized to decide SAP appeal approvals and denials.
6. All documents attached to the SAP appeal packet must be consistent with the Mitigating Circumstances used to justify the release of the SAP Hold
7. The Deans of Academic Affairs, Advising and Career Services, and Student Affairs will meet, review and decide the outcome for each appellant
8. The deans may request the opinion from the Program Directors regarding individual student appeals
9. Each Semester a list of SAP appeals will be created
10. The Dean of Advising and Career Services will meet with each appellant regularly during the term and maintain records of each meeting
11. Each SAP list will contain the following information for each appellant:

1. Full Name and ID number from SIS
2. Intended enrollment date of student
3. Brief summary of justification for release
4. Status of appeal (approved, denied, pending)
5. Subtotals for each category