Students who fail to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards for Financial Aid have the right to appeal the suspension of their financial aid funding. The appeal cannot be based upon the student’s need for assistance or students lack knowledge that his/her funding was in jeopardy. Appeals must be based on some type of extenuating circumstance (death, illness, accident, natural disaster, activation into military service, previously undiagnosed learning disability, etc.) that impacted negatively upon student’s ability to meet the required standards and what has changed in the student’s situation that would allow the student to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress at the next evaluation. The SAP Appeal process is a two-part process. Submitting an appeal does not guarantee approval. The appeal process is a request for an exception to the SAP Policy. Not all circumstances will warrant an exception to the SAP Policy.
The student must submit a Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal for Financial Aid Form to the Student One Stop Center including a detailed statement explaining the extenuating circumstance(s) along with third party documentation (doctor’s statement, death certificate, police report, activation papers, etc.) verifying his/her claim. In addition, the appeal must address what has changed in the student’s situation that would allow the student to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress at the next evaluation. The appeal will be reviewed and a determination of whether or not the appeal has merit will be made. Appeals submitted without all required documents within the required timeframe, will be considered incomplete and denied due to lack of sufficient evidence.
The student must also complete an Academic Plan with the Associate Vice President of Retention and Academic Success. Approval/denial of the SAP Appeal will be dependent upon the student’s Academic Plan and his/her ability to meet the terms of Satisfactory Academic Progress. Appeals can only be approved if the Financial Aid Appeals Committee determines that the student will be able to meet the SAP Standards after the next payment period or if the student has agreed to follow an Academic Plan that, if followed, will ensure the student can meet SAP Standards by a specific point in time. If the appeal is approved, the student will receive financial aid funding for the appealed semester subject to the availability of funds. At the end of that semester and subsequent semesters, the student’s academic progress will be reviewed, and the conditions of the student’s appeal will be evaluated. If the conditions of the appeal are not met, the student will no longer be eligible for financial aid funding until such time as SAP Standards are met. If the conditions of the appeal are met, the student will continue to be eligible for financial aid funding; however, the conditions of the appeal will still be reviewed each semester. Appeals will be reviewed within two weeks of submission. The student will be notified in writing via their WC email account and a letter sent to the student’s home address of approval or denial of appeal along with the conditions that must be met. Students who fail to meet the conditions outlined in their individualized Academic Plan during their conditional semester will not be permitted to submit a subsequent appeal. If the appeal is denied, the student will not receive financial aid until SAP Standards have been met. All decisions of the Financial Aid Appeals Committee are final. Keep in mind that due to the limited amount of time between semesters, a complete review of all financial aid recipients’ SAP standards may not be possible before financial aid funds are credited to the student account or bills are due; therefore, a student who is subsequently determined to be ineligible under the SAP Standards will have their funds returned to the appropriate federal and/or state agency and the student will be billed for the amount owed to the college.