Standards for Academic Progress and Financial Assistance Eligibility

Standards for Academic Progress and Financial Assistance Eligibility

MATC follows the Federal guidelines for Standards for Academic Progress (SAP) which defines the requirements students must meet to maintain satisfactory academic progress and financial aid eligibility. The standards also establish a formal process to identify, notify, and provide assistance to students who fall below required academic standards. This includes the appeal process.

MATC calculates a student’s SAP after the end of each semester, spring semester, and summer session. Grade changes and completion of incomplete grades will be calculated the following semester. To meet the SAP, a student must meet the following standards:

• Maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative program Grade Point Average (GPA).
• Successfully complete 67% of all attempted credits for the student’s current program (credits attempted include transferred, late dropped courses, withdrawals, and incomplete courses) to graduate within 150% of the normal time frame.
• U, W, and I grades are considered as credits attempted but not successfully completed.
• Complete the program requirements within no more than 150% of the normal time required to complete the program (maximum time frame).

Students who fail to meet the above requirements for SAP will not be eligible for financial aid until such time as they meet those standards, meet the conditions of the warning period (see below) or successfully appeal of their status.

An appeal does not ensure that federal financial aid eligibility will be reinstated. For denied appeals, the student must pay for any additional enrollment after the warning period through personal or private funds until SAP is met.

Dropping a Course
Meet with your advisor or instructor before dropping a course. Dropping a course is an important decision that may affect your educational future. Meet with your advisor to discuss this educational decision and the alternatives that may be available for you. A W (withdrawal) is not included in the calculation of your GPA; however, a withdrawal may affect your SAP status.

The last day to withdraw from a course is two weeks before the last day of the semester. For summer and quarterly sessions, the last day for withdrawal is one week before the end of the session.

If a withdrawal occurs within the tuition refund period, there is no official record of it on your grade report or transcript. It will, however, be included in your SAP calculation as attempted but not completed.

Warning Period
A continuing MATC student who fails to meet cumulative GPA (2.0) or Completion Rate (67%) standards will be automatically placed on “Warning” for the next enrollment period if they were making satisfactory progress within the last two semesters completed.

During the warning enrollment period, the student may receive federal financial aid despite the determination that the student is not meeting SAP.

The student must meet SAP at the end of the warning period. If not, financial aid eligibility will be suspended until the student meets SAP. The student may appeal if there were extenuating circumstances. (See appeal process below.)

Ineligible Status
Ineligible is the status assigned, through the SAP process, when a student does not meet the requirements for SAP.

Probation Status
Probation is the status assigned to a student who successfully files an appeal. A student on financial aid probation may receive financial aid as long as they are meeting the terms of an approved monitored academic plan or until SAP is met. The appeal can be granted for 1 or 2 semesters based on the student’s situation.

Appeal Process
There may be extenuating circumstances encountered by a student impacting his or her ability to be successful during an enrollment period. These circumstances during the enrollment period may include personal injury, illness, death of an immediate family member, or other documented circumstances that were unexpected in nature and beyond the control of the student.

In these cases, cumulative grade point average and/or completion rate may decline, resulting in the student not meeting the minimum quantitative requirements for SAP.

NEW: If this occurs and the student wishes to appeal to have financial aid reinstated, a Financial Aid Appeal and Success Plan form must be submitted to the Financial Aid office via your Pathway Advisor. An approved monitored academic plan must be completed with your advisor. Additionally, you will need to work with your Retention Coach on your Success Plan.

An appeal must include appropriate documentation regarding the extenuating circumstance(s) and what has changed that will allow the student to achieve successful academic progress at the next evaluation. Incomplete appeal forms will not be reviewed.

A review will be done at the end of each enrollment period to ensure the student is either meeting the terms of the academic plan or SAP. If the academic plan requirements and SAP are not being met, the student is no longer eligible for further financial aid. You may reapply for financial aid once you have cleared any deficiencies and are progressing satisfactorily towards the completion of your program.

It is the student’s responsibility to initiate any appeal for financial aid eligibility. Evaluation and decision is based upon the information provided in the student appeal. Students will be notified via email of the review committee’s decision. Appeals for academic reinstatement granted by other departments do not constitute reinstatement of financial aid eligibility.

Appeals will be reviewed by a Financial Aid Appeals Committee. If an appeal is denied, the student is no longer eligible for further financial aid from MATC until the student becomes compliant with the Standards for Academic Progress policy. The decision of the review committee is final and cannot be appealed to the Department of Education.

150% Rule
To maintain financial aid eligibility, you must not exceed 150% (or 1.5 times) the credits required to graduate from your program of study. Examples:

• A two-year associate degree candidate in a program requiring 60 earned credits to complete would be allowed 90 attempted credits of financial aid eligibility.
• A one-year technical diploma candidate in a program requiring 30 earned credits to complete would be allowed 45 attempted credits of financial aid eligibility.

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