Federal and State regulations require institutions of higher education to establish minimum standards of satisfactory academic progress for students receiving financial aid. Students are expected to achieve certain minimum levels of progress toward the successful academic completion of course requirements for a degree or certificate.  Progress is measured both qualitatively and quantitatively. Students are required to maintain at the least the minimum standard for both qualitative and quantitative levels.  To ensure that a student is making sufficient progress throughout their course of study, a maximum time frame divided into increments is required. The Satisfactory Academic Progress calculation is determined over the student’s entire career at Gloucester County College not individual semesters.

The Office of Financial Aid will evaluate satisfactory academic progress once each academic year.  At the end of each spring term, all students who have attempted 12 or more credit hours, and are failing to make satisfactory academic progress, will be informed in writing of their ineligibility to receive future financial aid at Gloucester County College. Standards for maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) are as follows:

Qualitative Standard
Students must maintain the following minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA), depending upon the number of hours attempted:

Quantitative Standard
Student must complete a minimum of 66.67% of all credits attempted to be considered making the quantitative standard.  Satisfactory completion is defined as a letter grade of A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+,C, C-, D+, D, D-, or P.  Unsatisfactory completion is defined as a letter grade of F, I, W, or X

Maximum Timeframes
Federal regulations limit the receipt of federal financial aid to no more than 150% of the course work required to complete any degree or certificate.  Therefore, no further aid will be awarded when a student has attempted 150% of the credit hours needed to complete an associate degree program or one year certificate program.

Example: Associates Degree requiring 66 credit hours (150% of 66 = 99)
Example: One Year Certificate Program requiring 30 credit hours (150% of 30 = 45)

• Developmental/remedial courses will not be included in the hourly limitation.
• Transfer credit accepted toward the degree or certificate programs will be included in the hourly limitation

Remedial Coursework
A student may receive federal aid for up to one academic year’s worth of remedial coursework.  For the purpose of this limit, that is 30 semester hours.

Withdrawal Grade
A student wishing to withdraw from a course at Gloucester County College should complete all withdrawal procedures at the Student Development Office prior to the announced end of the withdrawal period (the end of the 10th week of a regular semester or two-thirds through shorter semesters.) A student who officially withdraws from a course will receive a “W” grade, which will not affect the student’s GPA, but will affect the students Quantitative Progress. Withdrawals are not permitted after the withdrawal period.

Incomplete Grades
A grade of incomplete (I) may be reported for a student who has carried a course with a passing grade until the end of the semester, but due to illness or other unusual and substantiated cause has been unable to complete the final examination or some limited amount of assigned work.

The student and faculty member must complete the “Student Contract for Incomplete” form prior to a grade of “I” being assigned.  An incomplete must be removed by the last day of the semester following that during which it is reported.  Any incomplete not removed by the end of this period automatically becomes an “F.”

Audit Grades
If a student wishes to attend a class regularly but does not wish to receive a grade or credit, the student may choose to audit the course.  For this to occur, the student must first register for the course, pay the tuition and any fees, and then switch to audit status.

Audits are not accepted unless an Audit Form is completed by the student and course instructor and officially approved by the Director of Student Development.  All audit enrollments must occur during the first half of a semester or its equivalent.  Once the auditor is enrolled, the course cannot be changed to credit.  The instructor will determine the conditions of the audit to which the student must adhere in order to receive an “R” grade, signifying successful completion of the audit.  If the student fails to meet the conditions, a “W” will be assigned, signifying audit withdrawal.

2nd Degrees
Gloucester County College will process financial aid for eligible Title IV recipients attempting second degrees. Degree credits from the 1st degree that are in the 2nd degree will be counted towards the 150% measure in the 2nd degree.

Academic Amnesty
Academic Amnesty is a process that students may apply for to have their attempted credits and grades removed due to mitigating circumstances. While this process will reset the students GPA, these credits will still be used in determining the student academic progress. Gloucester County College Academic Amnesty does not override, overturn, or overrule the Office of Financial Aid academic progress calculation.

Reinstatement Provisions
Students whose aid has been discontinued in accord with these standards may have their aid reinstated subject to the following conditions:

1. Deficient GPA: Students may enroll without financial aid, attain the appropriate GPA, as specified above, and regain their eligibility status as long as the student is also maintaining the minimum quantitative level and is not above the 150% maximum.

2. Withdrawals: Students may be reinstated, at the discretion of the Student Financial Aid Committee, if mitigating circumstances that were beyond their normal and immediate control can be documented.

3. Appeals: Students with mitigating circumstances who are notified of their ineligibility for federal aid for any of the above reasons may appeal such decisions in writing. Students may make an appeal; this must be submitted via a written letter of appeal sent to the Student Financial Aid Committee.  Students are encouraged to present supporting documentation of their mitigating circumstance. Acceptable documentation includes but is not limited to doctor’s notes, hospital discharge papers, police reports, court documents, letters from Academic Advisors and/or Departmental Deans familiar with the students situations. The Student Financial Aid Committee will notify students in writing of their decision. Student will not be informed of the appeal decision over the telephone.  The Committee reserves the right to advise students as to their course loads, minimum grade requirements and the possible need for counseling and/or academic advisement.  The Committee will hear only one appeal per student per circumstance. If the appeal is granted and the student subsequently fails to maintain progress, no further appeal will be heard.  If the appeal is denied, the student may enroll using his/her own resources.  Verbal appeals are not accepted by the Student Financial Aid Committee. The appeal process may take up to thirty (30) days to be reviewed.

• Students that choose to enroll while they are not making progress, waiting for the outcome of an appeal, or have an appeal denied are responsible for all charges on their account. The student will be held accountable for those charges if the courses are not dropped prior to the established deadlines published in the student handbook.
• Students that submit an appeal after the fall term will not be retroactively approved for the completed term. The appeal if approved would only be granted for the following spring semester.
• Students that have an appeal approved and are determined to be not making progress following the spring semester will have to re-appeal for the following academic year.

2008-2009 Academic Progress Appeal Form