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Academic Policies for Financial Aid
Federal regulations require the College to establish policies--Standards of Satisfactory Progress--to measure whether students applying for financial aid are in good academic standing and making satisfactory academic progress toward completion of their diploma or degree programs. A student must maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 to receive financial aid and maintain a 67 percent % completion rate.
Satisfactory progress is measured in terms of three components:
- Length of time to complete the program (150%)
- A qualitative component (2.0 GPA) GPA-Grade Point Average
- A quantitative component (
completion of attempted credit hours Pace of Progress, 67%)
Qualitative (Grade Point Average)
Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 to remain in good standing. Financial aid GPA’s will be monitored at the end of Fall Term and Spring Term term. A student whose cumulative GPA falls below a 2.0 is placed on Financial Aid Warning for their next term of enrollment. This will allow a student one term to increase the GPA to the satisfactory level. If, after one term, the GPA remains below 2.0, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension and eligibility will be lost until the cumulative GPA has been brought back to at least a 2.0 level. Students may receive aid while on Financial Aid Warning, but will not receive aid while on Financial Aid Suspension. Transfer coursework and Learning Support courses are not counted in the cumulative GPA calculation.
Quantitative (Completion Rate Pace of Progression)
In order for students to graduate within the maximum “time frame” of hours, at the end of Fall Term and Spring Term each payment period they are expected to have cumulatively completed at least 67% of their credit hours attempted. A student, who, at the end of these terms, has not successfully completed 67% of their cumulative hours attempted, will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for their next term of enrollment. This will allow the student one term to increase the cumulative completion rate to the satisfactory level. If, after one term, the cumulative completion rate remains below 67% the student will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension and eligibility will be lost until the cumulative completion rate has been brought back to at least 67%. Students may receive aid while on Financial Aid Warning but the student will not receive aid while on Financial Aid Suspension.
Students may re-establish good standing when they have cumulatively completed 67%of their attempted credit hours. The following grades (see Grading System) do not count toward successfully completing a course: “F”, “I”, “W”, “WF”, “WP”, and“IP”, and “Z”. For all courses, any combination of these results in no progress, and will be calculated in the completion rate when computing eligibility for financial aid. Repeat courses will be considered as any other class and both grades will count in the GPA. Grades of “F” and “WF” will be counted in computing your GPA.
Policy for Reinstatement of Eligibility for Financial Aid
- A student whose GPA is classified as unsatisfactory can re-establish eligibility when the cumulative GPA reaches 2.0. Students may re-establish good standing when they have cumulatively completed 67% of their attempted credit hours.
- The above requirements to re-establish financial aid will be at the student's expense unless a Financial Aid Appeal has been approved.
(See a Financial Aid Representative for the Financial Aid Appeal Process)
Financial Aid Appeal Process
Students that did not meet the qualitative and/or the quantitative components will be notified via their Augusta Technical College’s student Smartweb email account of their failure to make satisfactory academic progress at the end of Fall Term and Spring Term after grades have been posted. If the student was placed on Financial Aid Suspension and feels there were extenuating circumstances beyond his/her control that kept him/her from maintaining satisfactory progress, he/she may appeal in writing by completing the Financial Aid Appeal form (supporting documentation must be attached). Examples of extenuating circumstances include, but are not limited to: death or extended illness of a family member, illness or injury of student, house fire, or victim of a violent crime. Work conflicts are not extenuating circumstances. Appeals must be submitted by the first day of the semester for which the student is requesting reinstatement of financial aid. Only completed appeals will be considered submitted. Students are only allowed 1 appeal during their academic career.
Filing a Financial Aid Appeal
In order to appeal your Termination, you must:
· Be accepted into a program of study
· Be enrolled in classes for the term for which you wish to appeal
· Have a completed FAFSA on file (all required documents are submitted)
If you meet the above requirements:
· Complete the Financial Aid Appeal Form
· Type your appeal statement
· Attach supporting documentation (no appeals will be accepted without valid documentation)
· Complete Academic Plan
· Submit to the Financial Aid Office
Outcome of Appeals
The Academic Counselors, Financial Aid Director, Financial Aid Navigator, and/or Vice President of Student Affairs are charged with making the final appeal decision.Appeals are reviewed by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee.Please note the decision is final and cannot be appealed to a higher authority at the college or to the Department of Education.
Financial Aid Appeal Results
Academic Plan/Guided Pathways
Students that have their appeal approved and are placed on Academic Plan for their next term of enrollment will be required to meet a term GPA of 2.5 and a term completion rate of 100%. Students approved under the Academic Plan/Guided Pathways will be eligible to receive financial aid for up to 3 terms or when graduation requirements are met as long as they meet the requirements of the plan for each term. The Academic Plan is designed to assist students in meeting the standards within 3 terms of enrollment or when graduation requirements are met. Please meet with your Program Advisor each and every term to receive assistance with registration/course selection and your Program of Study’s Guided Pathway.
If a student takes all Learning Support courses during any semester under an Academic Plan, they must pass each Gateway Courses/Learning Support Courses with a “C*” or better.
SAP Appeal Approved (Probation)
Academic performance of students on Probation is monitored after end of term grading. Students who violate their probation status and remain below the standards will be placed back in Financial Aid Termination and aid will be removed. In rare cases, some students may meet SAP standards regardless of unacceptable grade. These students will be placed in satisfactory status and become eligible for aid.
Denied
If your appeal is denied you will remain in Financial Aid Suspension Status and will not be eligible for any federal or state Financial Aid until the standards are met.
Refund Process for Students Receiving Federal Title IV Financial Aid (R2T4)
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) specifies how Augusta Technical College (ATC) must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that you earn if you withdraw from the semester or stop attending all of your courses for a term. ATC's Augusta Technical College’s Title IV programs that are covered by this regulation include Federal Pell Grants and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOGs).
When you withdraw or stop attending all courses during your period of enrollment (term in which you are registered), the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or ATC Augusta Technical College received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned to U.S. DOE.
You cannot receive federal aid for the full semester if you were not enrolled in class(es) for the full semester. We disburse funds to students assuming they are going to remain enrolled for the full semester. If you withdraw or otherwise stop attending, with no regard for the reason(s) of such action/inaction, the amount of assistance (aid) that you have earned is determined on a 'prorata basis'. For example, if you completed 30 percent of your period of enrollment, you earn 30 percent of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60 percent of the period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.
If you did not receive all of the funds that you 'earned', you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. ATC Augusta Technical College will automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition and fees. The school needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges (fees not automatically paid with financial aid funds). If you do not give your permission, you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow ATC Augusta Technical College to utilize the funds to reduce your debt at the school. There may be some Title IV funds that you were scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to you once you withdraw or stop attending because of other eligibility requirements.
If you (or ATC Augusta Technical College on your behalf) receive excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, your school must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:
- your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
- the entire amount of excess funds.
Any amount of unearned grant funds that must be returned is called an overpayment. ATC Augusta Technical College returns on your behalf any funds to U.S. DOE for which you were not entitled. However, at the same time, the college charges those funds to your student account (bills you for what had to be returned). This balance must be resolved/paid by the student before future registration/enrollment can occur, before a student may receive transcripts or enrollment verification, etc. In some cases, student balances are referred to U.S. DOE or outside collection agencies.
Unofficial Withdrawals: As a college, ATC Augusta Technical College does not have an official attendance policy after the 'no show' period has ended. However, just like previously stated, you cannot receive aid for a term's worth of work if you weren't present to do work during that full term. Someone who simply disappears or chooses to stop attending but fails to withdraw is considered an "unofficial withdrawal". Any student who unofficially withdraws (stops attending class(es)) will have his or her aid recalculated based on this federal policy. This recalculation will likely result in the student being required to return unearned federal funds to the college. As well, official and unofficial withdrawals negatively affect a student's SAP and could result in the loss of future funding. Students with balances due to the college will have their student accounts placed on hold--preventing transcripts, registration, etc.
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