Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
To maintain eligibility for Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs, students must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards for grade point average, pace, and timeframe to degree. It is a student’s responsibility to become familiar with their college’s SAP Policy if they wish to receive Federal Student Aid (FSA). Failure to meet SAP places a student’s financial aid in jeopardy. The Financial Aid SAP policy also applies to students using the Nebraska Waiver of Tuition Program (NE R.S.S. 80-411).
STANDARD 1: Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA)
To receive or continue to receive financial aid, students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA. The cumulative GPA requirement differs based on the number of credit hours attempted.
Associate Degree Program | Certificate of Achievement or Career Certificate Program | |||
Credit hours attempted | Minimum GPA required | Credit hours attempted | Minimum GPA required | |
0 - 29.5 | 1.5 | 0 - any | 2.0 | |
30 - 79.5 | 1.75 | |||
80+ | 2.0 |
Standard 2: Completion Ratio (completed/attempted hours = 67%)
The percentage of attempted credit hours completed is measured by dividing the cumulative number of completed credits by the cumulative number of attempted credits. The minimum requirement is 67 percent. For financial aid purposes, a course is considered complete if a grade of A, B, C, D, P, or R is earned. Grades of F, W, and I are considered unsuccesful grades and reduce the completion rate.
STANDARD 3: MAXIMUM CREDIT LIMIT
The maximum time frame for the completion of a degree or certificate is limited by federal regulations to 150 percent of the published number of credit hours required to complete the degree or certificate. This includes transfer credits and all attempted credit hours, including completed credits, audits, incompletes, withdrawals, CLEP, and repeated or failed classes. Students must be able to complete their program with the maximum credit limit. Once it becomes mathematically impossible to complete within the maximum credit limit students are placed into denied (DEN) status.
APPEAL PROCEDURES
Students placed in denied status have the right to appeal. All appeals are reviewed by the Satisfactory Progress Committee. When reviewing appeals, the committee looks for mitigating circumstances (unusual or extraordinary circumstances beyond the student's control that the student could not have planned for).
SAP APPEALS are REVIEWED QUARTERLY ACCORDING TO THE published deadlines – See financial aid self-service appeal form for deadlines.
HOW TO SUBMIT AN APPEAL
To submit an appeal, follow these steps:
- The Financial aid Satisfactory Progress Appeal Form is an electronic form available to student through their Financial Aid Self Service. In Self Service, the student should review their Satisfactory Academic Progress by clicking on the SAP status banner in the middle of the page. From there, the SAP appeal form is available by clicking on the SAP Appeal Form link under Helpful links. student appeals are available for all students requesting Federal Financial Aid and applicable Nebraska State Tuition Waiver eligible students. If you are requesting Federal Aid, you must have a FAFSA on file.
- Complete the electronic appeal form. Students will be asked to respond to three questions.
- Explain the circumstances contributing to your inability to maintain Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress.
- Explain how you have addressed any circumstances.
- Confirm your program of study and how many hours to completion.
- Submit any supporting documentation to aide in the review of the appeal.
REVIEW OF APPEALS
The Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress Committee reviews appeals. Students are notified of the committee's decision by their MCC student email and in Financial Aid Self Service.
When an appeal is approved, aid is reinstated for the quarter the student requested the appeal. If the student does not attend during the reinstatement quarter, the reinstatement will apply to next quarter of enrollment. Students are placed on a Monitoring status (for details on Monitoring status please see Financial Aid SAP Status).
When an appeals are denied or students decide not to appeal, students are responsible for payment of all educational charges on their MCC Account until they appeal or successfully return to good standing.
FINANCIAL AID SATISFACTORY PROGRESS Statuses
Statuses are determined for all students at the end of each quarter of enrollment.