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Academic Progress

Academic Progress

CROWDER COLLEGE SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS STANDARDS FOR FINANCIAL AID

The U.S. Department of Education requires institutions of higher education to define, establish, and enforce minimum standards of satisfactory progress for students receiving financial assistance.  These standards must include qualitative and quantitative measures for evaluating the progress of financial aid recipients towards their educational goals. An assessment of these efforts will be performed after each semester. State, Non-Federal, and Institutional programs have differing standards of satisfactory academic progress.

A. LENGTH OF TIME (Quantitative Standard)

Federal financial aid regulations provide for assistance up to 150 percent of the length of the program.  All periods of enrollment must be counted towards this maximum (whether or not financial aid assistance was received for all periods of enrollment). Students transferring into Crowder College must have all academic records from previously attended institution(s) on file before any possible aid awards can be determined. No aid will be given to those transfer students who are at or over the maximum hours allowed for their chosen program of study at Crowder College. Additionally, once an institution is aware that a student cannot complete their degree program within the established time frame, the student is no longer eligible to receive federal financial assistance.

Students pursuing an associate’s degree may only accumulate a maximum of 96 attempted credit hours.  Students pursuing a certificate may only accumulate a maximum of 45 attempted credit hours. Students who are accepted into the OTA, Paramedical Science or Veterinary Technology programs and have begun the OTA, Paramedical Science and Veterinary Technology curriculum may accumulate a maximum of 114 attempted credit hours. In most instances, upon graduation, students become ineligible for financial aid at Crowder College.

B. HOUR COMPLETION REQUIREMENT

Students must complete two-thirds (67%) of their total credit hours attempted. In figuring the student aid award, based upon the number of credit hours attempted each semester, the following will not be considered: dual credit courses, audited courses, credits granted, credits earned non-traditionally, noncredit remedial courses, and dropped courses before the financial aid census date. Failed coursework that is being repeated will be included in the enrollment status; repeated coursework that was previously completed successfully can only be included in the enrollment status for one additional attempt. Incompletes, failed courses, and withdrawals after the census date will not be counted as credits earned but will be included in hours attempted.  Crowder College hours as well as all accepted transfer coursework from other colleges and universities will be included in the cumulative number of credits hours attempted and earned. Coursework attempted during all semesters, including fall, spring, and summer will be evaluated cumulatively for the required 67% completion

C. GRADE POINT AVERAGE (Qualitative Standard)

Students receiving financial assistance must maintain a 2.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA).

Incompletes and withdraws are not included in the grade point average calculation. Grades earned for a repeated class replace the previous grade earned. Additionally, upon review by the institution, any student who is unable to achieve an acceptable GPA by the completion of his/her declared program of study, at that point of determination, will become ineligible for federal student aid.

D. FINANCIAL AID WARNING AND SUSPENSION

Student progress will be evaluated at the end of each semester. If the student falls below the cumulative grade point average requirement or the standard hours of completion requirement at the end of any semester, he or she will be placed on financial aid warning for one semester. Students may continue to receive aid in the warning semester as long as they are otherwise eligible.  At the end of the warning semester, the student must meet the cumulative grade point and credit hour completion requirements in order to avoid being placed on financial aid suspension.

Any student accepting financial aid and then totally withdrawing from, or failing, all classes will automatically be placed on FINANCIAL AID SUSPENSION.

If a student misses or does not attend a class for a period of two consecutive weeks during the semester it will be considered an unofficial withdraw for that class per federal regulations.

If at any time in the past students were given aid at Crowder College and did not complete the hours for which they received aid (or their grade point averages were unsatisfactory), they will be placed on warning or suspension status.  Anyone who does not complete warning requirements is placed on suspension until after the requirements are met. Students completing suspension requirements during the affected semester do not regain financial aid eligibility until the first day of the next semester. In addition, suspension requirements must be completed at Crowder and may not be transferred in from another institution.

Financial aid suspension means that a student will receive no further aid until the minimum standards have been met. Financial aid includes Federal PELL Grant, Federal SEOG, Federal Work-Study, Federal Direct Loan Program, and Missouri Access Grant.

Once the student has established the minimum standard requirement for grade point average and hours earned, he or she may be eligible for financial assistance, excluding those students on financial aid suspension due to having accumulated the maximum allowable credit hours for their program of study.

Students who attend Crowder College without financial assistance and then apply for assistance will have to meet the satisfactory academic progress standards as if they had received assistance from the beginning of their attendance at Crowder College.  Transfer students must have fewer accumulated hours than the maximum allowed at Crowder College in order to receive financial assistance. Transferring and returning students with cumulative hours earned and/or a cumulative GPA that falls below the guidelines as previously outlined will be automatically placed on financial aid warning. If, at the end of that warning semester, the hours earned and/or GPA has not been raised to an acceptable level, the student will be placed on financial aid suspension until the guidelines have been met.

Students must not assume that if aid papers are accepted from them in the Financial Aid Office that they automatically qualify for financial aid.  Students who know or suspect they have possible eligibility issues need to be certain that they make their situations clearly known to the Crowder College financial aid staff. Students who are not eligible for financial aid are responsible for all charges incurred regardless of the point in the semester when aid ineligibility is determined.

E. APPEALS PROCESS

Students placed on financial aid suspension due to what they feel are extenuating circumstances may appeal in writing to the Crowder College Financial Aid Office.  Appeals are not a guarantee of aid reinstatement.  Students must provide documentation in accordance with the Suspension Maximum Hour Appeal Form.  The Financial Aid Office will review each appeal on a case-by-case basis and provide a written response to the appeal.  All appeals must be turned in no later than the Monday before the semester/ term starts.  If the appeal is denied, the student may then resubmit an appeal with corrected documents. The student will receive written notification of the committee’s decision.  The decision of the committee will be final. A maximum of two granted appeals will be considered from an individual student.

Although each student will be notified in writing should he/she fall below satisfactory academic progress standards, it is the student’s responsibility to know his/her standing in regards to this policy. Failure to receive notification does not dispute or reverse the termination of a student’s eligibility to receive financial assistance.