SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

Federal regulations require that a student receiving financial assistance under Title IV programs maintain satisfactory academic progress in his/her course of study regardless of whether or not financial aid is awarded each semester. All semesters of enrollment must be considered when the student's status is determined following each semester. (This includes dual enrollment courses.) South Texas College’s financial aid satisfactory academic progress policy is applied consistently to all STC students within identifiable categories of students (such as full-time or part-time).

Students pursuing a Certificate, Associate, or Bachelor degree are responsible for understanding and adhering to the standards of the financial aid satisfactory academic progress policy.

Satisfactory Academic Progress is measured with the following standards as mandated by federal regulations:

• Qualitative (Cumulative Grade Point Average),
• Quantitative (Maximum Time Frame for completion)
• Quantitative Percentage (Attempted hrs/Earned hrs measured by semester).

Qualitative Standard
Students will be expected to maintain the minimum academic standards as outlined in the Scholastic Progress Standards Section of the STC 2005 - 2006 Catalog. STC uses a 4-point scale for grade point average (GPA). Students are required to have a 2.0 cumulative grade point average after each semester.

Quantitative Standard
The quantitative standard is used to accurately measure a student’s progress in a program. There are two components of the qualitative standard.

1. 67% completion rate requirement: Students must complete 67% of the course load that they register for each semester. The chart below shows credit hour totals and the number of credits that must be completed to meet this requirement.

Click here to go to the 67% completion requirement chart

2. Maximum Time Frame (MTF): Maximum time frame is measured by dividing the number of credit hours that the student has attempted by the number of credit hours that are required to complete the student’s program of study. If the student reaches 150 percent, then they have reached maximum time frame. The graph below contains two examples. Please note that whether attempted hours were earned or not has no bearing on the MTF portion of the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.

Maximum Time Frame Rule Examples
To calculate maximum time frame, multiply the number of credit hours required to graduate from any given major times 150%. The result will be the the maximum number of credit hours that the studnet may attempt and be eligible under the MTF rule.

(Required Grad Hours X MTF%)

EXAMPLE 1: 120 Credit Hours 150% 180

EXAMPLE 2: 60 Credit Hours 150% 90

EXAMPLE 3: 42 Credit Hours 150% 63

In the first example, the program of study requires 120 credit hours to graduate. Therefore, 180 credit hours would be 150 percent. In the second example, the program of study requires 60 credit hours to graduate. Therefore, 90 credit hours would be 150 percent. In the third example, the program of study requires 42 credit hours to graduate. When a student reached a total of 63 credit hours attempted at STC in that program they would reach maximum time frame.

How are my grades evaluated under the Standards of Academic Progress?

Courses where grades of “A”, “B”, “C”, “D” and “P” are earned are considered attempted and earned credit hours.

Courses where grades of “F”, “W”, “NP”, “WP”, “WF”, “DP”, “DF”, or “I” are earned are considered credit hours attempted, but not earned.

What happens if I fail to meet the Standards of Financial Aid Academic Progress?

Following the first semester in which the satisfactory academic progress and/or enrollment status are not met, the student will be placed on financial aid probation/warning for the next semester of enrollment. The student will be allowed to receive financial aid funds while on probation as long as they are otherwise eligible for the funds.

Students who are on probation/warning who improve their academic performance to the required qualitative and quantitative standards will be placed back in good standing and may be eligible to continue to receive financial aid for following semesters

Students who are on probation/warning who fail to meet the standards of the satisfactory academic progress policy will be placed on financial aid suspension and denied further funding until he/she meets the standards again.

A student who exhausts the Maximum Time Frame allowed for a program of study will be placed on financial aid suspension.

Additional Information

Undeclared Majors and Financial Aid Eligibility
Undeclared Non-Degree seeking students are not eligible for federal and some types of state financial aid. Undeclared Degree Seeking students are eligible to apply for federal and some types of state financial aid until they attempt a total of 30 credit hours. After Undeclared Degree Seeking majors have more than 30 credit hours attempted (transfer and attempted at STC) they will not be eligible for financial aid. Students who are ineligible because they have an undeclared major and have over 30 credit hours will be placed on financial aid suspension until they declare a new major. They may be contacted by phone, or by mail - or both to notify them of their status.

Complete withdrawals and the financial aid satisfactory academic progress policy
Students who withdraw from the college must still maintain satisfactory academic progress. A complete withdrawal will always have a negative effect on a student’s standing under the policy. If a student withdraws from school during the semester, his or her grades for the semester will be all Ws. These grades are not passing, therefore the student did not meet the 67% completion rate requirement and will be placed either on financial aid probation or suspension depending on what their status was before the semester began.

Click here for more information on the financial aid
implications of a complete withdrawal during the semester.

Change of Major for Maximum Time Frame Calculation
Students will be allowed to change their declared major once and have some credits excluded from the maximum time frame calculation. In cases where a student changes their major for the first time, all developmental courses and academic courses where the student earned grades of “F”, “W”, “NP”, “WP”, “WF”, “DP”, or “DF” will be excluded from the Maximum Time Frame calculation .

Academic Probation and Suspension
Students on academic probation or academic suspension will automatically be placed on financial aid probation or financial aid suspension. If a student successfully appeals their academic probation or suspension, that appeal has no effect on their standing with the Financial Aid Satisfactory Policy, they will still be on Financial Aid Suspension. Please reference the Appeals Process section below for information on the appeal process.

Students who graduate and return to STC for a second degree
If a student graduates from STC and re-enrolls at STC to pursue another program, all developmental courses and academic courses where the student earned grades of “F”, “W”, “NP”, “WP”, “WF”, “DP”, or “DF” will be excluded from the Maximum Time Frame calculation. Students may request an additional review by requesting that a degree plan be provided to the Office of Financial Aid by the Office of Counseling and Advising. The degree plan will be reviewed by an Office of Financial Aid staff member to determine exactly which credit hours from the program from which the student graduated apply to the students new program of study. Classes from the previous program (the one that the student graduated from)which do not count toward graduation from the student's new program will be eliminated from the total. These reviews are done on a first come first served basis.

Notification of status under the OFA Satisfactory Academic Progress policy
Students placed on financial aid probation or financial aid suspension will be notified in writing of their status after grades are available on STC’s computer system.

The effect of Developmental coursework on the MTF calculation
30 credit hours of developmental coursework will be eliminated from the maximum time frame calculation. After the student attempts more than 30 credit hours of developmental coursework, any additional developmental credit hours attempted will count in the maximum time frame calculation.

The effect of dropping a course
Students who reduce their course load by dropping a course after the semester has begun risk non-compliance with the 67% completion rate requirement.

Transfer hours and Maximum Time Frame
Transfer hours which have an STC equivalent are counted in the maximum time frame calculation. Students may request an additional review of transferred courses and if they count toward graduation in their chosen major by requesting that a degree plan be provided to the Office of Financial Aid by the Office of Counseling and Advising. The degree plan will be reviewed by an Office of Financial Aid staff member to determine exactly which transferred credit hours apply to the students program of study. Transferred hours which appear on the student's record but do not count toward graduation from the student's program of study will be eliminated from the total. These reviews are done on a first come first served basis.

The effect of Financial Aid suspension on Financial Aid Awards
Title IV aid consists of grants and work-study; therefore, all grants and work-study awards will be cancelled (or discontinued in the case of work study) if student is on financial aid suspension.

Consortium agreements and the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
When South Texas College has a consortium agreement with a participating institution, the student must meet the satisfactory academic progress policy of the institution that is awarding aid.

How is the policy applied?
Every student begins attending STC in "good standing" and if he or she is otherwise eligible, they may be awarded financial aid. If after the 1st semester of enrollment is completed and the student has not met the standards of progress described earlier in the quantitative and qualitative requirements then the student is placed on financial aid probation. The student then has one semester to bring themselves back into compliance. If the student successfully completes at least 67% of the total number of credits that they attempted in the probationary semester and also has a cumulative GPA of a 2.0 or better and has not yet reached the maximum time frame limit they will be placed back on good standing. If that same student did not meet the standards described above, they will be placed on financial aid suspension. The student will remain on Financial Aid Suspension until they bring themselves back into compliance with the standards of the policy unless an appeal is approved. Please note that once a student has exceeded the Maximum Time Frame limits for their program, they will not receive financial aid again and no appeal may be approved if they remain in that major. Changing majors may or may not result in the student being in compliance with the maximum time frame requirements. Any change of major should be carefully considered and students are encouraged to consult with staff members of the Office of Counseling and Advising when contemplating a major change. If the major change is being considered to allow more financial aid funding, the student should check with the Office of Financial Aid and request an evaluation before making the change to ensure that the change will result in their regaining eligibility.

The Appeal Process

Students who do not meet the standards of STC’s financial aid satisfactory academic progress policy because of unusual circumstances, such as (illness, death in the family, accidents, etc.) have the right to appeal. During the appeal process the student must be prepared to pay his/her own expenses, such as tuition, fees, books, supplies, etc. Please follow the procedure below to appeal a financial aid suspension. The committee meets at least once every two weeks and reviews all appeals in order based on the date that they were submitted.

• A Financial Aid Appeal form must be obtained and submitted to the STC Office of Financial Aid.
• Documentation supporting the extenuating circumstances must be provided to the committee with the appeal form for the committee to review.
• Appeals will be approved/disapproved by the Financial Aid Committee.
• All decisions made by the Financial Aid Committee are final.

Link to Financial Aid Forms Page for Appeal Forms