Satisfactory Academic Progress
The Federal and State Aid Programs – Pell Grant, Supplemental Equal Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Direct Stafford Loan Program, TAP, and APTS require that you meet standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), to be eligible to receive aid, or continued aid, from these sources. The College’s standards relative to SAP are in accordance with the policies and/or guidelines set forth within this Catalog. The Satisfactory Academic Progress standards can be found on the Trocaire College website.
Federal Aid Programs – PELL, FSEOG, Direct Loans
On October 29, 2010, the U.S. Department of Education published final regulations (668.16 and 668.34) in the Federal Register that require institutions that participate in student financial aid programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to implement new guidelines effective July 1, 2011 regarding SAP.
SAP Federal Aid Standards include
Qualitative component - Grade Point Average or “GPA”; and
Quantitative components - Pace and Maximum Time Frame
Pace - Pace is calculated by dividing the student’s earned credit hours by the student’s attempted credit hours for each semester.
Maximum Timeframe - The maximum time frame in which a student must complete his or her program of study cannot exceed 150% of the published length of the program as measured in credit hours. (Example: Students in the Registered Nursing Program that requires 67 credit hours are eligible to receive Federal financial aid for no more than 100.5 credit hours.)
SAP Standards Chart
Please refer to the Federal and State Aid Program SAP Standard Charts to determine the students’ placement.
Federal Aid Programs | ||
|---|---|---|
Credit Hours Attempted | Minimum Cum. GPA | Overall completion rate (Earned Credit. Hours/ Attempted Credit Hours) |
1 – 14 | 1.3 | 67% |
15 – 29 | 1.5 | 67% |
30 – 44 | 1.8 | 67% |
45 – 59 | 2.0 | 67% |
60 – 74 | 2.0 | 67% |
75 – 89 | 2.0 | 67% |
90 – 104 | 2.0 | 67% |
105 + | 2.0 | 67% |
State Aid Programs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Number of TAP/ APTS Payments Received | Academic Progress | ||
| Minimum Cum. GPA | Minimum Earned Credit Hours | Satisfactory Academic Progress |
0.5 | 1.1 | 2 | 50% |
1.0 | 1.3 | 6 | 50% |
1.5 | 1.4 | 10 | 50% |
2.0 | 1.5 | 15 | 50% |
2.5 | 1.7 | 21 | 75% |
3.0 | 1.8 | 27 | 75% |
3.5 | 1.9 | 33 | 75% |
4.0 | 2.0 | 39 | 75% |
4.5 | 2.0 | 45 | 100% |
5.0 | 2.0 | 51 | 100% |
5.5 | 2.0 | 55 | 100% |
6.0 | 2.0 | 60 | 100% |
6.5 | 2.0 | 66 | 100% |
7.0 | 2.0 | 75 | 100% |
7.5 | 2.0 | 81 | 100% |
8.0 | 2.0 | 90 | 100% |
8.5 | 2.0 | 96 | 100% |
9.0 | 2.0 | 105 | 100% |
9.5 | 2.0 | 111 | 100% |
10.0 | 2.0 | 120 | 100% |
Transfer Credit Hours
Transfer credits evaluated by the Registrar’s Office and posted to a student’s transcript are counted as both attempted and earned credit hours for their individual program.
Credit hours that have been granted Academic Amnesty/Bankruptcy (marked with a ‘Z’) are counted as attempted credit hours.
Grade point average (GPA) is not transferrable.
Successful Completion of a Course
To be counted as successfully completed or earned credit hours for Federal aid, the student must receive a grade of A, B, C, D or S, unless there are specific program of study / major grade requirements.
Please refer to the College Catalog regarding the program of study / major grade requirements.
Repeat of Course Work – Federal Aid
Students have the option to repeat courses in which they have earned an A- or lower. In cases of repeated courses, the last grade earned is used in computing the grade point average (GPA) but the course credit hours earned will count once for Federal aid.
A student may only repeat a previously passed course once. Failed courses with a grade of WF, F or FX may be repeated until successfully passed.*
*Note: Trocaire College’s Repeat Course Policy states a student may repeat a course only once, unless they have a signed authorization from the director of the academic program in which they are enrolled, to repeat a course for the second time.
New York State Programs – TAP, APTS
The number of New York State payments a student has received will determine the student’s placement on the SAP State Aid Program Standard Chart as follows:
Each semester the student uses TAP at Trocaire College it counts as one payment (1).
Each semester the student uses APTS at Trocaire College it counts as a half of a payment (0.5).
Earned credit hours at Trocaire College are calculated as is. (Example: If registered for 15 credit hours in a given semester, and the student earns 15 credit hours, that is, what is used in the SAP determination; however if a student registers for 15 credit hours and earns only 12 credit hours, then 12 credit hours is used.)
Students in a Certificate / Associate’s Degree program can have a maximum of 6 payments.
Students in a Bachelor’s Degree Program can have a maximum of 8 payments.
Academic Progress (ACP)
Each student must maintain a required cumulative grade point average and accumulate a designated number of credit hours at each payment in order to maintain SAP. The number of payments used to determine ACP is the payments received while in attendance at Trocaire College.
Program Pursuit (PP)
To meet the program pursuit requirement, a student must complete a certain percentage of his or her course load each semester. The number of payments used to determine PP is the payments received in the student’s whole college career.
Transfer Students
Placement on the SAP Standards chart is determined by the number of payments a student received at Trocaire College and number of credit hours transferred in to Trocaire College.
If a student has received TAP/APTS previously and the College has accepted transfer credit, additional points are assigned based on the number of transfer credits as follows:
Transfer Students | |
|---|---|
# of Transfer Credit Hours | Assigned Payment Value |
1 – 14 | 1 |
15 – 29 | 2 |
30 – 44 | 3 |
45 – 59 | 4 |
60 – 74 | 5 |
75+ | 6 |
Successful Completion of a Course – State Aid
To be counted as successfully completed or earned credit hours for State aid, the student must receive a grade of A, B, C, D, F, S or U.
Repeat of Course Work – State Aid
The student’s minimum full-time course load (12 credit hours) can include repeated courses under certain conditions:
If the student is repeating a failed course (grades of WF, F or FX).
If the student is repeating a course in which the grade earned would ordinarily be passing but is a failure in a particular curriculum.
A student may only repeat a previously passed course once.
If the student chooses to repeat a course that they have passed but wants to improve the grade, the credits for the repeated course cannot be included in determining a student’s full-time status for the purpose of awarding New York State TAP.
Incomplete Grade
Incomplete grades are counted as credit hours attempted for Federal and State aid.
The incomplete grade must be completed and removed from the student’s records within 30 calendar days after the incomplete grade was received or it will automatically convert to an F.
When the incomplete grade is changed to an actual grade, the course will be considered complete and the student’s GPA will be reviewed for SAP purposes.
Withdrawal (W, WF) / F or FX Grades
If a student earns a W, WF, F or FX grade for any class within the semester the credit hours for each course is counted as attempted credits but are NOT counted as earned hours for Federal and State aid. WF, F, and FX grades affect the student’s GPA.
Process for Regaining Eligibility for Federal Financial Aid
At times, a student may find that it is difficult to maintain academic progress towards their degree. Health issues, family circumstances or unforeseen personal matters may contribute to academic difficulties. The College recognizes that these life issues do occur and can contribute to academic stress and are not necessarily a measure of a student’s academic ability. Accordingly, the College provides a process by which a student can return to good academic standing and avoid the loss of federal financial aid.
Evaluation of Student Work
An evaluation system is required for each course. Examinations are ordinarily part of the evaluation system, but alternative methods of overall evaluation may be employed as described in each instructor’s course syllabus which is distributed at the beginning of each semester.
SAP is reviewed by the College at the end of each semester. If a student fails to meet the conditions of SAP, the following steps can be taken to avoid losing federal financial aid:
Financial Aid Warning (one semester)
Financial Aid Appeal
Financial Aid Probation (w/Academic Plan)
Loss of Financial Aid
Financial Aid Warning
Students who fail to meet SAP for the first time in any semester will be given a one semester written warning by the Financial Aid Office. The student will not lose financial aid but should seek either academic assistance or address any issues that may have contributed to the deficiency.
If the student receives a Warning letter at the beginning of the semester and is able to make SAP by the semester’s end, then the student’s federal financial aid is reinstated. However, if during the reinstated semester the student fails to maintain SAP, then they may receive another Warning letter at the end of that semester (Example: A student receives a Financial Aid warning for the fall semester and then successfully completes the semester. If the student is then unsuccessful in the spring semester, they will receive another Financial Aid Warning).
Financial Aid Appeal
If students fail to meet SAP for a second consecutive semester, they will be notified that they must file an appeal with the Appeal Committee- Attention: Director of Financial Aid to avoid the loss of aid. Appeal forms are available in the Financial Aid office or can be mailed upon request. Appeals are considered based upon evidence that extenuating circumstances (death in the family, personal illness, etc.) have interfered with a student’s ability to maintain SAP. However, it is the final decision of the Appeal Committee to determine the appropriateness of extenuating circumstances.
Filing an appeal does not guarantee approval.
Financial Aid Probation
If a Financial Aid Appeal is granted to a student, they are then placed on Financial Aid Probation. This is a status assigned to a student who fails to meet the SAP review, who has appealed, and has had eligibility for federal aid reinstated. The Director of Financial Aid shall notify each student that he or she is in need of an Academic Plan to address those issues that caused a lack of SAP. The student must contact the Director of Advisement and Student Service Center to initiate their Academic Plan. The Director of Advisement and Student Service Center will monitor each Academic Plan and the progress of each student.
Depending on the circumstances, a student may have to demonstrate what academic interventions or changes in their academic program will take place to address improvement. If the deficiencies were caused due to personal or family matters, the Academic Plan should address what changes will occur that will lead to better academic success.
Academic Plans must be in writing and clearly identify the outcomes and benchmarks identified for improvement. The Academic Plan will be monitored to determine progress or needed changes.
At the end of that payment period (semester), the student must either meet SAP standards or meet the requirements of the academic plan by a specific point in time.
If at the end of the payment period (semester) a student continues to not meet SAP or does not follow their Academic Plan, federal financial aid to the student shall be discontinued.
Students must still maintain SAP during a probationary period or following an evaluation of mitigating circumstances.
A student who fails to initiate these actions will be denied federal financial aid.
Timeline
First semester of failure to meet SAP - warning
Second semester of failure to meet SAP - Probation (appeal and Academic Plan). If not approved for Probation, federal financial aid is denied.
Third semester - meet SAP, follow Academic Plan, or discontinuance of financial aid.
In the event of failure to meet SAP in future semesters a student may appeal again if warranted.
In order to regain federal student aid eligibility a student must accumulate enough earned credit hours and achieve a high enough grade point average during the semester of ineligibility.
Process for Regaining Eligibility for State Financial Aid
At times, a student may find that it is difficult to maintain academic progress towards their degree. Health issues, family circumstances or unforeseen personal matters may contribute to academic difficulties. The College recognizes that these life issues do occur and can contribute to academic stress and are not necessarily a measure of a student’s academic ability. Accordingly, the College provides a process by which a student can return to good academic standing and avoid the loss of state financial aid.
SAP is reviewed by the College at the end of each semester. If a student fails to meet the conditions of SAP, the following steps can be taken to avoid losing state financial aid:
Financial Aid Appeal
State Aid Re-instatement
Students who fail to meet the standards for maintenance of State financial aid may submit a one-time written appeal during their undergraduate career based on any mitigating circumstances. In order to apply for an appeal, see the appeal process section below.
Financial Aid Appeal
If students fail to meet SAP for a second consecutive semester, they will be notified that they must file an appeal with the Appeal Committee- Attention: Director of Financial Aid to avoid the loss of aid. Appeal forms are available in the college Financial Aid office or can be mailed upon request. Appeals are considered based upon evidence that extenuating circumstances (death in the family, personal illness, etc.) have interfered with a student’s ability to maintain SAP. However, it is the final decision of the Appeal Committee to determine the appropriateness of extenuating circumstances. Students will be notified in writing of the Committee’s decision.
Filing an appeal does not guarantee approval.
State Aid Re-instatement
Students whose appeal has been approved must sign a State Aid Re-instatement Contract with the Financial Aid Office before any holds are removed and aid is placed back on the student’s account.