Students who receive assistance from the Federal Pell Grant Program, Federal Work-Study Program (FWSP), Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program, and Alabama Student Assistance Programs (ASAP) are required to make Satisfactory Academic Progress toward the goal of completing their declared degree or certificate programs.
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) will be checked at the end of each semester/term. In addition, Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is also checked when students complete a warning period. The progress of students who received federal and state financial aid funds will be measured against the following Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards and will be subject to the following policies:
Required Credit Hours, Grade-Point Averages (GPAs), and Required Pace of Completion
Students who are enrolled in an Associate Degree or Certificate Program requiring more than 26 credit hours must meet the following standards:
- After attempting 0-21 credit hours, must earn a 1.50 GPA and complete 58% of the enrolled hours.
- After attempting 22-32 credit hours, must earn a 1.75 GPA and complete 62% of the enrolled hours.
- After attempting 33 or more credit hours, must earn a 2.00 GPA and complete 67% of the enrolled hours.
Students who are enrolled in Certificate Programs with 26 credit hours or less must meet the following standards:
- After attempting 1-17 credit hours, must earn a 1.50 GPA and complete 58% of the enrolled hours.
- After attempting 18 or more credit hours, must earn a 2.00 GPA and complete 67% of the enrolled hours
*All hours attempted, including those in which the student withdrew, will be included in this calculation, even if financial aid was not received.
Grades with Title IV
The following information is considered when evaluating a student’s satisfactory academic progress:
- Withdrawals (W) and failures (F) are considered attempted but not earned hours.
Withdrawals – A grade of W is assigned to a student who officially withdraws from the College by the published withdrawal date identified in the Student Calendar. The hours attempted for these courses are included in the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress calculations.
Incompletes - With the permission of the appropriate Dean, a grade of Incomplete (“I”) may be assigned when a student’s work in a course is incomplete because of circumstances beyond the student’s control but is otherwise of passing quality. An Incomplete (“I”) grade does not count toward coursework completed but counts as coursework attempted. Although the Incomplete (“I”) grade is NOT counted in hours earned, the grade that replaces the “I” is counted in both hours earned and attempted once the “I” is removed and affects the Satisfactory Academic Progress calculation.
Earned F - The grade of “F” is counted in hours attempted and results in zero hours earned.
Financial Aid Warning
According to the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy, if a student is not making satisfactory academic progress at the end of an academic semester, he/she may be granted a one-semester Financial Aid Warning Period and awarded financial assistance during this Period. At the end of the Financial Aid Warning Period, the student must meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements for the Financial Aid Warning status to be lifted and to be eligible to continue receiving financial aid.
Financial Aid Suspension (Termination of Aid)
Students who do not successfully establish Satisfactory Academic Progress after the Financial Aid Warning Period will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension and become ineligible for any additional financial aid at that point. Students may regain financial aid eligibility based one of the following criteria:
- The student may enroll in and pass classes while paying tuition and fees out of pocket in order to meet the Financial Aid SAP requirements or
- The student presents to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee evidence of extenuating circumstances deemed, by this Committee, to be sufficient to justify an exception to the SAP Policy. As a result, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Probation and financial aid will be reinstated for this period.
If a student is re-admitted to the College upon academic appeal, financial aid will remain suspended until one of the above criteria is met. The student must bring his/ her academic record into compliance with the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements before financial aid can be reinstated.
Appeal Process and Extenuating Circumstances
Any student placed on Financial Aid Suspension who wishes to request consideration for reinstatement of federal financial aid due to mitigating circumstances may appeal his/her status by submitting the Financial Aid Appeal Form and a letter stating any unusual circumstances that had a bearing on his/her academic performance along with supporting documentation. Some examples of extenuating circumstances and supporting documentation may include the death of an immediate relative – a copy of the death certificate or the obituary; auto accident – a copy of police report and/or note from a physician; prolonged illness – documentation from the attending physician. The Financial Aid Appeal request should also address what has changed in the student’s situation that will now allow him/her to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress.
Financial aid appeals should be addressed to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee and submitted to the Director of Financial Aid. Financial Aid Appeals must be submitted two weeks before the start of each semester. Financial Aid Appeals submitted after the deadline cannot be guaranteed for review and will be considered for the following semester. Notification of the decision made by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee will be provided via e-mail. A student may appeal his/her SAP Suspension status only twice during their academic career at Trenholm State Community College. The decision of the Financial Aid Appeals Committee is final and cannot be appealed further.
If a financial aid appeal is approved, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Probation and awarded financial assistance for this period. An appeal cannot be approved for a prior term.
If a financial aid appeal is denied, the student is not eligible for federal student aid and some state aid and will remain ineligible until SAP standards are met. These students may continue to attend college at their own expense.
Repeating Courses
A student receiving Title IV aid may repeat courses; however, the repeated hours will be included in the Financial Aid SAP calculations as hours attempted and hours earned. A federal financial aid recipient cannot repeat a previously passed course more than one (1) time, either as a single course or in a block of courses. For this purpose, “passed” means any grade higher than an “F,” regardless of any program policy requiring a higher grade to be considered passed for the course.
Developmental Courses
A Title IV recipient who has enrolled in a developmental course and failed may not enroll in the same course more than three (3) times and continue to receive financial assistance. If the Title IV recipient enrolls in the same developmental course more than three (3) times, financial aid will not pay for this subsequent enrollment in this course. A Title IV recipient may not be paid for more than 30 semester credit hours of developmental work. Developmental courses are counted in the hours attempted and hours earned.
Maximum Time Frame
The maximum time frame allowed to complete a program of study without financial aid penalty cannot exceed 150% of the published length of a specific program as measured in credit hours attempted in credit-hour programs. Students who have reached the maximum timeframe for their current program of study may file a Financial Aid Appeal to be considered for an extension of additional hours to complete their program of study due to mitigating circumstances. If a student files an appeal due to the Maximum Timeframe, he/she must meet the other two components of Satisfactory Academic Progress (GPA and Completion Rate/PACE).
Transfer or Readmitted Students
Students who transfer to Trenholm State Community are required to submit an official copy of their academic transcript(s) from all previously attended postsecondary institution(s). After the Registrar evaluates all transcripts, transfer credits that apply to the student’s program at the College will be included in the hours attempted and hours earned for future Satisfactory Academic Progress evaluations. Please be advised that transfer students’ GPAs are not included in the Satisfactory Academic Progress evaluations.
Change of Program of Study
All periods of a student’s enrollment will be counted when determining Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), which includes periods in which the student did not receive Federal Student Aid (FSA). A change of program of study is allowed if the student continues to make Satisfactory Academic Progress.
All credit hours attempted by the student in their previous programs and transfer credits will be included in the Satisfactory Academic Progress calculation. A student may only receive aid up to 150% of the normal timeframe of the new program of study.
Class Attendance Policy for Financial Aid
Class attendance is essential to the educational process at Trenholm State Community College. The College subscribes to the philosophy that students will achieve academic success in direct proportion to class attendance. We also subscribe to the belief that the ability to manage one’s own attendance and punctuality is a critical component of job readiness that each student must master. Therefore, students are responsible for attending all classes, being punctual, and performing assignments as prescribed by the instructor and the appropriate course syllabus.
The attendance policy applicable to a specific instructional program may be more restrictive than the College policy and, therefore, has precedence. These policies may be influenced by the requirements of external agencies and will be noted in individual course syllabus. Faculty are required to verify attendance at a requested time in order to complete reporting data as required to comply with federal financial aid regulations to include VA, WIOA, Title IV, Scholarship Recipients, and others. Additionally, it is essential that registered students who discontinue attending class before the last official withdrawal day, which is the beginning of the academic penalty, must be reported to the Office of Records.
College Financial Plan
Trenholm State Community College has agreed to comply with the principles of Executive Order 13607, Establishing Principles of Excellence for Educational Institutions Serving Service Members, Veterans, Spouses, and Other Family Members (E.O. 13607), of their commitment to use the College Financial Plan Form to provide each of their prospective veteran and service member students with a personalized form that contains standardized information describing the cost of the educational program and the amount of that cost that may be covered by available Federal educational benefits and financial aid. Please log on to https://www.trenholmstate.edu/financial-aid/college-financing-plan/ to view a personalized College Financial Plan Form.
Certificate Programs
Certificate programs offered at the College that are Title IV eligible are subject to a clock-to-credit hour conversion. For students enrolled in these Title IV eligible certificate programs, the clock-to-credit hour conversion may result in reducing their Federal Pell Grant awards each semester/term. Short-term Certificate Programs are not Title IV eligible.