Federal and state financial aid regulations require schools to set minimum standards for satisfactory academic progress and to hold students accountable for meeting the standards. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is checked prior to awarding aid, even if students did not receive financial aid in past quarters and students who did not receive financial aid will be held to the same SAP process as students who have received financial aid. It is also checked at the end of every quarter aid is received. This document outlines the requirements for financial aid satisfactory academic progress at Clover Park Technical College. This policy applies not only to aid that is awarded by the Financial Aid Office, but also to Worker Retraining, WorkFirst, Opportunity Grant, and BFET funds.
Credit Completion Requirement For All Aid Types Except State Need Grant(SNG)/College Bound Scholarship (CBS)
Students must make a minimum “pace of progression” in order to be eligible to receive financial aid. The pace of progression is the completion of at least 66.67% of the credits attempted. Students must not only complete at least 66.67% of the credits they attempt each quarter, they must also complete at least 66.67% of the total (cumulative) credits they have attempted.
How “Credits attempted” is determined
For students whose aid either applied toward their tuition and fees or was disbursed prior to the end of the 5th business day of the quarter, the number of credits attempted will be the number the students were enrolled in as of 11:59 pm on the 5th business day of the quarter. For all other students, the number of credits attempted is the number of credits they were enrolled in the first time one of the following occurred: aid paid towards tuition and fees OR a financial aid credit balance was processed.
Quarterly Pace of Progression Chart
| Credits attempted | Credit completion requirement | Credits attempted | Credit completion requirement |
| 1 | 1 | 16 | 11 |
| 2 | 2 | 17 | 12 |
| 3 | 2 | 18 | 12 |
| 4 | 3 | 19 | 13 |
| 5 | 4 | 20 | 14 |
| 6 | 4 | 21 | 14 |
| 7 | 5 | 22 | 15 |
| 8 | 6 | 23 | 16 |
| 9 | 6 | 24 | 16 |
| 10 | 7 | 25 | 17 |
| 11 | 8 | 26 | 18 |
| 12 | 8 | 27 | 18 |
| 13 | 9 | 28 | 19 |
| 14 | 10 | 29 | 20 |
| 15 | 10 | 30 | 20 |
For example, a student who attempts 12 credits for a quarter must complete a minimum of 8 credits to meet the 66.67% “pace of progression” requirement.
For students who attempt more than 30 credits, the minimum quarterly credit completion requirement is 66.67% of the credits attempted, rounded up to the nearest whole credit.
Satisfactory Academic Progress Statuses
Each quarter, Satisfactory Academic Progress status will be reviewed. The statuses for all aid types except State Need Grant (SNG) are:
Good Standing Student met all Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements in the most recent quarter of attendance or it is the student’s first quarter of attendance at CPTC.
Warning Student began a quarter in Good Standing. At the end of the quarter, the student’s cumulative grade point average drops below 2.00 and/or the student completes 50% - 66% of the credits he/she enrolled in.
Suspension Students will be placed on Suspension status for any of the following reasons:
- A student on warning status does not meet all Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements for that quarter.
- A student on probation status does not meet all Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements for that quarter.
- A student in Good Standing completes less than 50% of the credits he/she was enrolled in (rounded up to the nearest whole credit).
- A student’s cumulative grade point average is below 2.00 for two consecutive quarters.
- A student does not complete any of the attempted credits for a quarter. Possible repayment of federal and state aid may be required. See repayment of financial aid funds for student who “Drop to Zero in the Conditions of Award.
Academic Progress
If a student experiences three consecutive quarters of work in which the GPA is less than 2.0 (each quarter), the student will be suspended from attendance at the college and may not register for the next academic quarter. Students placed on academic suspension will also be placed on a Financial Aid suspension. Financial Aid recipients are subject to the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.
Probation
If a student placed on Suspension status submits an appeal based on unusual or extraordinary circumstances beyond his/her control and the appeal is approved, the student will be on Probation status for the next quarter of attendance.
State Need Grant (SNG) and College Bound Scholarship (CBS) - Credit Completion Requirement
For State Need Grant (SNG) and College Bound Scholarship (CBS) only, students must complete the appropriate number of credits each quarter based on their enrollment level.
|
Enrollment Level |
Credits you must complete | You will be placed on "Warning" if you complete | You will be placed on "Suspension" if you complete |
| Full-time (12+ credits) | 12 credits or more credits | 6-11 credits | 0-5 credits |
| 3/4 time (9-11 credits) | 9 credits or more credits | 5-8 credits | 0-4 credits |
| 1/2 time (6-8 credits) | 6 credits or more credits | 3-5 credits | 0-2 credits |
| Less than 1/2 time (3-5 credits) | All credits | At least 3 credits but not all credits | 0 credits |
A cumulative GPA below 2.00 will result in Warning. A cumulative GPA below 2.00 for 2 consecutive quarters will result in Suspension.
*If you are placed on SNG warning, the next quarter you attend Clover Park Technical College with a State Need Grant/College Bound Scholarship award, you will be required to complete all of the credits you are registered for in order to return to good standing. If you do not complete all of the credits for that quarter, you will be placed on SNG Suspension.
*If you are placed on SNG/CBS suspension, and had circumstances beyond your control such as medical, legal or death in the family, you may submit a Financial Aid Suspension Appeal form to regain State Need Grant/College Bound Scholarship eligibility. Complete the Satisfactory Academic Progress Suspension Appeal form and submit supporting documentation to have your status reviewed. Appeals submitted without supporting documentation will be denied. If the appeal is approved, you will be placed on a quarter of probation. You must complete all the credits you are registered for in order to regain good standing.
Cumulative GPA Requirement of 2.00
For all types of aid, including State Need Grant (SNG)/College Bound Scholarship (CBS), students must have a 2.00 cumulative GPA at the end of each quarter to remain in good standing. Students without a calculated cumulative GPA due to the type(s) of grade(s) received will be considered to have met the 2.00 cumulative GPA requirement if they meet the credit completion requirement for their most recent quarter of attendance.
Grades that DO NOT COUNT Towards the Credit Completion Requirement for any Type of Aid
Grades of “*”, “F”, “I”, “N”, “V”, “W”, and “X” do not count as completed credits. Only credits completed by the end of the scheduled quarter will count as “completed” for Satisfactory Academic Progress. However, students who were placed on financial aid Warning or financial aid Suspension because they received one or more grades of “I” can request to have their Satisfactory Academic Progress re-checked if they convert any of their “I” grades to a passing grade no later than the 10th business day of the following quarter.
Running Start, high school completion, basic studies, GED, audit, ESL, and Continuing Education courses, as well as Math and English courses below the 80 level (for example, Math 60 and English 79), do not count towards the financial aid credit completion requirement because these courses are not financial-aid eligible.
Maximum Credit Limit Requirement
Students must complete their program of study within a maximum time frame in order to receive financial aid.
Associate Degrees and Certificate Programs Students pursuing an associate’s degree or a certificate cannot receive financial aid after the number of credits they have attempted equals 150% of the credits required for their degree or certificate (rounded down to the nearest whole credit).
If the number of credits a student needs to complete his/her program is greater than the number of remaining credits of financial aid eligibility, the student will no longer be eligible for most types of financial aid funding.
Credits transferred in from other institutions count toward the time limit requirement.
The following courses do not count toward the time limit requirement: Basic Skills, GED, high school completion, Running Start, ESL, non-credit courses, Continuing Education, and up to 45 credits of developmental courses (developmental courses are for-credit English and Math courses below the 100 level.)
Prerequisites for LPN program Students taking prerequisites for entrance into the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program are eligible for student loans only, unless they were conditionally accepted into the LPN program by the Nursing Department prior to November 1, 2013, and for a period of no more than 12 consecutive months. Students will lose their loan eligibility if they enroll in courses that are not LPN prerequisites while receiving their loans funds.
Requesting Additional Credits Appeal Process Students can appeal for additional credits by submitting a “Request for Additional Credits” appeal form. The form is available online by clicking on the link. A written statement explaining why the program of study was not completed within the maximum time frame must be submitted with the request form.
Repeated Courses
Students can repeat courses for which they receive financial aid. However, each time a class is repeated, whether or not financial aid paid for the course, the credits are counted toward the time limit requirement.
In some circumstances, students who repeat a course and receive a higher grade for the repeated course can request that the original grade not be computed in their cumulative GPA. To request that your cumulative GPA be adjusted as a result of your performance in a repeated course, contact the Enrollment Services Office.
Cumulative GPA Requirement of 2.00
For all types of aid, students must have a 2.00 cumulative GPA at the end of each quarter. Students without a calculated cumulative GPA due to the type(s) of grade(s) received will be considered to have met the 2.00 cumulative GPA requirement if they meet the credit completion requirement for their most recent quarter of attendance.
Changing Your Program of Study
Students who start pursuing a new program of study without completing their first program are considered to have changed programs. If the program of study is changed ONCE, the attempted credits from the first program will not be counted toward the credit limit requirement for the new program.
However, students who change programs TWO OR MORE TIMES, , may not be able to complete their new program within the maximum allowable time frame for financial need. This is because when students change to a third program (or fourth, etc.), their attempted credits count will not start over. All attempted credits starting with the student’s 2nd program of study will be counted toward the credit limit requirement for the new program.
Limit on the Number of Programs You Can Pursue While Receiving Financial Aid
Students can pursue a maximum of two programs of study while on financial aid funding. However, no more than one of the programs can be a degree. This means students can receive funding for either one degree and one certificate, or two certificates. If a degree and a certificate are earned in the same program (in other words, 100% of the credits required for the certificate count toward requirements for the degree), the Financial Aid Office will consider the student to have completed only one program (the degree) for Satisfactory Academic Progress purposes. This means that the students will therefore be eligible to receive financial aid funding for a certificate program in a different field.
Students can receive funding for only one program at a time as found in the CPTC catalog. Financial aid for a second program will not be awarded until the student’s academic transcript is updated to show that the student graduated from the first program.
Earning Reinstatement after Being Suspended from Aid Eligibility
Students who are suspended from financial aid eligibility for reasons other than having reached the time limit requirement can be reinstated one of two ways:
Option #1: Earn Reinstatement on Your Own Pay for one quarter at your own expense that results in:
- Have achieved a cumulative “pace of progression” of at least 66.67% for all attempted credits.
- Have achieved a 2.00 cumulative grade point average.
- For all aid except State Need Grant (SNG), have completed a minimum of 66.67% of your quarterly attempted credits according to the chart on page 1 of this document.
- For State Need Grant (SNG)/College Bound Scholarship (CBS) aid, have completed the appropriate number of credits based on your enrollment level according to the chart on page 2 of this document.
AFTER your grades have been posted for the quarter, you must notify the Student Aid & Scholarships Office that you earned reinstatement by submitting a Satisfactory Academic Progress appeal form (available from the Student Aid & Scholarships Office).
Option #2: The Appeal Process Submit the Suspension Appeal form. The appeal should be based on unusual or extraordinary circumstances beyond your control that can be documented (appeals without documentation are automatically denied). If your appeal is denied, you must earn reinstatement on your own.
All appeals must be submitted within the first 5 days of the quarter immediately following the suspension in which you want to appeal in order to be reviewed for the current quarter. If your appeal is not submitted within the first 5 days of the quarter immediately following your suspension, your appeal will be reviewed for the subsequent quarter by the published Open Registration dates.
Allow 2 weeks for your suspension appeal to be reviewed after submitting if the above timeframes are met. You will be notified of a decision by mail and the student portal.
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