Satisfactory Academic Progress | SAP

FEDERAL AID PROGRAMS (PELL GRANT, SEOG GRANT, AND DIRECT STAFFORD LOANS)

SAP Federal Aid Standards include:

• A qualitative component (Grade Point Average or “GPA”)
• Two 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 attempted credit hours. (Ex. Students in the Registered Nursing Program that requires 67 credit hours are eligible to receive Federal financial aid for no more than 100.5 attempted credit hours.)
    • Change in Major – Any attempted credit hours from previous major will be included in determining maximum timeframe for new major.

Transfer Credit Hours

Transfer credits & previous degrees 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. Credits hours that have been granted Academic Amnesty (marked with a ‘Z’) are counted as attempted credit hours.

Your grade point average (GPA) is not transferrable

Successful Completion of 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.

FEDERAL AID Programs
Credit Hours Attempted	Minimum Cum. GPA	Overall rate of completion(earned cr. hrs / attempted cr. hrs)
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%

Repeat of Coursework

Students have the option to repeat courses in which they have earned an A- or lower. In such cases the most recent grade will count in their GPA calculation 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.

Incomplete Grade

Incomplete courses are counted as credit hours attempted for Federal & State aid. The incomplete grade must be removed from the student’s record 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 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 & State aid. WF, F, and FX grades affect the student’s GPA.

NEW YORK STATE AID PROGRAMS (TAP & APTS)

State Aid Policy:

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. (ex. If registered for 15cr hrs in a given semester, and the student earns 15cr hrs, that is what is used in the SAP determination. However if a student registers for 15cr hrs and earns only 12cr hrs, then 12cr 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. Please refer to the chart below:

STATE AID Programs
# of TAP / APTS Payments Received	Academic Progress		Program Pursuit(Percentage of course completion within semester)
	Minimum Cum. GPA	Minimum Earned Credit Hours
0.5	1.1	2	50%
1.0	1.3	6
1.5	1.4	10
2.0	1.5	15
2.5	1.7	21	75%
3.0	1.8	27
3.5	1.9	33
4.0	2.0	39
4.5	2.0	45	100%
5.0	2.0	51
5.5	2.0	55
6.0	2.0	60
6.5	2.0	66
7.0	2.0	75
7.5	2.0	81
8.0	2.0	90
8.5	2.0	96
9.0	2.0	105
9.5	2.0	111
10.0	2.0	120

Program Pursuit (PP)

To meet the program pursuit (PP) 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:

# of Transfer Credit Hours	Assigned Payment Value
1 – 14	1
15 – 29	2
30 – 44	3
45 – 59	4
60 – 74	5
75+	6

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.

Successful Completion of Course

Repeat of Coursework

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 want 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 courses are counted as credit hours attempted for Federal & State aid. The incomplete grade must be removed from the student’s record 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 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 & State aid. WF, F and FX grades affect the student’s GPA.

REINSTATING ELIGIBILITY AFTER A SAP SUSPENSION

Federal Programs

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 but 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.

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 (ex. 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 college Financial Aid office or can be mailed upon request. Appeals are approved 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 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. An academic plan must be created to insure that the issues that caused a lack of SAP are addressed. 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 plan should address what changes will occur that will lead to better academic success. Academic plans will 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, the student must either meet SAP standards or meet the requirements of the academic plan by a specific point in time.

The Director of Financial Aid shall notify each student that he or she is in need of an Academic Plan. The student must contact their Student Service Advisor to initiate this plan. The Student Service Advisor will monitor each plan and the progress of each student. If at the end of the payment period if a student continues to not meet SAP or does not follow their Academic Plan, federal financial aid to the student shall be discontinued. A student who fails to initiate these actions will be denied federal financial aid.

Timeline

• First semester of failure to meet SAP (warning only)
• Second semester of failure to meet SAP – Probation (appeal & academic plan). If not approved, 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.

State Programs

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 but 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

New York State Legislation allows for ONE State aid appeal per student

Financial Aid Appeal

If students who 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 approved 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 decision of the Appeal Committee to determine the appropriateness of extenuating circumstances.

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.

Please contact Financial Aid via phone 716.827.2545 or by email if you have any questions.