Satisfactory Progress Policy for Undergraduate Students to Qualify for Aid from Federal Title IV Funds
Effective Date: March 2, 2020
Background
The Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended by Congress in 1980 mandates institutions of higher education to establish standards of "satisfactory progress" for students receiving financial assistance from Title IV Federal Funds. At York College of PA, progress is determined annually at the completion of the academic year (Spring semester). All financial aid applicants are subject to the progress standards regardless if aid was received or not in the past.
All York College of PA financial aid funds require a minimum grade point average of 2.0 unless the guidelines of the scholarship or fund stipulate a higher G.P.A.
Undergraduate students enrolled for twelve (12) credits are considered to be full-time. Six (6) to eight (8) credits are considered half-time. Nine (9) to eleven (11) credits are considered to be three-quarter time.
The following will govern the monitoring of undergraduate students for Satisfactory Academic Progress for Title IV Federal financial assistance. The student must meet both the Qualitative standard and the Quantitative standard defined below.
Good Standing
- To be in good standing on a QUALITATIVE basis, a student must meet the minimum cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) as follows:
- Upon completion of up to 23 credits - 1.60 GPA
- Upon completion of 24 to 35 credits - 1. 70 GPA
- Upon completion of 36 to 47 credits - 1.85 GPA
- Upon completion of 48 or more credits - 2.00 GPA
To be in good standing on a QUANTITATIVE basis, a student must complete their degree within a maximum time frame of 150% of the published length of the program. Therefore, a student must pass at least 67% of the cumulative number of attempted credits including transfer credits. The ratio of credits passed divided by registered credits must be at least 67%. "Attempted credits" are the number of credits for which a student is enrolled at the end of the Drop/ Add period.
Examples:
- A student attempts 12 credits and passes all 12. The ratio is 100%.
- A student attempts 15 credits and passes 6. The ratio is 40%.
- A student attempts 18 credits and withdraws from all classes. The ratio is 0%.
Withdrawals, lncompletes, and Repeats are included in the calculation and added to the number of registered credits, but are not added to the number of credits passed. Therefore, these courses will have a negative impact in meeting the Quantitative standard.
Non-credit and Audit courses are not counted as courses taken toward progress.
Transfer credits are added to both the number of attempted credits and the number of credits passed.
To determine academic progress, a student's cumulative academic record will be reviewed at the end of each academic year. (This policy applies to both full-time and part-time students.)
A student who does not satisfy either QUANTITATIVE or QUALITATIVE standards will be placed on financial aid suspension. Suspension status means that the student is not eligible for Federal, State, or York College of PA financial aid until satisfactory progress is maintained. Notification of the suspension status will be sent to the student in writing.
Appeal Procedures
Students have the right to appeal the suspension status in writing to the Financial Aid Office if there were special circumstances that prevented the student from meeting the standards ( death of a relative, injury or illness of the student, or other special circumstances). The written appeal must include (1) a narrative of the special circumstance that prevented the student from meeting the minimum requirements, (2) reasonable explanation of the expectation that the special circumstances will not re-occur, (3) what has changed that would allow the student to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress at the next evaluation. Also, students are expected to describe their academic plan that has been developed with their academic advisor that if followed, will ensure that the student is able to meet the minimum standards by the next evaluation.
The written appeal will be reviewed by a committee. All committee decisions will be final. If the appeal is approved, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Probation and their Federal aid will be reinstated for the following year. The Probation status will be reviewed at the next progress evaluation.
The Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress Policy is separate from the Academic Progress Policy. A student in good standing under the Academic Policy may still be placed on Financial Aid Suspension. A student on Academic Suspension is automatically placed on Financial Aid Suspension and is not eligible for any type of aid.
This policy is subject to change due to modifications in institutional and/or governmental regulations. Updated policy statements are available in the Financial Aid Office.