SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS

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Federal and state regulations require that students receiving financial aid maintain satisfactory academic progress (SAP) to be eligible to continue to receive federal financial aid. Alamance Community College is required to review students’ academic progress at the end of every semester. 

The Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy applies to all students who receive financial aid administered by the Financial Aid Office.

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At the end of each semester the Financial Aid office will e-mail you an updated SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress) status. To see the definition of the SAP status, please click here.

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How academic progress is measured

To remain eligible, a Pell Grant recipient must comply with the following academic standards.

• The overall grade point average must be at least 2.0 or higher.
• At least sixty-seven percent of all attempted hours must be completed to remain eligible. Attempted hours versus completed hours are calculated to determine completion rate.
• A recipient is given three years in a two-year degree program and two years in a diploma program to complete graduation requirements. Totals of 105 hours attempted are allowed for most associate degree programs and 60 hours are allowed for most diploma programs. Financial Aid will cover all Associates degree programs, two diploma programs and two certificate programs. The diploma programs are Dental (D45240) & Computer Integrated Machining (D50210). The certificate programs CNC Machining Certificate (C50210C) and Medical, Coding, Billing & Insurance Certificate (C25310C) programs.
• Grade point average, completion rate, and all attempted hours are monitored each semester for continual awards.
• Recipients will be given every opportunity to retain eligibility with assistance from the counseling staff.

To see full details of Alamance Community College’s academic progress standards click here.

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What should you do if you have lost eligibility?

Here are a few examples of situations that warrant a SAP appeal:

• Documented medical or emergency situation
• Documented death of a family member
• Drops occurred over 5 years ago and the student has since returned and completed 12 credit hours of excellent academic performance
• Student has an isolated semester of poor performance that can be explained
• Student at maximum time frame due to old credits or changing majors, has dropped or failed less than 15 hours and has less than 15 hours to complete their degree

In very limited cases students can file a second appeal if they were unable to meet Continuing Probation requirements due to circumstances outside of the students control. Students must provide documentation of the situation and it MUST be a different situation than what was previously stated in original appeal. They must schedule an appointment with the Director or Assistant Director before second appeal.

Once the appeal is submitted, please allow 2-3 weeks to process. Appeals submitted on or after the first day of class will be considered for the next semester.  The appeal is decided by a committee of 5 members. Their decision is final. Make sure your appeal is accurate and has all of the supporting documentation needed when it is handed into the Financial Aid office. Your documentation is what the committee will base their decision upon.

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What if your appeal is not approved?

Typically students are asked to complete 12 hours of course work and show marked improvement before they are able to file another appeal. The student may have to complete enough coursework to raise his/her GPA and Completion Rate. At that time, students may request a SAP review and if they meet the minimum standards, their SAP status will be updated and they will not have to complete another SAP appeal form.

To request a review, they must email the Assistant Director of Financial Aid from their ACC Access.