MINIMUM ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCIAL AID
In accordance with the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Act, Broward College must establish a policy regarding minimum academic requirements for students to receive financial aid.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of implementing a policy for minimum academic requirements for financial aid is to ensure that financial aid recipients are attending Broward College to receive an education and not to secure financial aid dollars only. Academic progress is evaluated at the end of each semester. Students who fail to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress towards the completion of their education (i.e. not attending classes, deferring grades, withdrawing from classes, or failing classes) will become ineligible to receive financial aid.
Students must be in an eligible degree program, certificate program, or transfer curriculum in order to receive financial aid at Broward College. Federal regulations require that the minimum academic requirements for financial aid be applied to a student's entire academic record and history from all post secondary institutions regardless of whether or not financial aid has previously been received.
PROGRAMS
This policy applies to the following programs:
- Federal:
- Pell Grant
- Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
- Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
- Work Study (FWS)
- Direct Stafford Loan (Subsidized and Unsubsidized)
- Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)
- State:
- Other:
- Veterans
- Institutional and other Scholarships
DEFINITION OF STANDARDS OF ACADEMIC PROGRESS:
A financial aid student must have obtained minimum standards in the following measures:
- Minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average after attempting 15 credit hours (qualitative)
- Minimum 67% cumulative completion rate (quantitative—means making incremental progress toward degree completion)
- The course completion rate is calculated as: Total credit hours successfully completed
Total credit hours attempted
- Maximum timeframe of 150% of the prescribed time it takes to complete a degree (Example: If a student’s degree requires 60 credit hours, then the maximum timeframe is 60 x 1.5, or 90 credit hours). Financial aid eligibility is lost when it is determined that the student cannot complete their degree requirements within the maximum timeframe.
Standards of Academic Progress Review
The College will take the following progressive steps to help students understand that they are jeopardizing their ability to remain eligible for financial aid.
WARNING
Student Performance falls in one or more of the following category:
The student has attempted at least 15 credit hours and has a cumulative GPA below 2.0
The student’s cumulative course completion rate is less than 67%
The student is nearing the maximum timeframe (150%) for their degree program
Action: Students will be placed on warning for the subsequent term and will have one term to improve academic performance. Students will need to show forward progress by completing all credits with a 2.0 GPA and no withdrawals or failing grades. During this warning term, a student may receive financial aid.
Students in a warning status should also:
- Meet with an academic adviser to review the academic plan
- Research campus tutoring opportunities
- Seek out workshops on study skills, time management
- Reduce class or work load to be successful
FINANCIAL AID INELIGIBILITY
Students will lose their eligibility for aid when their academic performance is as follows:
Student fails to meet the Standards of Academic Progress for 2 semesters:
Cumulative and/or term GPA below 2.0.
Cumulative course completion rate below 67%
Once a student becomes ineligible for aid, no aid funds can be received to pay tuition and fees (including loans and scholarships).
Action: The student will remain ineligible for financial aid until they bring their transcript in compliance with SAP requirements.
REINSTATEMENT OF ELIGIBILITY CONSIDERATION
Criteria: After a student loses financial aid eligibility, the student must complete the prescribed guidelines in order to qualify for eligibility reconsideration.
Action by the Student:
If the student believes that extenuating circumstances impacted their ability to make the required academic progress, student may file a petition for reinstatement of financial aid eligibility.
If the student does not have extenuating circumstances on which to base a petition, the student may complete at least 6 credit hours without financial aid and then submit a petition based on recent academic success. The successful completion does not guarantee reinstatement but will provide an opportunity for the student to submit a Satisfactory Academic Progress appeal/petition.
A complete petition package will include the following:
- An explanation of extenuating circumstances which prevented the student from making the required academic progress AND documentation to support all written comments.
- Extenuating circumstances are generally those that were beyond the student’s control.
- Examples of extenuating circumstances
- Death of a close family member
- Illness
- Military credits
- Circumstances not considered extenuating, but are based on personal choices:
- Frequently changing majors
- Young and irresponsible
- Picked up more work hours
- An explanation of actions taken to ensure that circumstances have been resolved AND documentation to support all written comments.
- An educational plan showing which courses the student plans to complete each semester to complete degree requirements. The plan should be reviewed and signed by an academic advisor.
Please note: Students may not submit an educational plan based on a limited access program (ie. Nursing) to which they have not yet been admitted. The ed plan must be based on the degree program in which the student is admitted.
Incomplete appeals cannot be accepted. Students must submit the petition to a financial aid advisor who will review the packet for completeness.
view and modify this policy annually.
Action by the Financial Aid College wide Committee:
The College committee will consider academic petition requests only from students who have met the guidelines for reinstatement of financial aid.
Procedure :
Students may request Satisfactory Academic Progress Petition Form from the campus Student Financial Services office for submission to the Financial Aid Committee. The committee meets one time per month. Appeals must be received no later than 5 business days prior to the committee meeting to be reviewed at that meeting. Appeals received four days or later before a meeting will be reviewed at the next monthly meeting. The committee’s decision is final and reinstatement of financial aid is not guaranteed.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of, not only the initial eligibility requirements for aid, but also minimum academic requirements to ensure continued eligibility for aid. Adherence to these policy standards and Federal regulations is required by all students at Broward College. The College reserves the right to review and modify this policy annually.
