Maintaining Eligibility

Program Objective Enrollment Compliance

A Program Objective Enrollment Compliance (POEC) review is required on a term-by-term basis for all students seeking Federal Student Aid. Federal Student Aid may only be applied to classes that are required for the completion of a student's declared degree.

Federal Student Aid includes:

  • Federal Pell Grant
  • Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
  • Federal Work Study
  • Direct Subsidized Loan
  • Direct Unsubsidized Loan
  • Direct PLUS Loan

Courses that are not required for degree completion will be considered 'non-compliant' courses and will be excluded from the calculation of financial aid eligibility.

If a student qualifies for aid that exceeds the cost of the POEC compliant courses, the overage may be applied to the non-compliant courses. If no excess financial aid is available, the student will be responsible for the balance of the non-compliant courses.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in order to remain eligible for financial aid. In order to meet SAP, students must:

  • Maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative (FINANCIAL AID) GPA.
  • Complete a minimum of 67% of the coursework attempted during each term.
  • Be on track to complete their degree requirements within 150% of the number of credits required for the program.
Broward College measures SAP at the end of each term and assigns one of three statuses.
Status Definition
Clear
  • Meets all three SAP requirements.
  • Eligible for Financial Aid.
Warning
  • Fails to meet one or more SAP requirements.
  • Eligible for Financial Aid for the one term that the student is placed on Warning status.
  • Must continue enrollment in order for eligibility to be reassessed.
  • Must meet with an Academic Advisor for guidance regarding the courses and grades needed to regain compliance with SAP requirements.
Fail
  • Fails to meet one or more SAP requirements by the end of the Warning term.
  • Ineligible for Financial Aid until the student achieves compliance with the standards.
  • Must continue enrollment in order for eligibility to be reassessed.
  • Must meet with an Academic Advisor for guidance regarding the courses and grades needed to regain compliance with SAP requirements.

For more information, please see the College Catalog (Maintaining Financial Aid Eligibility/Academic Progress for Students, Pages 48-49).

SAP Status and Appeal

If you are in a Failed SAP status, you may request an appeal. Filing an appeal does not mean you are eligible to receive federal financial aid, and you must pay any institutional costs pronto. An appeal will not be reviewed unless you have completed the Appeal Form and have submitted all required documents. Please know that if you are approved, you will be limited to aid for only one term at a time until you have reached the three consecutive term limit. Listed below is the general processing information regarding the Appeal:

  • The Financial Aid Office will notify the student of an appeal decision within 14 business days and the notification is sent to the student's Broward email account.
  • The Financial Aid Office will only consider up to 3 appeals during a student's lifetime of enrollment at Broward College.
  • The Financial Aid Office will only allow an appeal to be applicable for up to three consecutive terms in which a student has enrolled in each term and completed courses within those terms.
  • The student will receive, within 14 business days, an explanation via email of why an appeal was denied, and if approved, what is required during the approved term(s).

*Please Note: A SAP Appeal will not be approved for students who have lost financial aid eligibility due to Time to Complete as per federal regulations.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal

2024-2025

Tools for Calculating Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students must maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative (FINANCIAL AID) GPA in order to remain eligible for financial aid.

The FINANCIAL AID GPA includes:

  • All remedial courses taken at Broward College.
  •  The most recent grade for repeat courses.
  •  Courses with a grade of A, B, C, D or F.

* Courses designated as Incomplete (I), Withdrawn (W, WN, XW), Audited (X, XC), Non-Credit (NC) or No Grade Assigned (NG, NR) are not included in the FINANCIAL AID GPA calculation.

* Transfer credits are not included in the FINANCIAL AID GPA calculation unless the credits are applicable to the program of study.

Resource: GPA Calculator

Students must complete a minimum of 67% of the coursework attempted during each term.

The following are included in the PACE calculation:

  • Repeat Courses
  • Official or Unofficial Withdraws after the official drop/add period
  • Incomplete Courses

Resource: PACE Calculator

Students must be on track to complete their degree requirements within 150% of the number of credits required for the program.

The following are included in the Time to Complete calculation:

  • Repeat Courses
  • Official or Unofficial Withdraws after the official drop/add period
  • Incomplete Courses

Example 1: A degree program of 60 credits must be completed within (60 x 1.5) 90 credits.

Example 2: A degree program of 900 clock hours must be completed within (900 x 1.5) 1,360 clock hours.