Rights and Responsibilities - Financial Aid Office

Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy 2007-2008

In accordance with the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, the Financial Aid Office of Ohlone College establishes the following Standards of Progress. These standards apply to all students who apply for and receive financial aid from the following programs.

• Cal-Grants B and C
• Federal Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
• Federal Pell Grant
• Federal Stafford Loan Program
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
• Federal Work-Study (FWS)

Students who are in default on a student loan or who owe a repayment to a Title IV program, from any institution, are not eligible for federal financial aid. If a student owes a repayment to a Title IV program, the debt must be cleared before any federal financial aid will be issued. In the case of a student loan, financial aid may be reinstated once the student makes satisfactory repayment arrangements with the holder of the loan.

Ohlone College applies the Return to Title IV Funds Policy outlined in Public Law 105-244. Students who withdraw from all classes before completing 60% of the semester will be required to return the unearned portion of federal financial aid they received.

NOTE: The Board of Governor’s Waiver (BOGW) was established in 1984 as an integral part of legislation that first created the community college enrollment fee. Its purpose is to ensure that the enrollment fee does not pose a barrier to the enrollment of low-income students. This program is omitted from the above list of programs because these provisions do not dictate eligibility for BOGW. As long as a student is eligible to enroll under the college’s satisfactory academic progress provisions, fee waivers from BOGW will be granted irrespective of the student’s status under these provisions.

General Requirements

Students receiving financial aid must be enrolled in a course of study leading to an A.A. degree, an A.S. degree, a certificate requiring one year or more of study, or transfer program to a 4-year college or university.

High School Diploma or the Equivalent

Federal regulations require financial aid recipients to either have graduated from high school or have completed a recognized equivalent (such as the California High School Equivalence exam or the GED). Current regulations specify that students who fail to meet the above requirement must achieve a certain score on a federally approved Ability to Benefit test. The Ohlone College Placement Center administers the Acuplacer Test, which is one of the federally approved Ability to Benefit Tests. Students must achieve scores at or about the mandated cut score in both verbal and math to be eligible for federal financial assistance.

Educational Plan

It is the student’s responsibility to enroll in courses toward his or her educational goal, as students are required to declare an academic major. Students are strongly encouraged to make an appointment with a college counselor to have a Student Educational Plan [SEP] prepared. Financial aid may be denied for courses not applicable to the declared educational goal.

When a student reaches 125% of the units required to complete their declared academic program, they will be required to obtain a current Student Education Plan, which indicates the courses required to complete their academic program. Academic programs include Associate degrees, transfer programs, or Certificate of Achievement programs of 18 or more units. Financial Aid will be awarded only for approved courses included on their SEP.

Class Completion Requirements

The award outlined in the award letter will be based on full-time enrollment. Prior to the check disbursement the student’s enrollment will be verified and the disbursement will be adjusted accordingly. Federal Pell Grant and Cal Grant checks will be processed according to that assumption. Thus, a student who received a full time Federal Pell Grant check at the beginning of the semester, but who is only enrolled in six units at the time of the second disbursement will not receive any additional Federal Pell Grant or Cal Grant B for that semester.

Prior to the second disbursement, attendance verification will be performed by computer to determine the enrollment status of the student.

Adjustments will be made to the student’s award accordingly:

1. Federal Pell Grants and Cal Grant B’s will be adjusted up or down in accordance with the enrollment status of the student.
2. As long as the student remains in at least six [6] units, FWS, Stafford Loans and FSEOG will not be reduced. Students who drop below six [6] units are no longer eligible to receive Cal Grant, FWS, Stafford Loans, or FSEOG.
3. Students who have applied for Stafford Loans and who have dropped below six units before the loan is disbursed are no longer eligible for the loan. Students who have applied for Stafford Loans and who completely withdraw from the college may be eligible for a pro-rated loan disbursement only after the 30-day delayed disbursement period at the beginning of the semester.

Maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress

Federal regulations require that all financial aid recipients maintain satisfactory academic progress and remain in good academic standing. Academic progress is reviewed each semester, prior to the check disbursements.

Determining Enrollment Status

Prior to each check disbursement, the Financial Aid Office will verify the number of units in which a student is enrolled. Based on the verified unit enrollment, a determination is made as to whether the student is eligible for additional funds. For purposes of the federal financial aid satisfactory academic progress, units attempted means the number of units the student is enrolled in at the time of the first disbursement for each term.

In determining whether or not a student is making satisfactory academic progress, the student’s enrollment status is also defined as the number of units the student is enrolled in at the time of each disbursement for the term.

If the student is enrolled in 12 or more units when his or her final disbursement for the term is made, the student is considered to be full-time.

If the student is enrolled in 9 to 11.5 units when his or her final disbursement for the term is made, the student is considered to be 3/4 time.

If the student is enrolled in 6 to 8.5 units when his or her final disbursement for the term is made, the student is considered to be 1/2 time.

If the student is enrolled in .5 to 5.5 units when his or her final disbursement for the term is made, the cost of attendance will be adjusted and the student is responsible to complete at least one class for the semester.

Completed units means that credit was received for the units enrolled. Classes in which a student receives a grade of F, W, NC, I, IP or RD will not be counted as completed classes for satisfactory academic progress, but will be counted as units attempted unless the student was no longer enrolled in those classes at the time of the last disbursement. Students are allowed to repeat any course in which a grade below C was recorded, (see college catalog: "Repetition of Courses"). Although the college counts only the latest grade when the student repeats a course, financial aid must include the units from every attempt when calculating SAP.

In all enrollment categories, the student is expected to maintain a 2.0 (C average) term grade point average (GPA).

By the end of each academic year, to be considered to be making satisfactory progress toward the educational goal, students must complete 67% of the units attempted for their enrollment status, as indicated below:

Units earned from credit-by-exam courses are not counted for financial aid purposes.

In the determination of enrollment status, it is permissible for a student to count units being taken concurrently at another college. A consortium agreement must be made between the two schools with one school designated as the primary school (from which the student receives financial aid) and the other school as the host [secondary] school. Students may NOT receive Federal Financial Aid from more than one school per award period. Students may, however, receive a state BOGW from more than one school in an award period.]

Maximum Time Frame

Federal law requires that students must complete their educational program within 150% of units required.  Ohlone College expects a student to submit an Application for Appeal and Student Education Plan (SEP) when they reach 125% of attempted units.  That SEP must outline the courses required to complete the student’s degree or transfer program.

Ohlone College offers a number of Certificate of Achievement Programs, each requiring a specific number of units for completion. Students enrolled in Certificate programs of more than one year in duration (24 or more units) qualify for Financial Aid. Students must complete their goals by the time they have completed 150% of the number of units required for the specific certificate. For example: a student enrolled in the American Sign Language & Deaf Studies Certificate Program, which is a 34 unit Certificate, must complete that goal by the time he or she has attempted 51.0 total units.

Students whose educational goal is only to receive a “Certificate of Completion” are not eligible for financial aid.

All English as a Second Language classes and up to 30 units of remedial course work are deducted from the units attempted when determining satisfactory academic progress. Ohlone College Financial Aid will pay aid for a maximum of 30 remedial units.

It is the student’s responsibility to request transcripts from previously attended institutions, in accordance with Ohlone College Admissions' requirements. Transcripts from colleges accredited by one of the regional accrediting associations will be evaluated for use toward the student’s current educational objective. All units applicable toward the current education objective will be counted when calculating the maximum time frame for financial aid. All units attempted, although earned before the student was receiving financial aid, will be considered toward the maximum time frame.

Repeating Classes

Ohlone College has a policy that allows students to repeat courses for substandard grades. When a student repeats a course only the most recent grade to be used in calculating a student’s GPA. Units attempted must include all of the units from every course completed, whether or not it has been repeated. Financial Aid will not cover a previously completed course with a passing grade.

Academic Renewal

Ohlone College has an Academic Renewal policy through which a student may apply to have credits attempted and grades earned in previous semesters excluded from the calculation of the student’s GPA. The Federal Student Aid program regulations make no provisions for the concept of Academic Renewal. Ohlone College must include all courses applicable to a student’s major in evaluating a student’s SAP for financial aid purposes.

Summer Financial Aid

Students who attend summer courses at Ohlone College may be eligible for financial aid during the Summer term if there is unused aid left in the student’s budget. Students must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress and follow the same enrollment status for the Fall and Spring semesters. Students who do not receive aid during Summer will still have their Satisfactory Academic Progress calculated and applied for the following term.

Financial Aid Probation

If a student fails to meet federal aid standards for satisfactory progress because the student did not complete 67% of attempted units or the student’s GPA fell below 2.0, the student will receive a Financial Aid Probation. The student may still receive financial aid funds for the current semester; however, to receive the first Financial Aid disbursement check, the student must attend a Financial Aid SAP Workshop.

Financial Aid Warning

A student is placed on Warning status when the student has attempted 125% of the units required for the declared major.  Students must submit an Application for Appeal and counselor prepared Student Education Plan (SEP) when the student reached 125% of attempted units. That SEP must outline the courses required to complete the student’s degree or transfer program.

Financial Aid Disqualification

Students who have exceeded their maximum time frame [150%] or, have not completed the required number of attempted units for two [2] consecutive terms, or have a term grade point average less than 2.0 for two [2] consecutive terms, or three [3] combined terms not meeting standard while receiving financial aid will be disqualified from financial aid. Students who have been disqualified because of insufficient units completed or a grade point average deficiency will not receive further financial aid until they have had one semester in good standing under satisfactory academic progress.

If a student has been attending Ohlone College without the benefit of financial aid, the student has been held to the regular college standards for good standing. If a student was disqualified by the college for failure to maintain a minimum 2.0 term GPA or to maintain a 67% completion ratio, the student must be reinstated by the College before being eligible to receive financial aid.

Appeal Procedures

Any student who has been disqualified from financial aid may submit a written appeal which must include an SEP prepared by a counselor to the Financial Aid Office for review by the Financial Aid Advisory Committee. Each appeal will be reviewed and approved or denied based on the student’s individual circumstances, and his or her proposed course of action. If the student's petition is denied, he or she has the right to appeal the decision to the Vice President of Student Services. That decision is final.

A student who has reached the maximum time frame of units attempted may also submit a written appeal to the Financial Aid Office for review by the Financial Aid Advisory Committee. If approved for additional financial aid, the student will be given a specific length of time to complete his or her goal as outlined on their SEP.

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• Instructions for the Financial Aid Application for Appeal (PDF)
• Application for Appeal Form (PDF)

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Students should refer to the General Information section of the Ohlone College Catalog for specific information on:

• Student Responsibility
• Family Educational Right to Privacy Act (FERPA)
• Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act
• Drug Free College Statement
• Standards of Student Conduct
• Return to Title IV

Effective date: July 1, 2007 (for 2007-2008 academic year) - FAO July 2, 2007.