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Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy, Financial Aid

Under current federal guidelines, students who are receiving financial aid are required to maintain the standards of satisfactory academic progress (SAP). The assessment will be made on a semester basis, regardless of the number of semester hours attended or the number of hours attempted during the year. Grades of A, B, C, D, and P are considered hours completed. Drops, withdrawals, IP, XN, N, F and course repeats are counted as hours attempted. Course repeats are counted as attempted hours and either earned or unearned depending upon the grade assigned as noted above. All coursework attempted at the college and any transfer work completed and applied to active program of study is considered when determining satisfactory academic progress regardless of whether the student previously received financial aid.

It is the student’s responsibility to read, understand, and adhere to the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy in order to remain eligible for financial aid. Failure to comply with this policy can result in the student’s financial aid being terminated at Central Texas College.

The following will affect your Financial Aid academic progress and may result in having to pay back funds:

  • Students who do not attend a course before the census day may be dropped from the course by the instructor.
  • For an online course student must complete one academically related activity (graded or non-graded) prior to the census date or may be dropped from the class by the instructor. For blended or hybrid classes if the first class meeting is after the census, completion of a graded activity is required or student may be dropped from the course by the instructor.

Qualitative Standard: Financial Aid Minimum Grade Point Average (GPA)

Students must maintain a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) during each semester of enrollment as well as a cumulative average of 2.0 to remain eligible for aid. Should the student’s GPA drop below a cumulative average of 2.0 the following actions will be taken:

  • The first time the GPA drops below 2.0 the student will be placed on financial aid warning for the following semester enrolled.
  • At the end of the warning semester, if the student’s GPA is 2.0 or above, the student will be removed from warning status and returned to satisfactory. If after one semester the GPA is still below a cumulative average of 2.0, the student will be placed on suspension and will not be eligible for financial aid until the student’s GPA meets the 2.0 standard or has an approved appeal on file.

Quantitative Standard: (A) Pace of Program and (B) Maximum Timeframe (C) Maximum Timeframe Transfer

  1. Along with meeting the Grade Point Average/Qualitative Standard, students must also meet quantitative standards. Students must complete 67% of all credit hours attempted regardless of whether financial aid was received for the hours. For example, if a student’s completion rate is 66.666% the completion rate requirement of 67% will be rounded to 67%. Withdrawals, incompletes, transfer in hours (officially evaluated on the active program), and failure grades will count as attempted coursework credit hours.

    If you repeat a course, -only the passing course will be  counted as attempted.

  2. Maximum Timeframe (MAX)-Students who have attempted 150 percent of the allowed number of credit hours will become ineligible to receive additional financial aid disbursements for hours in excess of the 150 percent maximum regardless of their semester/cumulative GPA, and regardless of whether or not financial aid was received during previous semesters. Withdrawals, incompletes, transfer in hours (officially evaluated on the active program), and failure grades will count as attempted coursework credit hours in determining 150 percent of allowed number of credit hours. Students are advised to work with their academic advisor to “stay on target” to complete educational goals.

  3. Maximum Timeframe Transfer (MTR)- Students who have attempted 150 percent of the allowed number of credit hours for any degree and/or certificate will be ineligible to receive financial aid at CTC. This will be based on transcripts from other institutions provided by the student, and from historical information on the U.S. Department of Education website NSLDS (National Student Loan Database System).

 If at any point it is clear that a student will not be able to meet the quantitative standard by graduation, the student becomes ineligible for aid (barring a successful appeal by the student consistent with appeal procedures set up by CTC).

NOTE The above combination of hours, to include all transfer credits, cannot exceed 150 percent of the allowed number of hours required to complete the active program of study.

SAP Rules for Remedial or Developmental Coursework and English as a Second Language (ESL) Courses*

An otherwise eligible student may receive financial aid for a maximum of 30 attempted credit hours in developmental/remedial course work. Once the 30 credit hours maximum is reached, additional developmental credit hours will not be used to calculate the award amount. Developmental hours are not included in the cumulative GPA calculation. However, developmental attempts are used in the completion rate calculation and in the calculation of maximum timeframe.

A student may receive Title IV funds for English as a second language (ESL) courses that are part of a larger eligible program. There are differences though: ESL courses don’t count against the one-year limitation on remedial coursework, and they need not be at the secondary school level. ESL hours are not included in the cumulative GPA calculation. However, ESL attempts are used in the completion rate calculation and in the calculation of maximum timeframe.

*The term "ESL" (English as a Second Language) is used by the U.S. Department of Education. CTC refers to its courses as ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages)