Taft College Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
Preface
Taft College is dedicated to providing financial aid to those eligible students who are achieving consistent progress toward a specific educational objective. The student is responsible for setting an objective, achieving adequate grades and completing the courses required.
In order to be eligible to receive financial aid, students are required to enroll in a program of study leading to an approved Title IV degree or certificate at Taft College, meet the requirements of the Taft College Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy and have not reached their lifetime eligibility limit. Effective with the 2012-2013 Academic Year new federal regulations defines the lifetime eligibility limit as the equivalent of 6 full time years for Pell Grants.
Introduction
Federal regulations require schools to establish satisfactory academic progress standards for students applying for and receiving federal aid. These regulations require the Financial Aid and Scholarships Department to review all periods of a student’s enrollment history regardless of whether financial aid was received, to determine if a student is making satisfactory academic progress towards an educational objective. At Taft College, a student’s progress will be evaluated at the end of the fall, spring and summer semesters by the standards outlined below. Any official academic transcripts from other colleges received by Taft College will be utilized in the review of our Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress standards once the transcript has been evaluated and units have been posted to the Taft College transcript.
These standards apply to all students who apply for and receive financial aid from any federal or state program and most institutional programs.
Satisfactory Academic Progress Criteria
Recipients in all Federal, State and Institutional programs are determined to be making satisfactory academic progress under the following circumstances:
Earn a minimum Cumulative GPA of 2.00 for all classes attempted. Grade symbols of A, B, C, D, P, or CR earned during Fall, Spring or Summer will be considered as acceptable for courses completed, and satisfactory academic progress consideration.
Courses completed with an F, FW, I, NC, NP, IP, EW or W will not be considered acceptable for satisfactory academic progress. Courses completed with a MW (withdrawal for military service) are excluded from the determination.
Remedial and ESL Units: Students are allowed to receive financial aid for remedial units, if the remedial classes are a prerequisite for entrance into a regular college program. Financial aid cannot be received for more than 30 attempted units of remedial classes. ESL course work does not count towards the maximum time length but will count toward the 2.0 GPA and 67% unit completion requirement. Remedial units are defined as precollegiate units. (Refer to the Taft College catalog for a list of classes.) It is advised for remedial units to be taken in the recommended sequence.
Grade Point Average
Grade symbols of A, B, C, D, F or FW will be used in grade point average calculation. Courses completed with a P, NP, CR, NC, I, IP, UG, EW or W will not be used in grade point average calculation.
However, please note non-passing grades, which are not used to determine grade point average, will be used to determine minimum unit requirements. Additionally, even though a “D” is considered a passing grade, the total cumulative GPA must not fall below 2.00 for each semester. Repeated courses may be considered in the GPA calculation.
Pace of Progression
Federal regulations require institutions to measure a student’s pace toward his/her educational objective to ensure completion within the maximum time frame for his/her program.
For a student pursuing an Associate Degree or Certificate the pace cannot be less than 67%.
67% of the cumulative units attempted for each pay period (Fall, Spring and Summer) must be completed with a passing grade. The total number of successfully completed units must be equal to or greater than the calculated total of attempted units multiplied by .67. Note: Courses repeated multiple times will be counted each time as attempted units but only once as completed. For example: if you repeat a 3 unit course then you will have 6 attempted units and 3 completed units total for the course.
Maximum Time Frame
Federal regulations require institutions to establish a maximum time period or unit total for a student to complete an educational objective (degree/certificate) if financial aid is received. Financial aid recipients are considered to be making federal satisfactory academic progress if they complete their educational objective in the time frame indicated below. The educational objective as indicated by the student's choice of major/program of study will be used for this determination.
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For an undergraduate program measured in credit hours, a period no longer than 150 percent of the published program length.
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For an undergraduate program measured in clock hours, a period no longer than 150 percent of the published program length, as measured by the cumulative number of clock hours the student is required to complete and expressed in calendar time.
Educational Objective
Students receiving financial aid at Taft College must be enrolled in a program of study leading to an approved Title IV A.A. degree, A.S degree, A.A.T degree, A.S.T degree or a certificate.
Associate Degree: Typically requires completion of a minimum of 60 units. Students must complete their objective by the time they have attempted 90 units. Programs such as Dental Hygiene, Court Reporting, and Engineering may have a program length greater than 60 units. 150% will be calculated on the amount of units required for those specific programs.
Certificate: Taft College offers a number of approved Title IV certificate programs each requiring a specific number of units for completion. Students enrolled in an approved Title IV certificate program must complete their objective by the time they have attempted 150% of the number of units required for the specific certificate program. For example, a student enrolled in an approved Title IV 18-unit certificate program, must complete their objective by the time he/she has attempted 27 units.
Remedial courses: up to 30 units of remedial course work are deducted from the units attempted when determining federal satisfactory academic progress for maximum time.
Transfer Students to Taft College: Students are encouraged to submit official transcripts from all previous colleges attended to Taft College’s Admissions and Records Office. Degree applicable units posted on the Taft College transcript will be included in academic progress calculations.
Incomplete Grade
In the case of a student receiving an incomplete grade (I), the student must complete all work necessary to remove the incomplete grade within 8 weeks from the beginning of the next semester.
A progress report signed by the instructor involved must be submitted to the Financial Aid and Scholarships Department by the end of the 4th week of the next semester. If the incomplete grade is not made up, the letter grade to be assigned will be used to determine the financial aid status.