SA-17 Satisfactory Progress for Financial Aid

Policy Type: Student Affairs
Policy Title: Satisfactory Academic Progress
Policy Number: SA-17

Purpose:

Specify the minimum academic achievement students must meet in order to receive financial aid funds at Green River College.

Scope:

Applies to all financial aid applicants and recipients at Green River College.

Definitions:

Probation: A status which is applied when a student has not maintained satisfactory academic progress where the student can receive financial aid, with conditions, after an Academic Progress Appeal has been approved.

Warning: A status which is applied when a student has not maintained grade and/or credit requirements, but the student remains eligible to receive financial aid.

Suspension: A status which is applied when a student has not met satisfactory academic progress, when the student is not eligible to receive financial aid at Green River until the standards have been met or an academic appeal has been approved.

Policy:

Students are required to maintain satisfactory academic progress in order to receive financial aid which is mandated by federal and state regulations. Students can establish and maintain satisfactory academic progress by satisfying all of the following three criteria:

  1. Quality—Students must maintain a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 each quarter. Students are also required to have a minimum cumulative GPA at the end of the second academic year (six quarters) and thereafter regardless of enrollment level. Certificate programs must maintain a cumulative 2.0 GPA consistent with the requirements for graduation.

  2. Time Frame—Students will have time limits for completing their programs of study. Students are considered for financial aid for the equivalent of 125% of a program’s length which includes all attempted college level credits. Students are allowed one program change to reset the timeframe calculation. An appeal for extenuating circumstances is allowed if an extension of financial aid is needed.

  3. Quantity—Student must successfully complete the highest number of credits attempted each quarter based upon the chart below. Attempted credits are counted even when they do not show on the grade transcript, unless the class was dropped during the census period (typically the first 10 days of the quarter.)
One Quarter of
Enrollment		Full Time
12+ Credits		Three- Quarter
time
9—11 Credits		Half-Time
6—8 credits		Less Than
Half-Time
5 or fewer
credits
Good Standing
2.0+ GPA 		 Completed
12 credits 		 Completed
9 credits 		 Completed
6 credits 		 Must complete
all credits 
Warning Status
GPA 1.0 - 1.99 		 Completed
6 – 11 credits 		 Completed
5 – 8 credits 		 Completed
4 – 5 credits 		 No
Warning 
Termination Status
GPA 0.0 - .99 		 Completed
fewer than
6 credits 		 Completed
fewer than
5 credits 		 Completed
fewer than 4
credits 		 Fewer than
attempted
credits 

When a student applies for financial aid, all previous coursework is reviewed to ensure the student has maintained satisfactory academic progress prior to offering financial aid. The policy applies to any period of enrollment in an eligible program, regardless of whether financial aid was received. It is possible to be on financial aid warning or termination status without ever having received aid.

Students receiving financial aid must enroll in an eligible degree or certificate program at Green River College, and the classes they take must apply to that program of study. 

Procedure:

A student’s satisfactory academic progress is reviewed quarterly and at the time of awarding through the quality, time frame, and quantity requirements described in the policy.

Students may appeal a loss of financial aid eligibility in cases of illness, injury, a death in the family or unusual circumstances. If the academic appeal is approved, the students may receive financial aid for the following term of enrollment under a probation status. Students may be placed on an academic plan as an additional condition of the appeal.

Student may reinstate their own eligibility without an academic appeal by completing a set number of credits on their own.

  1. The satisfactory academic progress status of all aid applicants is reviewed prior to awarding financial aid every quarter.
  2. Academic progress is checked for financial aid students at the end of each term of enrollment.
  3. Students are notified of their warning or suspension status.

Students in suspension status may appeal the decision and request reinstatement of eligibility by submitting an academic progress petition to the financial aid office no later than the end of the 100% refund period. Alternately, a student may reinstate themselves by successfully completing at least 5 credits required for program of study using non-financial aid resources.

Specific Authority:

Law Implemented:

History of Policy or Procedure:

Draft: April 5, 2005
Adopted: January 6, 2006
Revised: August 22, 2012; July 17, 2019
Reviewed by:
Contact: Teresa Buchmann, Director of Financial Aid, ext. 3326
President’s Staff Sponsor: Dr. Deborah Casey, Vice President of Student Affairs, ext. 3328

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