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Financial Aid Academic Progress Policy

These rules will be first applied to students attending fall 2011 semester.

All schools participating in federal and state financial aid programs must have a Financial Aid Academic Progress (FAAP) Policy. The policy must be applied to all applicants and recipients of financial aid as a determination of financial aid eligibility.

This policy assesses academic progress for classes taken at Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) and incorporates all transfer credits when evaluating the time frame component. Your academic progress will be assessed after each semester in which you receive financial aid.

Three Measures of the Policy

There are three components of the FAAP that all students seeking financial aid must meet. If you do not meet any one of these three requirements, you may lose your eligibility for financial aid.

1. Qualitative Component (GPA)
   • In order to meet the qualitative standard for FAAP, you must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0.
2. Quantitative Component (Completion Ratio)
   • You must receive passing grades in a minimum of 67% of all cumulative attempted courses.
   • Courses dropped during the 100% refund period are not considered attempted courses. Remedial and ESL courses are included in the calculation. Courses receiving grades of W, F, or I are not considered completed but are included in the calculation as attempted units. All repeat coursework is counted toward attempted units and you may repeat a class no more than one time, after which you may not receive funding for that class. Workforce Development and Continuing Education (WDCE) non-credit courses are not counted. All eligible credits, including transfer credits, are considered whether or not you received financial aid at the time you earned them.
   • You may calculate your completion ratio by dividing your total earned credits by your attempted credits. If it is mathematically impossible for you to finish your program within the maximum time frame, you will become ineligible for aid (you may file an appeal to request continued funding).
3. Time Frame Component (Maximum Number of Credit Hours Attempted)
   • If you are enrolled in a CERTIFICATE or DEGREE program at TMCC you may attempt no more than 150% of credits required for the program.
   • Normally this is 90 credits for Degree Programs and 45 credits for Certificate Programs.

Failure to Meet FAAP Requirements

If you fail to meet the 67% Quantitative Component requirement but complete between 50-66% and maintain at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA, you will be given a Financial Aid Warning. The warning will allow you to maintain financial aid eligibility for the subsequent semester in order to bring yourself back into compliance with FAAP standards. Failure to meet FAAP after a warning period will result in financial aid suspension. Failure to meet the minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA requirement at any time will result in financial aid suspension. Students who have a maximum time frame issue will be granted one semester of Financial Aid Warning before suspension to allow for a transcript evaluation.

Appeals

If you have extenuating circumstances and if you will be able to meet requirements within one semester, you may appeal in writing by submitting a Financial Aid Academic Progress Appeal. Special circumstances include death of a relative, your own personal injury or illness, or other special circumstances. You must provide documentation of these circumstances. You must also indicate what has changed in your life that will allow you to meet FAAP standards by the end of the next semester. Appeals will be reviewed by the Financial Aid Academic Progress Appeals Committee. The decisions of the appeals committee are final and cannot be overruled.

If your appeal is approved you will be placed on Financial Aid Probation for one semester and will be eligible for aid. At the end of that period, you must be meeting standards. Failure to meet standards after a probationary semester will result in financial aid suspension. You may not appeal this suspension but must use your own resources to regain eligibility. If you regain eligibility but at a later date again have difficulties meeting academic progress standards, you may appeal again.

If you are appealing with a 0.00 GPA and your appeal is approved, you will only be funded for credits required to complete your degree.

If you have exceeded the maximum number of attempted credits, you will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for one semester and must file an appeal by the end of that semester. Your appeal documents must include a copy of your Academic Requirements Report. You must outline required courses and remaining credits required for graduation and submit a detailed action plan on how and when you expect to graduate from your program. If you have not met the maximum within your chosen degree program you may be approved for further funding. If your appeal is approved, you will be funded only for those credits required to complete your degree program. If your attempted credits exceed 90 and you have no degree, or if we have funded you for one degree already at TMCC, your appeal will not be considered unless you have been admitted to a program. Funding will not be approved for more than two degrees from TMCC. Any degree changes done after an appeal has been approved may result in a loss of financial aid eligibility.

If you do not have any extenuating circumstances and/or your appeal is denied, you may regain eligibility by using your own resources to attend and complete coursework until you improve your academic progress to meet the policy requirements.

Deadlines to submit Financial Aid Academic Progress appeals for each semester are as follows:

• Fall semester: November 30
• Spring semester: April 30
• Summer semester: July 14

Transfer Students

You must submit all transcripts from previous colleges to Admissions and Records. All credits attempted are included in your academic progress evaluation. This is especially important for students filing a maximum credit appeal, as applicable credits are a factor in the determination for continued funding. And since your appeal documents must include an up-to-date Academic Requirements Report, your transcripts must have been evaluated by Admissions and Records by the time your appeal is filed. You are allowed one semester, your Financial Aid Warning semester, to have this done. Be aware that you must go to Admissions and Records and request this process. A delay in doing so may result in financial aid suspension.

Terms

Financial Aid Warning – You have not met FAAP standards but will still receive funding for one semester. By the end of your warning semester you must bring yourself back into compliance with the minimum standards or you will be suspended, thus losing your funding. Back to back warning periods will result in suspension.

Financial Aid Suspension – You are not eligible to receive financial aid because you have not met the minimum standards for academic progress as defined by the Dept. of Education. In some cases you may appeal your suspension and be reinstated one time, for one semester, if approved by an appeals committee. You can also complete classes without funding and once you achieve the minimum standards for academic progress, you will regain eligibility for federal funding.

Financial Aid Probation – Your Financial Aid Academic Progress Appeal has been approved by committee and you are eligible for funding for one semester, by the end of which, you must be meeting the minimum standards for academic progress. If you do not meet the standards at this time, you will be suspended and cannot appeal a second time.

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