Satisfactory Academic Progress

The U.S. Department of Education mandates the establishment and enforcement of a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy for all institutions participating in Federal Title IV aid programs. Federal Title IV aid programs include Pell Grant, FSEOG, Direct Student/Parent Loans, and Work Study. The regulations require the measurement of cumulative GPA, rate of progression, and maximum time frame. Student’s program changes do not prompt an immediate recalculation of SAP but are factored into the subsequent calculation after the upcoming spring semester.

All EWC students enrolled in a degree-seeking, Title IV eligible program are monitored for financial aid satisfactory academic progress (SAP) at the end of each spring semester. Students who reach or exceed the maximum time frame and/or have less than a 2.00 cumulative GPA and/or have less than a 66.6667% completion rate are no longer eligible for federal Title IV financial aid and any state or institutional awards that require SAP. Students with Title IV aid are notified via email they are not eligible for federal financial aid. The email includes information about how to regain eligibility and the appeal process.

Transfer students with transfer credits that, at a minimum, total the number of credits needed to complete their chosen degree or certificate must submit a SAP Appeal when the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is received to complete the financial aid process. This is done to ensure that the student’s credits required for the degree/certificate can be completed within the maximum time frame. Students who cannot complete within the maximum timeframe are placed on Probation with an Academic Plan for the estimated number of terms needed to complete the degree/certificate.

Both quantitative and qualitative standards are used to evaluate the cumulative results of all periods of students’ enrollment, including those semesters or payment periods during which they did not receive Title IV funds or other types of financial assistance. Thus, a student who has not previously received Title IV aid may be ineligible to do so at initial application.

The SAP standards apply to the following types of Title IV aid:

●    Federal Pell Grant (Pell)

●    Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

●    Federal Work Study (FWS)

●    Federal Direct Student Loans (Subsidized and Unsubsidized)

●    Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)

The College also administers other types of financial assistance which may include but are not limited to – scholarships (which may require a higher grade point average than the minimum in the SAP standards), VA benefits, athletic scholarships and state grants. Academic progress (and other) requirements for non-Title IV aid are described in the eligibility criteria for those forms of assistance.

EWC students are making SAP if they:

●      Maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00.

●      Complete 66.6667% of attempted credits.*

●      Do not meet or exceed 150% of the total number of credits required for their chosen degree or certificate. Students enrolled in multiple programs will be reviewed using the length of their longest program.

*Attempted credits are any credits for which the student enrolled, whether or not the student received federal financial aid. Attempted credits include withdrawn, incomplete, failed, remedial, and repeated coursework.

The completion percentage is derived by dividing the total number of earned credits by the number of attempted credits. The percentage in the policy is extended to four places so no rounding will be needed. Colleague calculates the completion percentage to four places so if a student’s completion percentage is 66.6666%, they will not be meeting the SAP standards.

Transferred credits accepted by EWC are included in both the cumulative attempted and completed credits.

The table below illustrates how graded courses are treated in the Financial Aid SAP calculation:

** When the course is either completed or the student receives an F grade due to failure to complete the coursework as required, the new grade is used to calculate SAP when calculated at the end of the spring semester. The updated letter grade is treated per the table above when SAP is recalculated.

If a student is enrolled in courses that do not count toward their degree, those courses cannot be used to determine financial aid enrollment status unless they are eligible remedial courses. These courses are included in the totals of attempted and earned credits, however.

Financial Aid Probation Status: Students who fail to reach all of the SAP standards and are therefore not in satisfactory academic standing are only eligible to receive further Title IV funding if they enroll using their own resources until they meet cumulative SAP standards or submit a SAP appeal (as below) and be approved by the SAP appeals committee or college designee.

Students who submit an appeal that is approved will be placed on probation and must take only courses required for their program of study. During a probationary semester the student must pass 100% of attempted courses in the semester with a minimum 2.00 term GPA or meet the cumulative SAP standards, in which case the student has achieved Good Standing. Students who fail to meet either conditions of the probationary semester will be suspended from further Title IV funding.

A suspended student may submit a second appeal (as below, that reflects new extenuating circumstances). If approved, a student may be reinstated Title IV aid if all other eligibility requirements are met. Students are alsorequired to meet the College’s academic standards during any probationary semester.

Students who lost eligibility or have a probation status are monitored at the end of each academic term of enrollment to determine if they are now making SAP or adhering to the terms of their probation. Students with a FAFSA on file are notified via email of their newly calculated SAP status. The student’s most recent SAP status is also viewable on the EWC Website under the tab MyEWC then Self Service and on the Financial Aid tab.

SAP Appeal Process

Students have the right to appeal their SAP status if they have mitigating or unusual circumstances they believe prevented them from maintaining or achieving SAP. Mitigating circumstances include, but are not limited to: illness, death in the family, family emergency, catastrophic incidents, divorce, births, etc. The student may submit a letter of appeal (SAP Appeal Form) and relevant supporting third-party documentation to the Financial Aid Office for review. Appeals without appropriate third-party documentation (death certificate, hospital bill, etc.) will be denied.

Appeals may be submitted:

IN PERSON: Financial Aid Office – EWC Student Services – Activities Center BY MAIL: ATTN: Financial Aid Office

3200 West C Street Torrington WY 82240

BY FAX: 307-532-8222

BY EMAIL: financialaid@ewc.wy.edu

If the appeal is denied, the student may remain enrolled by self-paying for the billed charges and can regain financial aid eligibility by meeting the SAP requirements at some point while they are still degree-seeking. The student will remain on ineligible status for future terms until the SAP requirements are met. Students with an ineligible status who are also exceeding the maximum time frame credit allowance cannot regain Title IV financial aid eligibility without an appeal.