Academic Progress

Students attending Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology who wish to receive financial aid, in addition to meeting other eligibility criteria, must be in good academic standing and making satisfactory academic progress (SAP) in their degree or certificate program.

This policy is cumulative and includes all students and all periods of enrollment, whether or not aid was received for that period. SAP will be reviewed at the end of each term or semester once grades are posted. If a grade change should occur after this process, the students' progress will be revaluated. Students who fail to make progress will first be placed on a Financial Aid Warning for SAP.

Students who fail to make progress on a semester they are on warning will become ineligible for financial aid until they have met the SAP requirements. Future financial aid disbursements will be on hold until SAP requirements are satisfied. Students may appeal being ineligible for failure to meet SAP requirements. If an appeal is granted, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Probation for SAP. Any student who fails to meet the requirements of SAP while on probation will become ineligible for financial aid until they have met all SAP requirements. This cannot be appealed.

A. Quality of Progress - "Good Academic Standing"

B.  Quantity of Progress - "Pace of Unit Completion"

TSCT students must complete at least two-thirds (67%) of all units in which they originally enroll from the time of first attendance in their program. Thus, a first-term TSCT student who originally enrolls in 9 units, withdraws from 3 units, and successfully completes the remaining 6 units, would be meeting the quantitative measure requirement since the student did pass at least two-thirds (67%) of the units in which he or she originally enrolled.  

Students requesting aid must make progress toward a degree as follows:

Full-time: 12 units per term and/or 24 units per year (complete average of 8 per term)

Three Quarters-time: 9 units per term and/or 18 units per year (complete average of 6 per term)

Half-time: 6 units per term and/or 12 units per year (complete average of 4 per term)

• The following grades are considered to demonstrate satisfactory course completion: A, B, C, D, T, and P. These grades do not demonstrate successful course completion: F, I, W, WF, and WP.
• Incomplete grades will not count toward your completion rate (pace) in the term in which they are received but will be evaluated once successful completion of the course. Students should contact the Financial Aid Office to notify them of the grade change.
• Transfer credits will be counted as successful completion in the pace calculation but do not count in the GPA calculation.
• Repeat courses will count as attempted each time they are part of an enrollment. They will count as completed the first time a satisfactory grade is earned for that course.  
• If a student fails to meet the requirements during the warning period they will lose their financial aid until they have met the requirements. Loss of financial aid includes Title IV funding and institutional funding.
• If a student falls below the cumulative minimum 67%, they will be placed on financial aid warning, such students will be given the following term (semester) in which to raise their cumulative completion rate above the required 67%.

C.  Quantity of Progress - "Maximum Time Frame"

Students must finish their academic program within 150% of the published length of the program. At the point in which the school determines that a student cannot complete their program within 150% timeframe their aid will be suspended and the student will be given the opportunity to appeal. For example, a student in a 61 credit hour Associates program full-time, should be able to earn the degree in three years taking no more than 92 credits.

• All college level credits will be included in the 150% calculation regardless if a change of major occurred or a second degree is being pursued.

D. Appeals

All students have the right to appeal. Appeal forms are sent to students along with the notification of suspension. Forms should be submitted with a letter and all supporting documentation to the Financial Aid Office. The SAP Committee will review cases on an individual basis to determine if extenuating circumstances are responsible for poor progress. Extenuating circumstances may include but are not limited to:

• Illness or injury of the student
• Death of a close family member

All circumstances must be documented. Students will be informed in writing of the appeal outcome. If a maximum timeframe appeal is granted, students will be given an academic plan. The academic plan will outline what the student must do to maintain SAP eligible. Failure to adhere to the academic plan will result in the student becoming ineligible for financial aid in future semester until SAP is met. In the case of an approval students must have a semester GPA of 2.0 and not receive any W, F, I, WF, WP grades. Failure to adhere to the 2.0 GPA requirement will result in denial of all future financial aid.