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 student’s progress will be reevaluated. 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.

• Students requesting aid must maintain a cumulative 2.0 GPA. This requirement includes pre-major coursework. If a student falls below the minimum cumulative GPA, they will be placed on financial aid warning for the following semester in which they must bring up their cumulative GPA to the required 2.0
• If a student fails to meet the requirements during the warning period, they will lose their financial aid until they have met the cumulative 2.0 GPA requirement. Loss of financial aid includes Title IV funding and institutional funding.

TSCT students must complete at least two-thirds (67%) of all units in which they originally enrolled 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 Office of Financial Aid to notify them of the grade change.
• Transfer credits will be counted as successful completion in the pace calculation but will 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 students fail 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%.

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 the 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.

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 Office of Financial Aid. 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 semesters 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, or WP grades. Failure to adhere to the 2.0 GPA requirement will result in denial of all future financial aid.

Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology is committed to providing students and their families with the best information and processing alternatives available regarding student borrowing.  In support of this and in an effort to rule out any perceived or actual conflict of interest between Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology officers, employees or agents, and education loan lenders, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology has adopted the following:

• Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology does not participate in any revenue-sharing arrangements with any lender.
• Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology does not permit any officer, employee or agent of the school who is employed in the financial aid office or is otherwise involved in the administration of education loans to accept any gifts of greater than a nominal value from any lender, guarantor or servicer.
• Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology does not permit any officer, employee or agent of the school who is employed in the financial aid office or is otherwise involved in the administration of education loans to accept any fee, payment or other financial benefit (including a stock purchase option) from a lender or affiliate of a lender as compensation for any type of consulting arrangement or contract to provide services to a lender or on behalf of a lender relating to education loans.
• Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology does not permit any officer, employee or agent of the school who is employed in the financial aid office or is otherwise involved in the administration of education loans to accept anything of value from a lender, guarantor, or group of lenders and/or guarantors in exchange for service on an advisory board, commission or other group established by such a lender, guarantor group of lenders and/or guarantors.  Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology does allow for the reasonable reimbursement of expenses associated with participation in such boards, commissions or groups by lenders, guarantors, or groups of lenders and/or guarantors.
• Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology does not assign a lender to any first-time borrower through financial aid packaging or any other means.
• Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology recognizes that a borrower has the right to choose any lender from which to borrow to finance his/her education.  Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology will not refuse to certify or otherwise deny or delay certification of a loan based on the borrower’s selection of a lender and/or guarantor.
• Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology will not request or accept any offer of funds to be used for private education loans to students from any lender in exchange for providing the lender with a specified number or volume of Title IV loans, or a preferred lender arrangement for Title IV loans.
• Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology will not request or accept any assistance with call center or financial aid office staffing.