Financial Aid: Standards of Academic Progress

DACC is required by federal regulation to establish and monitor minimum standards for academic progress. Students must maintain satisfactory academic progress (SAP) in their course of study to be eligible for financial aid.

SAP is reviewed at the end of each enrollment period. The DACC financial aid office monitors SAP for every student even if they are not receiving financial aid. Any student who fails to meet SAP requirements may lose eligibility for Title IV funds.

SAP is calculated using a student’s current program. SAP calculations do not account for changes in major, degree, or certificate. This means that a student’s SAP status can be affected by a change in course of study. If a student repeats a course, both the initial and repeated courses are included in SAP calculations.

The following criteria have been established as the minimum standards for SAP at DACC:

Minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA)

Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 (C letter grade) or higher on a 4.0 scale. Withdrawn courses do not have an impact on a student’s GPA, and incomplete grades do not affect a student’s GPA until the instructor has entered the final grade.

Minimum Pace

Students must complete a minimum of 67% of all courses attempted. Pace is calculated using all of the courses a student has taken while at DACC.

Completed credit hours include only the courses that a student passed. Passing grades include A, B, C, D, and S.

Attempted credit hours include any courses the student was enrolled in after the refund period is over (students with IVG or ING ONLY are exempt from this component).

This includes courses determined:

• Pass
• Failure
• Withdrawal
• Unsatisfactory
• Incomplete

Example of pace calculation:

Maximum Time Frame

Students who exceed 150% completion of the published program time frame for all cumulative credit hours attempted will lose eligibility for financial aid.

Students who have attended other post-secondary institutions are required to have an official grade transcript from these schools on file in the DACC Records office. Transfer credit that is evaluated to apply towards their program of study at DACC will be included in the total credit hours attempted and earned as part of the quantitative measure (the Pace) of maximum time frame allowance.

Remedial coursework credit hours attempted will be counted as part of the program of study timeframe. Students who require remedial coursework are limited to a maximum of thirty (30) credit hours of attempted remedial coursework.

Full Withdrawal and/or Failing Grades

Students who have withdrawn from or failed all of their courses in a semester may lose their financial aid eligibility.

Students who do not maintain SAP will be contracted by email at the end of the term. Students can check their SAP status and monitor their academic progress on Self-Service.

Financial Aid Warning

The first time a student would be placed on a financial aid suspension, they will be placed on a financial aid warning. If a student is placed on a financial aid warning, they will still be eligible to receive financial aid for one more term without appealing the circumstances.

The student’s SAP status will be restored at the end of the enrollment period if they meet the minimum standards.

Financial Aid Suspension

If a student has been on a financial aid warning and still has not met the minimum standards at the end of the term, their financial aid eligibility will be suspended.

Students on financial aid suspension can continue to take DACC courses at their own expense until their SAP status has been restored or they have an approved written appeal on file.

Written Appeal

If the student feels there were circumstances beyond their control that affected their academic performance, they may appeal the SAP Suspension. An appeal is a written statement from the student with supporting documentation explaining your circumstances and your plans to be successful in future semesters.

Appeal forms can be completed online here. Students who do not meet the maximum time frame standard are required to request a Degree Audit to be submitted with their appeal form. Degree audits are completed by your academic advisor for your current plan study.

Other support documentation could include:

• A physician who can document that an illness or accident prevented the student from completing their studies and that the student is now able to successfully resume their studies.
• A physician/clergy/counselor who can verify that the death or life-threatening illness of an immediate family member prevented the student from completing their course work and the family circumstance is no longer applicable.
• An academic advisor/counselor or an employer, childcare provider, etc. who knows about circumstances beyond the student’s control that prevented the completion of course work and these circumstances have been resolved

A committee will meet to review written appeals before the start of each term. Students will be notified of the committee’s decision via email. The appeal committee’s decision is final.

If the student’s appeal is approved, they will be required to sign a SAP acceptance letter before financial aid can be disbursed to the student. This letter will state the conditions of the appeal. The student will again lose their SAP status if they do not meet the conditions of their appeal.

If the student’s appeal is denied, the student will remain ineligible for financial aid and will be responsible for any balance owed to the college.

The deadline to appeal your SAP status is one weeks before the start of the term.