SAP AppealS

Sometimes, circumstances beyond your control can affect your ability to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements. If you are placed on Financial Aid Suspension, you may be able to submit a SAP appeal.

CCC accepts SAP appeals for reasons such as:

• Significant illness or injury
• Death of an immediate family member
• Completed SAP requirements
• Review of remedial coursework
• High school coursework
• Dropping all courses during the 100% refund period

Other serious or unexpected circumstances may also affect your ability to succeed in your classes. Examples may include:

• A natural disaster or emergency that affects you or your family
• Military deployment or activation of you, your spouse, or your parent
• Divorce, separation, or another major family change
• A serious family emergency or caregiving responsibility
• Loss of housing or another sudden housing emergency
• Other unexpected events that significantly disrupt your ability to attend or complete your classes

The circumstance must have affected your ability to meet SAP requirements. Your appeal should explain what happened, how it affected you, and what has changed so you can be successful moving forward.

Complete the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal Form for your reason for appealing.

You will need to:

• Explain what happened and how it affected your academic progress.
• Include the dates or timeline of the circumstances when possible.
• Explain how the situation has been resolved or what has changed.
• Submit the documents required to support your appeal.

Review the appeal form carefully. The documents you need will depend on your reason for appealing.

Yes. You may appeal a Financial Aid Suspension within two years, or 730 days, of the original suspension decision. After two years, you can no longer appeal that suspension unless your reason for appealing is that you have completed the requirements needed to regain eligibility.

CCC reviews SAP appeals within 10 business days after receiving them. The decision will be sent to your CCC student email. Submitting an appeal does not guarantee that it will be approved or that your financial aid will be restored.  Approval of an appeal does not remove any outstanding charges you owe CCC.

If your appeal is denied, you may request a second review in writing from the Financial Aid Director.The Financial Aid Director may review your appeal or assign it to a different member of the Financial Aid Office team. The decision from the second review is final. Before requesting a second review, contact the Financial Aid Office to understand why your first appeal was denied.

If the second review is denied, no further appeals will be accepted and you will have to pay out-of-pocket until the cumalative requirements below are met.

• Maintain a 2.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA). 
• Complete and pass a minimum of 67% of ALL the credit hours attempted. 
• Complete degree or certificate requirements within 150% of the minimum number of hours required to graduate. 

If the appeal is approved, financial aid may be reinstated with a probation status. Probation status means you can still receive financial aid, but you are still at risk of losing aid if you do not meet requirements below each semester.

• Maintain a 2.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA). 
• Complete and pass a minimum of 67% of ALL the credit hours attempted. 
• Complete degree or certificate requirements within 150% of the minimum number of hours required to graduate. 

If you do not meet the requirements during a probationary semester, you will be placed back on financial aid suspension and lose financial aid eligibility at CCC the following semester.

 The goal of probation status is to give you the chance to still receive aid while still making progress toward meeting SAP status. The main difference between probation and meeting SAP status is the cumulative requirement. While you are on probation, you must meet the requirements listed in your academic plan each semester. However, you will remain on probation until your cumulative (overall) GPA and cumulative Pace of Progression meet the college’s SAP requirements.

In other words, you may be doing well enough in your current semester to follow your Academic Plan, even if your overall academic record does not yet meet SAP.

For example, a student’s Academic Plan requires them to complete all of their classes (no withdrawing) and earn at least a 2.0 GPA each semester. They follow the plan, but their overall GPA is still below the college’s SAP requirement because of failed grades from earlier semesters.

The student stays on Probation Status, but they can continue receiving financial aid because they are meeting the requirements of their academic plan. They keep working hard, and they gradually meet all SAP requirements again. When they have met the requirements they return to Good Standing.

You are responsible for contacting your instructors about missed coursework or absences whenever possible.

Your appeal should show that you made a good faith effort to work with your instructors and complete your courses. If your circumstances prevented you from contacting your instructors or completing your coursework, explain that in your appeal.

Not showing a good faith effort to work with your instructors may affect the outcome of your appeal.