Colleges of the DCCCD are required by law to formulate standards to gauge the progress of students receiving financial assistance through federal, state, or institutional student aid programs by applying both qualitative and quantitative measurements to academic work. [34 CFR 668.16(e)] To comply with applicable laws and accreditation standards, the DCCCD has developed a policy describing Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for both applicants and recipients of student financial aid. The following SAP policy measurements are effective with the start of the Fall 2007 semester. These measurements shall be used to determine student eligibility for all need-based and Federal Title IV financial assistance, unless the terms of a particular grant or funding source state otherwise. All students returning to the DCCCD after a lapse in enrollment of one semester or longer will be re-evaluated under the current SAP policy.

(Note: Some non-federal student aid programs (i.e., state and private foundations) have specific SAP requirements unique to the individual program. In those instances, the program requirements will supersede the general SAP policy stated here. It is the student's responsibility to understand the requirements of each financial aid program from which aid is received.)

Quantitative Progress

A student may apply for, and if eligible, receive financial aid for attempted credit hours that do not exceed 150% of the minimum number of hours required to complete the student's declared program of study. All hours attempted toward the completion of a program of study will be counted in the maximum number of allowed hours regardless of whether financial aid was received. Credit hours transferred to the DCCCD are counted when calculating the 150% maximum. To receive aid for an educational program within the maximum hours allowed, transfer students must select an eligible program of study and must submit official transcripts of all previous college course work. When SAP is calculated, students who have attempted 150% of the allowed number of credit hours, or for whom it would be mathematically impossible to complete a program of study within the 150% maximum, will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension regardless of their CGPA, and regardless of whether or not financial aid was received during previous semesters. Previous hours attempted by a student whose DCCCD academic transcript has been cleared for a "Fresh Start" will continue to count toward the student's 150% maximum limit.

1) For a student completing an associate's degree program that requires 66 hours, the student must complete the degree within 99 attempted hours. The student will lose eligibility for additional financial aid to complete the program after 99 attempted hours.

2) For a student completing a certificate program that requires 30 hours, the student must complete the certificate within 45 attempted hours. The student will lose eligibility for additional financial aid to complete the program after 45 attempted hours.

Financial aid recipients are expected to complete a program of study in the scheduled amount of time. A student's progress may be evaluated for only one program at a time. Each financial aid applicant must select a Primary Program of Study on eConnect prior to receiving financial aid payments. A student who is concurrently completing more than one program or major, or who is returning to complete a second degree, may request additional time to complete the program. A request for additional time must be submitted in writing to the Financial Aid Office prior to the student's final semester in the program. Students may not be allowed financial aid funding for multiple changes of programs for the purpose of extending financial aid eligibility.

At the end of each spring semester, students must also have completed a minimum percentage of credit hours from all hours attempted during the previous fall and spring semesters. Students who do not complete the minimum percentage of credit hours required during the award year will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension. Grades of "W", "WX", "F" and "I" will be counted as hours attempted, but will not be counted as hours completed. Students enrolled for at least half time status (6 or more hours) must complete at least 67% of attempted hours. Students enrolled less than half time must complete 100% of attempted hours. Repeated course enrollments will be counted in the completion rate and against the overall maximum time limit required to complete the program of study. Repeated course enrollments will be calculated in the Cumulative GPA according to the DCCCD academic grading policy.

The table below indicates the minimum number of hours that must be successfully completed before the end of the spring semester each year for the applicable enrollment level. You must complete no fewer than the corresponding number of hours listed in the right column with a grade of "A", "B", "C", "D", or "E" in order to meet this requirement for continuing your financial aid eligibility.

Requirements for Hours Completed
Hours Attempted	Hours Required to Complete with a Passing Grade
24	17
23	16
22	15
21	15
20	14
19	13
18	13
17	12
16	11
15	11
14	10
13	9
12	9
11	8
10	7
9	7
8	6
7	5
6	5
1-5	Must complete all

SAP Treatment of Developmental Course Work

An otherwise eligible student may receive financial aid for a maximum of 30 attempted credit hours in developmental/remedial course work. Once the 30 credit hour maximum is reached, additional developmental credit hours will not be used to calculate the award amount. Students taking ESOL classes, which are counted as developmental hours, may appeal to the Financial Aid Office to exclude ESOL classes from the 30-hour maximum if additional ESOL classes are necessary after 30-hour maximum has been reached. Developmental hours are not included in the calculation of the overall maximum time frame to complete the student's academic program or in the CGPA calculation. However, developmental and ESOL attempts and grades are used in the completion rate calculation.

SAP Treatment of Summer Enrollment

When calculating the SAP status, summer hours attempted will be counted toward the 150% credit hour maximum and summer grade points earned will be calculated as part of the cumulative grade point average. The rule pertaining to completion of a minimum number of attempted credit hours will not be calculated for summer enrollment.

Qualitative Progress

A Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 2.00 or higher must be attained by the end of the student's first spring semester or midpoint of the program, whichever comes first. This average must be maintained at the end of each subsequent spring semester for a student to continue to receive financial aid. Students who do not meet this minimum CGPA requirement will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension.

NOTE: According to DCCCD academic grading policy only the latest grade for a repeated course is calculated into the CGPA. More detailed information on how the CGPA is calculated and the effect of withdrawals, incompletes, and grade changes can be found in the Grades and Transcripts section of the catalog.

Reinstatement Procedures

The college will review academic records at the end of the spring semester each year and determine each student's compliance with SAP. A student who fails to meet the SAP will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension for at least one award year. During the period of suspension, the student will not be eligible to receive financial aid. To regain financial aid eligibility, a student must pay the expenses related to at least half-time enrollment (6 or more hours in a semester) during the period of suspension and satisfy all SAP requirements. After meeting all SAP requirements, the student must request reinstatement of eligibility in writing to the Financial Aid Office.

Appeals Procedures

The DCCCD recognizes that students sometimes encounter circumstances beyond their control that can adversely affect their academic progress. Any student subject to suspension of financial aid eligibility may appeal to the Financial Aid Office at http://www.dcccd.edu/Current+Students/Paying+for+College/Financial+Aid/Financial+Aid+Offices.htm for a review of the decision. The appeal must be made to the director at the college where the student is planning to enroll. The appeal must be typed and must include an explanation and documentation of the reason(s) why the minimum academic standards required by this policy were not achieved, and that the adversity has been resolved. All appeals must be attached to an Appeal of Financial Aid Suspension form that can be obtained from the Financial Aid Office or online at http://www.dcccd.edu/FA/RequestToLiftFASuspension.2007_08.pdf. The Financial Aid Officer will review the appeal and the student will be notified by the Financial Aid Office, in writing, within five working days after the appeal decision is made. All documents pertinent to the appeals process become part of the student's financial aid record. If the petition is denied, the student has the right to request that the appeal decision be reconsidered by the college administrator to whom the financial aid office reports. The decision of the supervising administrator is final. The administrator shall also have the authority to place conditions upon the receipt of any financial aid for those cases in which aid is reinstated.

Mountain View College
4849 W. Illinois Avenue
Dallas, TX 75211
Tel: 214-860-8680