Financial Aid Warning and Disqualification

Students who fail to meet all SAP standards will be placed on Financial Aid Warning. This is a warning to students and will not affect their financial aid. If, while on Financial Aid Warning, students fail to meet the SAP standards for the second time, they will be Disqualified. When disqualified, all aid will be cancelled. Students can exercise their right to submit a SAP appeal, stating the reason(s) why they did not meet SAP standards. The SAP appeal form is to be submitted to the Financial Aid office for review. If approved, the student’s financial aid will be reinstated and specific conditions for academic progress will be assigned. Students who choose not to appeal or who are denied will need to meet SAP standards without financial aid support to reestablish eligibility for financial aid at Cypress College. Please note that the SAP standards do not apply to the California College Promise Grant (CCPG) program (CCPG has its own requirements).

Students who are disqualified from receiving aid can regain their eligibility by meeting the SAP standards. To regain eligibility, students must complete the required 67% of the cumulative attempted units and raise their cumulative GPA to at least 2.0. Disqualified students whose appeals are approved are subject to meeting specific unit completion and GPA conditions as specified in their approval letter.

Students might not meet SAP for the following reasons:

• 150% timeframe has been exceeded (90 units attempted AA/AS, 60 units attempted Certificate)
• Below a 2.0 GPA
• Less than a 67% Pace of Progression
• BA/BS Degree completed. Not eligible for grants. May be eligible for loan with approved educational plan.

Appeals are required if the following conditions exist:

• Disqualified student has extenuating circumstances (beyond the student’s control) that prevented him/her from meeting SAP standards (documentation substantiating statements must be submitted) prior to reaching 90 units attempted.
• Student has reached 90 attempted units, but a portion of the unit total is comprised of remedial coursework which would reduce the 90 unit attempted total.
• Student has reached 90 units and has a change in major program.
• NOTE: The conditions above require a Student Educational Plan. Although an Ed Plan is not required for students on Warning or in Good standing, all students are encouraged to see a counselor and develop a Student Educational Plan within their first year at Cypress College.

Extenuating circumstances must ALWAYS be documented or the appeal will not be accepted.

Extenuating circumstances are considered to be (but not limited to):

• Serious illness, injury or medical condition requiring doctor’s care.
• Death of an immediate family member.
• Extenuating circumstances that were beyond the student’s control.

A thorough and clearly written explanation, indicating the extenuating circumstance that prevented the student from meeting SAP, must be submitted along with the supporting documents. Each appeal will be reviewed by the Financial Aid Office and approved or denied based upon the provisions set forth in our Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.

Federal regulations also limit Federal Student Aid funds to one additional attempt after a grade of “D” or better has been obtained. Therefore, students will be paid up to two attempts, maximum, for a particular course for which they previously earned a passing grade. The new policy states that a “W” would not count as an attempt but it will count towards students Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).

As of July 1, 2012, the Federal Government lowered the lifetime eligibility (LEU) for Pell Grants. The regulation applies to all students, regardless of attendance past and present. The Department of Education will notify students on their Student Aid Report (SAR) whether or not they exceed the 12 full time semesters of lifetime Pell Grant eligibility. Once the Department of Education determines a student is ineligible due to this regulation (LEU), students will not be able to appeal. This new regulation is not part of the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy (SAP) and it only affects the Federal Pell Grant.