<p>I attended school approximately 15 years ago and received a grant but was actually was unable to attend due to doing poorly my first year. I was suspended then due to not attending classes then attended a community college where I did very well. I went back to the original school and received a grant but due to that first year, I could not bring my GPA up enough to stay even though I achieved A's and B's after receiving my associate's degree. How will this affect my receiving federal grants to go back to school now?</p>
<p>Schools have a policy called SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress) that you have to meet to be eligible for federal aid (that is any federal aid, including loans). SAP will vary by school but usually includes requirements that you:
1.Not exceed a maximum number of hours to complete the degree program. At my kids school’s this has been 150% of hours required for a degree, so if the hours required are 120 the max hours would be 180 hours.<br>
2. have a minimum a cumulative Graduation/Retention GPA. At my kid’s school the minimum cumulative GPA is a 2.0.
3.Successfully complete a certain % of total cumulative hours attempted. (This includes all courses attempted at any college or university.) At my daughter’s school the % is 75%. So if someone had attempted 100 credit hours they would have had to complete and pass 75 of them (will vary by school).</p>
<p>If your academic record means you do not meet the SAP at your chosen school then you may be denied federal aid. There is usually an appeals process where you can write a letter explaining why your record is poor and what/why you will do better this time round. This goes before an appeals board at your school and they decide whether to grant an appeal or not.</p>
<p>The main federal grant is the Pell and it requires a low income. For 2010-2011 the pell requires an EFC of 5273 or below. With an EFC of 0 the max Pell is $5,550 and this reduces inversely (roughly) as the EFC increases until at EFC 5274 there is no Pell eligibility.</p>
<p>Swimcats…a question…there are students who flunk out of college for one reason or another. Your description of the fulfilment of SAP would imply that NONE of these students would be eligible for federally funded need based aid. Is that really true? </p>
<p>If a student flunks out of school, then works for a couple of years, then reenrolls in college, maybe a community college, would that student’s past (old) academic record really affect the ability to get something like a Stafford loan? </p>
<p>I realize SAP is important and that the federal programs are not in the business of supporting students who are not passing the courses (a waste of money). BUT what would encourage students who need aid to try again…and perhaps do quite well?</p>
<p>That’s what the appeals process is for I guess.</p>
<p>My son had dropped out about half way through his 2nd year. Went back for a semester a couple of years later and ended up dropping the whole semester. At this point he had never applied for financial aid because back then we did not think we would qualify. Went he back again a while later our financial situation had changed drastically and he did apply for aid. He actually did meet the GPA/% of classes passed successfully/max credit hours SAP requirements but he was denied because of the semester where he dropped all his classes. He appealed and was given aid but they were very clear that he had to meet all requirements that semester or he would have lost it the next and would not have been able to appeal again.</p>
<p>It didn’t apply to him but I know his school has some sort of academic renewal program where a student can drop a semester of grades if the classes were taken over 5 years ago. I don’t know how common that is and if it affects SAP.</p>