A student may appeal the Financial Aid ineligible decision if he/she has a reason for not making satisfactory progress and if he/she can document that the circumstances that caused the unsatisfactory academic progress determination have in some way changed and that satisfactory academic progress standard can be met by the end of the next evaluation period. A student has five (5) calendar days from the date of notification that they are not meeting the second consecutive satisfactory progress determination to appeal the unsatisfactory academic progress determination. The student must submit a written appeal to the school’s future professional advisor on the designated school’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal Form describing why they failed to meet satisfactory academic progress standards, along with supporting documentation of the reason why the determination should be reversed. This information should include what has changed about the student’s situation that will allow them to achieve satisfactory academic progress by the next evaluation point.
The reasons for which a student may appeal a negative progress determination include death of a relative, an injury or illness of the student, a student’s disability, or any other allowable special or mitigating circumstances.
The Appeal documents will be reviewed and a decision will be made and reported to the student within 30 calendar days. The appeal and decision documents will be retained in the student’s file. If the student prevails upon appeal, the satisfactory academic progress determination will be reversed and federal financial aid will be reinstated.
This policy applies to all students regardless of whether they are eligible for Title IV funding programs. To comply with USDE requirements the terminology financial aid warning or financial aid probation will be used for both Title IV and non-Title IV students.
If a future professional’s appeal is denied, the future professional will lose their eligibility for Title IV programs, if applicable, but they will be able to complete the program on a cash pay basis, regardless of their Satisfactory Academic Progress. The school must maintain the documentation for the future professional’s appeal in the future professional’s financial file. The school must also maintain documentation as to why the appeal was denied.