SAP will be measured each term at George Corley Wallace State Community College. Students are required under federal regulations to maintain certain standards of progress depending on the number of hours they have attempted in college and their program of study. All students regardless of their enrollment status (full-time, half-time, part-time, etc.) are evaluated using the same measures. It is the student's responsibility to read and understand all policies associated with financial aid funding. Students should regularly check their account at “My Wallace Selma” for the latest information regarding their account. Financial Aid Status can be found under the Financial Aid Tab. After accessing the Financial Aid Tab, click Financial Status to view your SAP status of good, warnings, or suspension of financial aid. Click on the blue hyperlink of the SAP status from this page and a personalized explanation will be available to the student to explain his or her SAP status. Title IV financial assistance programs including Federal Pell Grant, Federal Work-Study (FWS), Alabama Student Assistance Program, and Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) are all affected by SAP.
Program Completion, Credit Hours, Grade-Point Averages (GPAs) and Required Pace of Completion
- Program Completion The maximum time frame allowed to complete a program of study without financial aid penalty cannot exceed 1.5 times the published length of a specific program. Students are only allowed 150% of the length of the program to complete the degree or certificate. Example: General Studies is 60 credits. Students are allowed 150% or 90 attempted credits to complete the program successfully. If the student does not complete their program in the allotted timeframe their grant will be suspended. Every program is different. Students should check the catalog or Degree Works for the number of hours required for completion of their program of study and multiply 1.5 X the number of hours needed for graduation= MAX timeframe on ATTEMPTED credit hours. Students who submit an evaluation request form for MAX timeframe all attempted hours will be used in the program of study. If the student has completed a degree or certificate at another school the attempted (transfer) hours accepted by WCCS will be used toward the program of study. If the student has graduated from a program, we can evaluate the request form to determine if any hours can be excluded from the attempted hours toward the new program of student to determine the number of hours of eligibility left in their current program.
- Required Credit Hours
The student must successfully complete a specific percentage of all classes attempted. Please review the chart below for your individual situation. For example, if a student attempts 33 credit hours, he/she must successfully complete at least 22 of the 33 hours. NOTICE: All hours attempted (including those from which the student withdrew, received incompletes, transferred in credit, and/or were paid by sources outside of financial aid) will be included in this calculation. - Required Grade Point Average (GPA)
A student enrolled in a Degree Program (AA, AS, AAS, or Standard Certificate) must achieve the following:- 1.5 GPA and 58% completion rate after attempting 0-21 credit hours.
- 1.75 GPA and 62% completion rate after attempting 22-32 credit hours.
- 2.0 GPA and 67% completion rate after attempting 33 credit hours.
- After attempting 0-13 credit hours, must earn a 1.5 GPA and complete 58% of the enrolled hours.
- After attempting 13 or more credit hours, must earn a 2.00 GPA and complete 67% of the enrolled hours.
- Financial Aid Warning
If a student fails to achieve the required cumulative GPA or does not successfully complete the required percentage of overall hours, he/she will be placed on financial aid warning. Students on warning will be allowed to receive aid and will be notified of their warning status within the MyWallaceSelma account. Warning will be lifted in the subsequent term if the student attains the required cumulative GPA and/or successfully completes the required percentage of hours at the end of the warning semester. - Financial Aid Suspension
If a student does not have the required GPA and completion rate after his/her warning semester or if the student fails to follow the Plan he/she will be suspended from federal financial aid. If placed on academic suspension, a student is NOT eligible to receive financial aid for the duration of suspension, even if he/she is readmitted to the College upon academic appeal. The student may regain eligibility for financial aid when the overall satisfactory academic progress requirements are obtained. - Appeal Process
A student who fails to meet satisfactory academic progress requirements may submit a written appeal to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee. The student may appeal that result on the basis of his injury or illness, the death of a relative, or other special circumstances. The appeal must explain why the student failed to make satisfactory progress and what has changed in the student’s situation that will allow the student to make satisfactory progress at the next evaluation. The student may file an appeal at Wallace Community College Selma by submitting a Financial Aid Appeal Form to the Financial Aid Office. The forms are available in the Financial Aid office and online. Appeals may be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid up until approximately one week prior to term of planned attendance.If an appeal is approved, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Probation or Plan. The student will be notified by phone or in writing of the Financial Aid Appeals Committee’s decision. If the appeal is denied, the student has the right to appeal the Committee’s decision to the Dean of Students in writing. The President has the final authority to accept, reject, or modify the decision of the Committee. Appeals for academic reinstatements granted by other departments do not constitute reinstatement of financial aid eligibility.
- Transfer/Re-Admit Students
All transfer and re-admit students, to the College, must meet the minimum grade-point standards indicated above in order to be eligible for financial aid. Students who do not meet these standards will be ineligible to receive Title IV funds at the College. In addition, students who transfer to Wallace are required to submit an official copy of their academic transcript(s) from all previously attended postsecondary institution(s). Initially, the transcript from the last college attended will be considered to evaluate Satisfactory Academic Progress of transfer students who apply for Federal Student Aid. After the Director of Admissions and Records completes the evaluation of these transcripts, transfer credits that apply to the student’s major at the College will be included in the hours attempted and hours earned for future Satisfactory Academic Progress evaluations. However, transfer students GPAs are not included in the Satisfactory Academic Progress evaluations. - Monitoring Progress
Academic progress will be monitored each term. - Repeating Courses
A student receiving a Federal Pell Grant may repeat courses not successfully completed; however, all hours will be included in the satisfactory academic progress calculations. Students may repeat successfully completed courses one additional time. - Developmental Courses
A student may receive financial aid for up to 30 attempted developmental credit hours. If this number is exceeded, financial aid cannot cover any additional developmental classes. If the student enrolls in the same developmental course more than three times, financial aid will not apply for any subsequent enrollment(s) in this course. Developmental courses count the in the completion rate calculation for academic progress. - Audit Courses
Audited courses are not considered credits attempted or earned and students cannot receive financial aid for these courses.
Grades:
W - Withdrawal
A grade of “W” is assigned to a student who officially withdraws or is unofficially withdrawn from the College or from a course prior to 70 percent of the term being completed. This specified date is included in the Student Calendar for each term. It is the responsibility of the student to become familiar with the dates in the Student Calendar in order to know the exact withdrawal dates. A student who is officially withdrawn or is unofficially withdrawn from the College after 70 percent of the semester has been completed will receive the grades that he/she has earned at that time of withdrawal. A grade of “W” earns zero quality points and, for financial aid purposes, is counted in hours attempted by the student. Students who withdraw from classes after receiving Title IV aid face the possibility of being placed on either Financial Aid Warning or Financial Aid Suspension. Additionally, financial aid recipients who completely withdraw are subject to the Federal Return of Title IV Funds Policy (R2T4). This Policy may require Title IV recipients who completely withdraw from all classes before completing 60% of either the semester or the term to repay a portion of any grant funds received to the Title IV Programs.
I - Incomplete
With the permission of the Dean of Instruction, a grade of Incomplete (“I”) may be assigned when a student’s work in a course is incomplete because of circumstances beyond the student’s control but is otherwise of passing quality. An Incomplete (“I”) grade does not count toward course work completed and is not counted as course work attempted. Therefore, the Incomplete (“I”) grade does not negatively impact the incremental measurement of progress. Although the Incomplete (“I”) grade is NOT counted in hours earned or attempted, the grade that replaces the “I” is counted in both hours earned and attempted, once the “I” is removed. An “I” grade is intended to be only an interim course grade. Unless the deficiency is made up within the following semester, the “I” automatically becomes an “F” when grades are processed at the end of the next semester. At the time that final grades are entered each semester, an Incomplete Grade Contract form must be signed by the student, instructor, division chair and the Dean of Instruction and submitted to the Office of Admissions and Records.
Students' Rights and Responsibilities
Students have the responsibility of knowing the requirements for applying for financial aid, college refund and repayment policies, procedures relative to guidelines affecting a financial aid award, and procedures relative to disbursement of financial aid. Students also have the right to obtain information about financial assistance programs available at the College. Please email the financial aid office at finaid@wccs.edu if you have any questions.