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Posted or edited: 05.07.09 ... PJC Information Services
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Revised Jan 1,2008

Paris Junior College requires students who receive financial aid to maintain the following standards of satisfactory academic progress (SAP). These measurements shall be used to determine your eligibility for all federal Title IV aid and for other need- based financial assistance, unless the terms of a particular grant or funding source state otherwise.

Qualitative Progress Measurement: Minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average

To continue receiving financial aid payments, you are expected to successfully complete all your classes with good grades. You must have at least a 2.00 cumulative GPA (Grade of C average) at the end of the spring semester each year, or you will be placed on financial aid (FA) suspension at the start of the following fall semester. See the section on FA suspension below for more information on how FA suspension may affect your ability to receive aid.

Quantitative Progress Measurement No. 1: Number of Credit Hours Required to Complete

When you enroll in classes and receive financial aid to pay for them, you are expected to complete those classes. If you do not complete at least 67 percent of the credit hours that you started during the year (Fall and Spring), you will be placed on FA suspension at the start of the following fall semester. Only passing grades count as successful completions. Incomplete or other grades that do not result in earned credits will not count as completions.

To use the chart below, add the hours for which you enrolled in the fall and spring semesters. You must complete, at a minimum, the corresponding number of hours listed in the right column with a grade of A, B, C or D in order to meet this requirement for continuing your financial aid eligibility.

Quantitative Progress Measurement No. 2: Maximum Time to Complete a Degree/Program

When you receive financial aid to help pay for a program of study, you are expected to complete that program without wasting a lot of money and time. You must select a program of study before you can receive financial aid.

To make sure that you complete your program in a reasonable amount of time, a limit set by law has been placed on the number of hours that you can attempt in order to complete your program. That limit is 150 percent of the minimum number of hours required to complete your program. Paris Junior College will allow funding for 150 percent of 67 hours (average number of hours required for a degree) or 100 hours. With an exception made for the Registered Nursing program after a student is accepted to the program and that maximum will be 168 hours. Once you reach the 150 percent limit, you will no longer be able to receive additional financial aid payments.

There are a lot of variables that go into calculating that limit, including, but not limited to:

• All attempted credit hours are counted regardless of whether or not you received aid to pay for them.
• Any transfer hours that are accepted from other colleges toward completion of your program are counted. If you are a transfer student, you must submit transcripts from all previous colleges before the end of your first semester or second semester aid will be canceled.
• If you repeat a course, both attempts are counted.
• If you withdraw from a course, it is still counted as an attempt.

Note: If you cannot complete your program within the 150 percent limit, you will be placed on financial aid suspension when that determination is calculated.

Financial Aid Suspension

If you fail to meet any one of the SAP measurements described above, you will be placed on financial aid suspension for at least one award year. (Once you exceed the 150 percent limit, you cannot regain satisfactory progress. However, in extreme circumstances you may appeal to extend your eligibility to complete a program.) During the period of suspension, you will not be eligible to receive financial aid.

To regain financial aid eligibility, you must pay the expenses related to at least half-time enrollment (six hours at a time) and satisfy all SAP requirements. After meeting all SAP requirements, you must request reinstatement of eligibility in writing to the Financial Aid Office by completing a reinstatement form for evaluation.

Appeal Process

If you are placed on financial aid suspension, you may petition the Financial Aid Office (FAO) to consider mitigating (special) circumstances that resulted in your inability to meet the SAP requirements. The Appeal Form must be completed and must include supporting documentation regarding the circumstances (i.e., medical statements, divorce documents, letters of unemployment, etc.).

You will be notified by the FAO within five days after a decision has been made regarding the appeal. If the FAO denies the petition, you may follow the same written procedure to appeal to the college Financial aid Committee for review.

WARNING: Repayment of Federal Funds

If you receive federal financial aid and withdraw from all courses at or before the time when 60 percent of the term is completed, you will be required to repay a portion of the federal aid received.

If you receive a grade of F in all courses for a semester, you will be required to repay a portion of financial aid received unless an instructor documents that you participated in at least one class through the 60 percent point of the term.

Financial aid will not pay for:

• Any credit hours in excess of the 150 percent maximum program limit (see discussion of Quantitative Measurement No. 2 above)
• Credit hours earned by placement tests
• Courses you register for after the official certification date of the semester
• Courses taken by transfer (transient) students attending for summer only

In accordance with federal regulations, a school must verify that a loan recipient is meeting SAP each time funds are released to the student. If you have been awarded money under the FFELP, all or part of your loan will be canceled if you are not meeting SAP at the time loan funds are available for disbursement (distribution).

You then will not be considered for future loans until the SAP requirements have been met. Other restrictions related to your college’s default management plan may limit how much you may borrow and when you will receive your loan payments.

Summer Enrollment and the SAP

When calculating the SAP status, summer hours attempted will be counted toward the 150 percent 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.

NOTICE TO APPLICANTS

Student Financial Assistance Programs Disclosure of Social Security Account Number Section 7(a) of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5U.S.C.552a) requires that when any federal, state, or local government agency requests an individual to disclose his or her Social Security Account number, that individual must also be advised whether that disclosure is mandatory or voluntary, by what statutory or other authority the number is solicited, and what use will be made of it.

Accordingly, applicants are advised that disclosure of the applicant’s Social Security Account number (SSAN) is required as a condition for participation in student financial assistance programs sponsored by the federal government, state of Texas, or the local government, in view of the practical administrative difficulties that would be encountered in maintaining adequate program records without the continued use of the SSAN.

The SSAN will be used to verify the identity of the applicant and as an account number (identifier) throughout the life of the loan or other type of assistance in order to report necessary data accurately. As an identifier, the SSAN is used in such program activities as determining program eligibility, certifying school attendance and student status, determining eligibility for deferment or repayment of student loans, and for tracing and collecting in cases of defaulted loans.

Authority for requiring the disclosure of an applicant’s SSAN is grounded on Section 7(a)(2) of the Privacy Act, which provides that an agency may continue to require disclosure of an individual’s SSAN as a condition for the granting of a right, benefit, or privilege provided by law where the agency required this disclosure under statute or regulation prior to Jan. 1, 1975, in order to verify the identity of an individual.

The state of Texas has for several years consistently required the disclosure of the SSAN on application forms and other necessary program documents use pursuant to statutes passed by the Texas Legislature and regulations adopted by the Coordinating Board, Texas College and University System. October 12, 2007.