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Financial Aid Appeals
SAP appeals
Students who have lost eligibility due to unsatisfactory academic progress may file an appeal. If their appeal is approved, students will be placed on probation status and they can continue to receive financial aid if they meet the terms of their plan.
SAP Appeal forms are available on our forms page.
Appeals require three elements:
- A comprehensive student education plan (SEP) in DegreeWorks for the same major/program of study that you have declared with the Admissions and Records Office.
- A signed statement of at least one full paragraph that includes detailed answers to these questions:
- What circumstances beyond your control have prevented you from meeting the SAP standards?
- How has the situation changed or been resolved so that you can succeed now?
- What is your plan for success going forward?
- If you have exceeded the maximum time allowed for your educational goal, how will you reach your educational goal in a timely fashion?
- Submission of the SAP appeal form (available on our forms page.)
Appeal decisions
All appeal decisions are final and incontestable.
If your appeal is denied, we will contact you with the reasons that it was denied.
If your appeal is approved, you will be placed on probation status. While on probation status, you can continue to receive financial aid as long as you complete each term with at least a 2.0 GPA for the term’s work and complete 67% or more of the units you attempt. Your progress will be evaluated once final grades are available for the term.
When placing you on probation status, we will use your SEP to calculate the number of terms left in your program of study, and your probation status will not be extended into a term that was not on your SEP.
If you change your major or update your SEP, you must file a new SAP appeal so that the financial aid office can calculate your remaining number of terms correctly.
Reestablishing eligibility
Students who are on a disqualified or probation status can reestablish their eligibility for federal financial aid by achieving the SAP standards for any Title IV recipient at Solano:
- Cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better
- Cumulative pace of 67% or better
- Total number of units is less than 150% of the published length of the program (i.e. less than 90 units for an associate degree program)
All appeal decisions are final and incontestable.
Appeal Dates and Deadlines
- Please see our Important Dates and Calendar
Appeal for Failure to Meet GPA/PACE Standards
- A student who has lost eligibility due to failure to make SAP may file an appeal, known as a SAP APPEAL. An appeal will be reviewed only for documented “extenuating circumstances” beyond the student’s control. Appeals not meeting the “extenuating circumstances” category will not be accepted. Submission of an appeal does NOT GUARANTEE the reinstatement of financial aid. Therefore, students should be prepared to pay for their books and other school-related expenses pending the outcome of their appeal. If an appeal is approved, the student will receive financial aid for the semester at the soonest payment date following approval.
- Students placed on “Ineligibility” may file an appeal for consideration of reinstatement of financial aid eligibility. The Financial Aid Appeal Form and submission deadline dates can be found on the Financial Aid Appeal webpage at http://solano.edu/financial_aid/appeals.php. The following are examples of reasons a student may file an appeal:
Circumstance Suggested Documentation Serious physical or emotional illness of student or immediate family member Attach medical documentation confirming onset and duration of illness or condition Death in the family Attached copy of obituary, funeral notice, or Death Certificate Accident or injury to student or immediate family member Attach medical and/or other documentation verifying the date and duration of the occurrence Disasters affecting student’s attendance Attach documentation of insurance claims or other 3rd party information verifying location and date and nature of disaster Loss or change of employment Attach letter from the employer verifying the circumstances and dates of loss or change in employment Student made significant improvement during Warning semester even though cumulative criteria do not meet SAP standards yet (e.g. enrolled at least 6 units, completed all units attempted with 2.0 or higher semester GPA, but Standards (GPA and Quantitative Pace) have not been met) Attach copy of course and grades for preceding semester. These will be verified by the Financial Aid Office Change in academic major, or Exceeded Timeframe Detailed explanation disclosing reasons for change in major and reasons for exceeding the posted unit limitation. Extenuating circumstances that were beyond the student’s control Any documents that would help verify student’s circumstances. Should include date and duration. - The following are NOT considered for appeal: Incarceration, circumstances such as wrong or difficult classes, too many units in the term, poor time management, instructor’s teaching style, transportation problems, not having the assigned books or course, taking online classes and not having a computer and/or online access, personal problems not requiring professional intervention, being unaware of academic progress policies or other college requirements, not following placement test and/or Academic Counselor’s recommendations, or child care problems.
Appeal for Exceeding Timeframe
- Students who have a Bachelor’s Degree and those students who have already received 6 or more full-time equivalent years of Federal Pell Grant aid are not eligible for further Federal Pell Grant aid. These students may only be eligible for fee waivers, Federal Work Study, and Federal Student Loans. They must have an approved appeal on file to receive Federal Student Loans and Federal Work Study. Please see the Financial Aid website for more details: http://solano.edu/financial_aid/.
- Students who meet these criteria may submit a Financial Aid Appeal Form, printable from Financial Aid Forms at http://solano.edu/financial_aid/appeals.php.
- In order to maintain financial aid eligibility, if a Timeframe Appeal is approved, the student may only take courses listed on the approved student educational plan submitted with the appeal form and may not amend the appeal or submit a later appeal. The appeal will be considered invalidated if the student does not meet GPA and PACE requirements.
Students Who do not Make SAP While on Financial Aid Probation or Academic Plan Appeal
- Students are no longer eligible to receive further financial aid, including loans, and will be unaided until or unless they are able to reestablish eligibility. Reinstatement of eligibility requires achieving SAP standards:
- enroll in at least 6.0 units for a semester, and
- complete 67% of units attempted for the semester, and
- achieve a semester GPA of 2.0 or better,
- achieve a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better, and
- achieve a minimum 67% PACE of all cumulative units attempted