Satisfactory Academic Progress

Federal regulations require the College to establish policies--Standards of Satisfactory Progress--to measure whether students applying for financial aid are in good academic standing and making satisfactory academic progress toward completion of their diploma or degree programs. A student must maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 to receive financial aid and maintain a 66.66% completion rate.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

A student is required to maintain satisfactory academic progress to remain eligible for financial aid. Augusta Technical College uses the following standards to monitor a student’s progress toward his or her diploma, certificate, or degree program.

Guidelines for Academic Progress

The academic year at Augusta Technical College consists of Fall, Spring, and Summer enrollment periods. The academic year begins with Fall and ends with Summer. The measurement of academic progress is made at the end of each enrollment period and the status is effective during next enrollment period.
Students enrolling at Augusta Technical College for the first time (including transfers) are considered initially to be meeting SAP. The measurement of academic progress will be made at the conclusion of the first enrollment term and will include all acceptable transfer credit that the Augusta academic record contains.
Students who have been academically suspended from Augusta Technical College and who are readmitted are not eligible for financial aid unless meeting the SAP standards. Students who are readmitted may follow the appeal policy if consideration for financial aid is desired.

Satisfactory progress is measured in terms of three components:

Maximum Timeframe; Length of time to complete the program (150%)
A quantitative component (Pace of Progression, 2/3 or 66.66%)
A qualitative component (2.0 GPA) GPA-Grade Point Average

It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of SAP standards and his or her respective status.

Maximum Timeframe

There are a maximum number of hours that students may attempt in pursuing their current program of study. Students may not exceed 150% of the hours needed to complete the program of study they are currently enrolled in, excluding Learning Support courses. This does include transfer coursework that has been accepted as credit toward the student’s current program of study. Once a student has attempted 150% of the minimum number of credit hours necessary for completing the program requirements, the student will not be eligible to receive financial aid. (Example: program requires 63 hours to complete; 63 X 1.5= 94.5 hours allowed to complete program).

Quantitative (Pace of Progression)

In order for students to graduate within the maximum “time frame” of hours, at the end of each term they are expected to have cumulatively completed at least 2/3 or 66.66% of their credit hours attempted. A student who, at the end of any term, has not successfully completed 66.66% of their cumulative hours attempted, will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for their next term of enrollment. This will allow the student one term to increase the cumulative completion rate to the satisfactory level. If, after one term, the cumulative completion rate remains below 66.66% the student will be placed on Financial Aid Termination and eligibility will be lost until the cumulative completion rate has been brought back to at least 66.66%. Students may receive aid while on Financial Aid Warning, but the student will not receive aid while on Financial Aid Termination.

Students may re-establish good standing when they have cumulatively completed 2/3 or 66.66% of their attempted credit hours. The following grades (see Grading System) do not count toward successfully completing a course: “F”, “I”, “W”, “WF”, “WP”, “IP”, and “Z”. For all courses, any combination of these results in no progress, and will be calculated in the completion rate when computing eligibility for financial aid. Repeat courses will be considered as any other class and both grades will count in the GPA. Grades of “F” and “WF” will be counted in computing your GPA.

Learning Support courses are graded on an A* through F* scale. A grade of A*, B*, or C* will be considered satisfactory completion of a learning support course. A grade of D* or F* will be considered unsatisfactory. Grades received for learning support courses are included in the 2/3 or 66.66% hours attempted completion rate, but not in the GPA calculation.

Example: A student completes his first year at Augusta Technical College with the following grades:

30 cumulative attempted credits with

18 credits of passing grades (these credits count as attempted and completed)

12 credits of failing grades (these credits count as attempted but not completed)

The student’s completion rate is 60.00% (total completed divided by total attempted – 18/30 = 60.00%)

The student in this example did not meet the quantitative (completion rate) SAP standard and is at risk of losing financial aid.

If the student had completed 21 credits with passing grades, they would have met the quantitative SAP standard. (21/30 = 70.00%)

Qualitative (Grade Point Average)

Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 to remain in good standing. Financial aid GPA’s will be monitored at the end of each term. A student whose cumulative GPA falls below a 2.0 is placed on Financial Aid Warning for their next term of enrollment. This will allow a student one term to increase the GPA to the satisfactory level. If, after one term, the GPA remains below 2.0, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Termination and eligibility will be lost until the cumulative GPA has been brought back to at least a 2.0 level. Students may receive aid while on Financial Aid Warning, but will not receive aid while on Financial Aid Termination. Transfer coursework is not counted in the cumulative GPA calculation. Remedial coursework taken by a student is included in the qualitative measurement.

Incomplete Grades

Incomplete grades are designated as an “I” (Incomplete) or “IP” (In Progress) are not calculated in the GPA but are calculated in the attempted hours completion rate. Once the “I” or “IP” grades are updated to actual grades, the cumulative GPA will be checked at that time. If a student does not meet the standards after recalculation and has received funds for classes, the funds will have to be repaid by the student.

Z-Grades

Effective for Spring 2020 semester, the Z grade (withdrawal due to the COVID-19 pandemic) was implemented. Z grades are not calculated in attempted hours for SAP purposes; however, for State Programs (HOPE Grant, HOPE Scholarship, Zell Miller Grant, Zell Miller Scholarship), the Z grade counts in attempted and paid hours.

Transfer Hours

Transfer students accepted by Augusta Technical College, but not previously at Augusta Technical College, will be classified as maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress for the first term of attendance. After the first term, the student’s grades will be measured in accordance with Augusta Technical College’s Satisfactory Academic requirements. Students who previously attended Augusta Technical College, transferred to another school, then returned to Augusta Technical College, will have all of their course work reviewed. If a student fails to meet the qualitative or quantitative standards at the end of a term, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Warning. The student will continue to receive aid while on Financial Aid Warning. However, if the student does not meet the qualitative and quantitative standards by the end of the warning term, he/she will be placed on Financial Aid Termination. The student can continue taking courses while on Termination at the student’s expense.

Changing of Programs

Students who have graduated a program at Augusta Tech and wish to pursue a different program of study are still limited to the number of Maximum Total Attempted Hours applicable to the current program of study; the Minimum 66.66 % Pace of Completion, and the Minimum Overall Grade Point Average (GPA) will continue to be calculated using all attempted hours accepted for transfer credit plus all hours attempted at Augusta Tech. Changing your program of study does not instantly change your SAP Status. Your SAP status will be recalculated at the end of your next enrolled term in the new program.