Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students applying for, or awarded, financial aid are required to make Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in an eligible program of study, and meet maximum timeframe requirements. 

To ensure compliance with all applicable federal and state regulations, including HEA Sec. 484(c), 34 CFR 668.16(e), 34 CFR 668.32(f), and 34 CFR 668.34, students applying for, or awarded financial aid, are required to make Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in an eligible program of study.  Students may only receive financial aid for classes which meet the requirements for their degree or certificate program at Highline College.  All quarters and all credits attempted are considered, regardless if financial aid was received for the credits, when evaluating SAP. 

The following information and charts outline Highline’s Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements for financial aid recipients.  SAP is evaluated quarterly.

Printable Version of SAP

Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements

SAP is reviewed prior to offering any financial aid. SAP is again reviewed at the end of each quarter for which the student has a FAFSA or WASFA on file.  Grades of 1.0 – 4.0, S, and Y will count towards completed credits.  Grades less than 1.0, I (Incomplete), NC (Non-Credit), N, Audited classes, * (missing grade), and W (Withdraw) do not count towards completed credits.  Financial aid funds may be used to repeat courses once after the course is passed with a 1.0 or higher.

To fulfill SAP requirements:

1. Students must be enrolled in classes required for their declared program of study at Highline College.

2. Funding is allowed for pursuit of one program of study at a time.  Up to 3 program changes are allowed after notifying the Financial Aid Office.  A 4th and final program of study change requires Financial Aid Director Approval.

3. Students must meet all qualitative measures, quantitative measures, and Maximum Timeframe requirements listed below.

Definition of Financial Aid Statuses

WARNING: : Students placed on WARNING are eligible for financial aid, but must successfully complete all of the credits for which they enroll the quarter following the WARNING status and achieve at least a 2.0 quarterly and 2.0 cumulative GPA to continue receiving aid.

PROBATION: Students on PROBATION have had a Suspension or Maximum Timeframe Appeal approved and are eligible for aid as explained in their Probation Letter.  At minimum, students must complete 100% of their attempted credits and earn a 2.0 quarterly GPA.  Terms of PROBATION are student specific, and students must follow the terms outlined in their Probation Letter notice sent via the ctcLink Portal Message Center.

SUSPENSION: The student is not eligible to receive financial aid as they have not met all SAP minimum requirements, or failed to meet the terms of their PROBATION status.  Students who were on WARNING status and whose next quarter would result in another term of WARNING are automatically placed into SUSPENSION status.  For reinstatement options, see the “Right to Appeal” section. 

MAXIMUM TIMEFRAME WARNING: The student is nearly out of time to complete their degree with financial aid funding.  The student must submit an Academic Plan to the Financial Aid Office by the end of the quarter.  Students with this status are still eligible to receive financial aid funding until they reach 150% of their degree’s credit requirements, or they appeal for more time.

MAXIMUM TIMEFRAME: The student has reached the maximum number of credits they may receive for their degree with financial aid funding.  If the student needs more time to complete their degree with financial aid assistance, the student may appeal using the Maximum Timeframe Appeal Form.

MEETS: The student is meeting the minimum requirements of Highline’s Satisfactory Academic Progress and is eligible to receive financial aid the following quarter. If the student was previously on Suspension, Maximum Timeframe Suspension, or Repayment, the student should contact the Financial Aid Office to reinstate their application for financial aid funding.

REPAYMENT: The student owes money because of a financial aid program and/or to Highline College for a past quarter and is not eligible to receive any future financial aid disbursements until the money is repaid in full or satisfactory payment arrangements are made.  See Repayment below for more information.

Qualitative Measures – Grade Point Average (GPA)

A student must earn a quarterly GPA of a 2.00, and a cumulative Highline GPA of a 2.00 prior to receiving financial aid and at the end of each quarter.  New students to Highline with no transfer credits, are eligible for aid in their first quarter.   

MEET Status Quarterly and Cumulative GPA Range	WARNING Status Quarterly and Cumulative GPA Range	SUSPENSION Status Quarterly and Cumulative GPA Range	PROBATION Status Quarterly and Cumulative GPA Range
2.00 or higher Quarterly GPA	1.01 to 1.99 Quarterly GPA	0.00 to 1.00 Quarterly GPA and any Cumulative GPA Or	Varies based on individual student circumstances.  Required GPA will be in the Appeal Approval notice sent to the student in the ctcLink Student Portal Message Center
2.00 or higher Cumulative GPA	2.00 Cumulative GPA	Any Cumulative GPA below a 2.00	Varies based on individual student circumstances.  Required GPA will be in the Appeal Approval notice sent to the student in the ctcLink Student Portal Message Center

Note that colleges credits taken during Running Start are included in this calculation.

Quantitative Measures – Quarterly Course Completion Rates

Students are expected to successfully complete all of the credits they enroll in each quarter.  To maintain the status of MEETS, the student must complete 100% of their quarterly enrolled credits based on their enrollment at Financial Aid Census.

Meet status = completing 100% of attempted credits

Warning status = completing 99-50% of attempted credits

Suspension Status = completing 49% or less of attempted credits

For MEET or PROBATION Status you must successfully complete	For WARNING Status, you must successfully complete	For SUSPENSION Status, you must successfully complete
100% of your attempted quarterly credits	99%-50% of your quarterly attempted credits	49%-0% of your quarterly attempted credits

Completion Ratio

A percentage of the total credits earned by the students over the total number of credits attempted.  All attempted credits at Highline College, plus any transferred credits, are used for the ratio, regardless of the age of the credits.  Students must maintain a minimum of 67% or higher completion ratio or they will be placed on SUSPENSION status.

Note that colleges credits taken during Running Start are included in this calculation.

Maximum Timeframe

Students must be able to mathematically complete their program of study within 150% of the published length of the program to continue to be eligible for financial aid.  For example, a student in a 90 credit program must complete their degree within 135 credits (90 cr program x 150%).  Students may appeal for more time to complete their degree due to unusual circumstances, at which point an appeal can be approved up to the Maximum Timeframe Cutoff.  After the Maximum Timeframe Cutoff, appeals cannot be approved.

Degree Type	150% Maximum Timeframe (Student can appeal)	Maximum Timeframe Cutoff   (Student cannot appeal)
Short Term Certificate Program	67 credits	90 credits
Lower Division 2 Year Degree	135 credits	180 credits
Upper Division 2 Year BAS Degree	270 credits	300 credits

Students admitted into the Registered Nursing Degree will have any previously attempted non-Registered Nursing Degree credits ignored for the Maximum Timeframe calculation, however, they will only be eligible to receive aid up to 100% of the published length of their program.

• Washington College Grant has a maximum timeframe of 5 full time years of eligibility.
• College Bound has a maximum timeframe eligibility of 4 full time years of eligibility.

Remedial Courses

Up to a maximum of 45 credits may be added to the allowable credits attempted for required remedial coursework as identified by the college placement test or program requirements.  This includes Math 080-099, English 080-099, and ESL 080-099.  No other classes below 100 level are included in the allowable remedial course work.

100 level and higher courses required to meet prerequisites for a single course needed in the student’s program are considered remedial courses.  

Right to Appeal

Financial aid recipients who do not meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements may appeal their SAP status.  Successful appeals will result in the student being placed on PROBATION status and eligible for aid in the quarter specified on their Probation Letter.  Students who do not enroll by the term listed on their Probation Letter forfeit their PROBATION status and will revert to the status they had before they appealed. 

When a student is placed on SUSPENSION status all of their financial aid is canceled; a successful appeal means the student will be re-awarded financial aid based on remaining funds.  

Students who were on PROBATION Status and then failed to meet the terms of their Probation may not appeal again, and must attend classes without financial aid funding until they meet the minimum Satisfactory Academic Progress policy requirements.  Once achieved, they may contact the Financial Aid Office to reactivate their financial aid application.

Students may appeal by submitting the Suspension Appeal or Maximum Timeframe Appeal Form.  Students submitting a Suspension Appeal must demonstrate unusual circumstances to qualify, such as a death of a close relative, unexpected injury/illness, prolonged illness lasting more than a few weeks, major vehicle accident, etc, and provide documentation that supports their unusual circumstance.  Appeals submitted without documentation will not be approved.  The Suspension and Maximum Timeframe Appeal forms are available on the Financial Aid webpages.

Students who have not yet received a disbursement of financial aid for the Award Year may appeal at any point during the Award Year.  Students who have received a disbursement of financial aid for the Award Year have a limited window to appeal to receive financial aid in the next quarter.  The deadline to appeal is listed on the Suspension or Maximum Timeframe Letter emailed to the student at the end of the quarter they are placed on Suspension or Maximum Timeframe Suspension status.  Appeals submitted after the deadline will be considered for the next quarter.

Within 10 days of a student’s appeal, the college will respond through the student’s ctcLink Student Portal Message Center.  If the appeal is Denied, an explanation will be given and tuition and fees are due immediately.  The student will remain in Suspension or Maximum Timeframe status until they earn their way into a different status.  If the appeal is considered Incomplete, the student must provide needed information before the deadline given.  If the appeal is Approved, the student will be directed to accept their Probation terms and given a deadline.  If the student fails to accept the probation terms by the deadline their appeal will be denied and the student will be placed back onto Suspension status. 

If Denied, a student can appeal on the grounds that the college did not follow its Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy and Procedures.  The student must contact the Financial Aid Office and indicate they want to appeal their denial.  The original Suspension or Maximum Timeframe Appeal documentation will be reviewed by Financial Aid Leadership and a determination made within 10 days.  During this secondary appeal process, the student is responsible for all student account charges, and will not be held in their classes by the Financial Aid Department.  The results of this appeal will be given to the student via the ctcLink Student Portal Message Center.

Repayment

Students who owe money directly or indirectly to a federal, state, institutional or other financial aid program, or to Highline for a past quarter, are not eligible to receive financial aid at Highline until that debt is paid in full or satisfactory payment arrangements are agreed upon and the student provides proof from the owed entity.

Students need to bring in proof of payment in full or payment arrangements to the Financial Aid Office.  Receipts of payment in full, or payment agreements on the letterhead of the owed entity will be accepted.  If on a payment arrangement, students may be asked to update the status of that arrangement annually with the Highline Financial Aid Office.  Students will not be held in their classes by the Financial Aid department while the validity of payment in full or payment arrangements are made.

Questions?

For questions regarding Financial Aid, email financialaid@highline.edu.