In 2008 i decided that i wanted to try and enroll into a community college to further my education. At the time i was having major issues with family and finances which led to me having to put school on hold for a while. I did however sign up for two classes, unaware that i needed to drop the classes since i was not going to be able to go. Not knowing it would affect me later when i try to get into that same school. Mind you, at the time i did not have my High school diploma. 6 years later, i have all of my stuff together, High school diploma, stable living situation, family doing well… i try back and i am told that i am not eligible to receive the financial aid because of the classes i signed up for back in 08 and did not take. I was given an option to do a SAP petition (Satisfactory Academic Progress ) request form, so i did for “Extenuating Circumstances”. After waiting 6 weeks for the results on rather or not they will excuse my reason for not being able to attend those classes in 08, i get back [ineligible for extenuating circumstances, you must meet the terms of re-qualification to be considered for aid in future semesters]. What exactly does this mean? What can i do? I really do want to go to school, and i just don’t feel this is fair, especially if i did not even have my High school diploma at the time of enrolling into those classes. From my understanding, you need a High school Diploma, or GED to receive financial aid, i was unaware of that also and decided to apply for financial aid anyway, of-course i was later denied. At the moment i am very dependent on financial aid, i am not working, nor do i have the money to pay for school. Will this mess me up with financial aid at all community colleges or is it just this one?Can someone please give some advice on what i can do to resolve this problem so that i can go forth in life. All is appreciated.
school website.http://www.msjc.edu/Pages/default.aspx
Petition Form:
http://www.msjc.edu/StudentServices/FinancialAid/Documents/Downloadable-Forms/2013-2014/SAPPetitionRequest13-14.pdf
A high school diploma has only been required for the past two years. Although you must have a high school diploma (or equivalent) now, it was perfectly OK for the school to award financial aid without one back then, so this has nothing to do with your current problem.
What is holding up your aid now is your failure to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress standards at your school. Although these standards can vary somewhat from school to school, generally they involve having to maintain a certain GPA and complete a certain percentage of the credits that you attempt. Because you didn’t complete the courses you were registered for, you apparently didn’t meet those standards. All schools must publish their SAP policies and their procedures for dropping classes or withdrawing from school. Usually, the school provides these in the student handbook or website. It is the student’s responsibility to read and follow those policies, so if you didn’t do that, then you have to deal with the consequences.
When a school readmits a student who previously attended, they are required to determine if the student is meeting SAP. When they do that, they are generally required to include all previous coursework in the calculation. The school doesn’t have a choice about it–there are federal regulations that govern this. Appeals are usually only granted for serious situations over which the student had no control. Apparently, your school feels that your reasons for failing to meet the SAP standards were not sufficient (or not documented well enough). As part of the school’s SAP policies, they must also explain the procedure for a student to regain aid. You will be able to regain eligibility for aid once you have followed your school’s procedures.. Unfortunately, at most schools that involves going for a period of time without federal aid while you work to improve your performance to an agreed upon level.
The SAP process often seems unfair to students, but the purpose of it is to prevent student aid dollars from being wasted on students who cannot–or will not–do the work for which the funds were awarded. Once you demonstrate that you are willing and able to meet the SAP standards, your eligibility for aid will be restored.