Changes to Standards of Progress for Financial Aid

Changes to federal regulations for student financial aid will be going into effect this fall. Specifically, new restrictions will be added to the Standards of Progress that determine a student’s eligibility for financial aid.

Madison College Financial Aid has been working to implement and communicate changes, which will be beneficial to both students and the college as a whole, including:

Stricter GPA Requirements
Federal regulations now require a cumulative rather than annual GPA of 2.0.

Revised Maximum Time Frame (Duration of Eligibility) Limits
The maximum time frame in which a student can receive financial aid will now be based on 150 percent of the credits required to graduate from the program as opposed to a maximum number based on degree/program type.

New Warning and Suspension Processes
Federal regulations will allow the college to evaluate Standards of Progress at the end of each payment period. This change will allow students who are not meeting requirements at the end of their first semester of aid to receive a warning. Previously, warnings were only issued at the end of the Fall semester. As before, a student who has received a warning letter will receive aid for one additional semester with no appeal necessary.

Additional Appeal Requirements
Federal regulations continue to allow students placed on financial aid suspension to appeal their suspension if they have extenuating circumstances. Students required to develop an academic plan for their appeal will be eligible to receive financial aid on a probationary status for additional semesters if their appeal is granted, as long as they are successfully following their academic plan.

Appeal Deadlines
Appeals are now required to be submitted by the pre-established deadline for the semester for which a student is seeking to have financial aid reinstated. Deadlines are listed on both the Standards of Progress web page and the Standards of Progress Appeal web form, for easy access to students when planning their appeals.

These changes will go into effect for the Fall 2011 semester. For additional information on the above changes and all current eligibility requirements, please review the Standards of Progress web page.