Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Financial Aid SAP 2023–2024 Policy

Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress: Students must meet Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy requirements to remain eligible for federal, state, and institutional financial aid. SAP is reviewed both annually and at the end of each payment period. Students are notified via email if SAP conditions are not met. All quarters of attendance, including those in which financial aid was not received, are used in determining SAP status.

Satisfactory Academic Progress is reviewed prior to awarding financial aid, even if a student did not receive financial aid in the past. If the evaluation indicates that a student has not met the minimum SAP requirements, a student may be offered financial aid on probation status. There are three standards to the SAP Policy that are evaluated at the end of each quarter:

• Pace of Progression: Qualitative (completion-based) assessments
  • Students must maintain a minimum pace of progression of 67% (complete at least 2/3 of their attempted cumulative credits) to be eligible to receive financial aid.
  • Students must successfully complete the enrollment level/credits standard each quarter indicated in the Quarterly Pace of Progress Assignments table:

• Grade Point Average (GPA) - (performance-based)
  • Students will be on warning if their quarterly GPA is below 2.0.
  • Student will be on suspension if they have two consecutive quarters with their GPA below 2.0
  • Students may be placed on a warning or suspension status if their cumulative GPA is at risk of not reaching 2.0 or better throughout their program.
• Maximum-Time frame: Quantitative (time-based) assessments:
  • Financial aid eligibility cannot exceed 150% of the maximum length of the students' degree or certificate program.
  • Only credits that apply toward a student’s current program are taken into consideration. This includes all transferred credits, pre-requisites, and remedial courses exceeding 45 credits. 
  • For SAP purposes, attempted credits include: C-Credit, NC-No Credit, F-Failed, I-Incomplete, N-audit, R-Repeat, U-Unsatisfactory, V-Vanished (Unofficial Withdrawal), W-Withdrawal, Y-In Progress grades
  • Basic studies, transitional courses, English Language Acquisition (ELA), and up to 45 credits of remedial coursework will be excluded from the maximum timeframe calculation.

Financial Aid Warning Status

Students who fail to satisfy the quarterly SAP requirement will be placed on a warning status (refer to the Quarterly Pace of Progress Assignments table above). Students are eligible to receive aid for their next attended quarter while on warning status. However, they are in jeopardy of losing their financial aid eligibility if they do not complete the quarter in good-standing. Two consecutive quarters (back-to-back) of warnings will result in financial aid suspension status. 

Financial Aid Suspension Status

Students who fail to satisfy the quarterly SAP requirements will be placed on suspension status (refer to the Quarterly Pace of Progress Assignments table above). Students may be subject to suspension if they are mathematically and reasonably unable to complete their program. Students on suspension are not eligible to receive financial aid funding unless their status changes through the appeal process or self-reinstatement. 

Financial Aid Probation Status

Students will be placed on probation status for the next quarter they attend after their appeal is approved and their aid reinstated. Students who are on probation status and did not satisfy their approval conditions and/or didn’t complete their quarter in good standing will be placed on suspension status.

Regain Eligibility for Financial Aid

Students who are suspended from financial aid, they have two (2) options to regain their eligibility:

1. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal: Students have the right to appeal and explain their hardships that resulted in losing financial aid eligibility. In cases of student’s illness, injury, a death in the family or other extenuating circumstance, students may appeal to regain financial aid eligibility. The SAP appeal form is available on the school website. Students will be notified of appeal decisions via preferred student email. If a student’s appeal is approved the student will be placed on a probationary status and/or specific academic conditions.
2. Self-Reinstatement: Students may choose not to appeal, or if their submitted appeal is not approved, they may self-reinstate by paying tuition/fees using a non-financial aid source or paying out-of-pocket. When self-reinstating, students must successfully complete at least five (5) required credits or the minimum number of credits required to improve their quarterly/cumulative GPA and/or pace of progression, and must complete all required attempted credits in good standing and satisfying all SAP conditions.

Changing Program of Study

Students who change their program of study multiple times without completing their prior program(s) may be subject to SAP. Students will be at risk of not completing their new program within the maximum time frame and may exhaust their lifetime funding eligibility when changing programs. Students may not receive aid if they are mathematically or reasonably unable to complete their program in a timely manner. 

Repeat Coursework

For SAP purposes, a failed course is defined as any grade below 1.0. Students may receive financial aid for repeated failed courses, if they are within the maximum time frame for their program and have not reached their lifetime eligibility for funding. Previously passed courses earned 3.5 or below GPA may be repeated only once. Repeated courses are counted as attempted credits, however, only passed courses may apply towards program completion.

Please reference the RTC Catalog.

Contact & Hours

Customer service hours
Phone: (425) 235-5841
Email: financialaid@rtc.edu
Zoom: RTC Virtual Welcome Center
Bookings: Schedule appointment

Location
Robert C. Roberts Campus Center, Building I-218

Address
Financial Aid Office
Renton Technical College
3000 NE Fourth Street
Renton, WA. 98056