Standards for Financial Aid Recipients

A financial aid recipient is a student who receives any scholarship, loan, grant, work-study award, or veterans benefit that is administered through the Seminole Community College Financial Aid Office.

Federal, state, and College regulations require that a student must maintain satisfactory academic progress in order to receive financial assistance. The minimum standards at Seminole Community College are contained in this document and are applicable to the financial assistance programs administered by the Student Financial Resources office.

Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress for financial aid recipients at Seminole Community College consist of three components:

1. A student must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 in their program.
2. A student must successfully complete a specified number of hours as determined by the student’s enrollment status.
3. A student must complete the degree or certificate within a certain number of attempted hours.

At Seminole Community College, a student’s entire academic history, including credits transferred from other schools, is evaluated to determine whether or not the student is maintaining satisfactory academic progress. Eligibility to receive financial aid, based on a student meeting the standards of satisfactory academic progress criteria, is established each semester.

Failure to meet the Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress will result in the student being placed on financial aid suspension. Students on financial aid suspension will not be allowed to receive any financial assistance until they have returned to satisfactory progress. Students on financial aid suspension may continue to enroll and attend classes at Seminole Community College, as long as tuition charges are paid through resources other than financial aid.

Successful completion of a class - Defined as having earned a grade of A, B, C, D, S, or P.

Unsatisfactory completion or Non-completion of a class - Defined as having earned a grade of F, N, W, I, U, or X.

Enrollment Status - Established by the number of credit hours for which a student is officially registered each semester. Students must successfully complete a specific number of credits as determined by their program of study and their enrollment status. The following chart illustrates this criteria.

Total Hours Attempted - A student is expected to earn a degree or certificate within a specified number of attempted hours and is only eligible for financial aid during this time. The number of attempted hours cannot exceed more than 150 percent of the published length of the educational program.

Financial Aid Probation - Students who fail to meet the 2.0 grade point average (GPA) or who fail to complete successfully the required number of hours for any term within the increment year will automatically place themselves on financial aid probation for the next semester in which they enroll during the year. Students on financial aid probation may receive financial aid to which they are entitled, but must be able to meet the Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress at the end of the probation term. Failure to make satisfactory academic progress for two consecutive terms will result in the student being placed on financial aid suspension.

Appeal of Financial Aid Suspension - Any student placed on financial aid suspension has the right to appeal the suspension by following the procedures outlined below:

1. Complete Academic Progress Appeal form outlining the specific reasons and/or extenuating circumstances that contributed to the failure to meet satisfactory academic progress.
2. Submit written documentation of the circumstances from a source other than the student, if applicable.

After a thorough evaluation of the written request and all documentation, the Financial Aid Committee will notify the student, in writing, of their decision.

If the appeal is granted, the student will be placed on financial aid probation for one semester. At the end of that semester the student’s academic record will be reviewed and the student will be returned to satisfactory progress or placed on financial aid suspension.

If the appeal is not granted, the financial aid suspension will remain in place.

Did you know?

SCC graduates are guaranteed admission to a public, Florida, four-year university as a junior.