Federal and State financial aid regulations require Skyline College to establish, publish and apply qualitative, quantitative and incremental standards by which Skyline College can determine whether a student requesting and/or receiving financial aid is maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in his/her course of study. Financial Aid recipients are required to have a declared educational goal and enrollment in a Title IV eligible program.

SAP Standards:

  • apply to students who wish to establish or maintain financial aid eligibility,
  • apply to a student's entire academic record (including transfer coursework), whether or not financial aid was received for prior terms of enrollment

Note: Dual Major

  • Students are not eligible to receive financial aid for more than one major
  • Once students meet the degree requirements to complete one of the majors, they are considered to have earned a degree, even if they are still completing the requirements for their other major

Qualitative Standards:

The quality of a student’s academic progress is measured by the cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA). Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 on a scale of 4.0. Courses completed with a grade of A, B, C, D, or P will be considered acceptable for Satisfactory Academic Progress.

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Quantitative Standards:

The Financial Aid Office measures academic progress by the number of units a student has attempted and completed.

Requirements

A. Maximum Time Frame:

All financial aid students will be expected to complete their program within 150% of the published length of the program. Students enrolled in 60 unit AA/AS, 4-year transfer, or vocational programs will be expected to complete their program by the time they attempt 90 units. Students enrolled in vocational programs of less than 60 units will be given a maximum time frame (attempted units) that is 150% of their chosen program's length. Associate Degree or Transfer Program maximum time frame is 90 units.

B. Pace Rate:

It is expected that financial aid students will make continuous and steady progress towards their educational goals, referred to as Pace Rate. To measure whether students are progressing in their course of study within the maximum time frame, SMCCCD will evaluate the Pace Rate of financial aid students after each term (Fall, Spring and Summer). At the end of each term, students will be expected to have completed at least a cumulative 67% of all units attempted. Classes with grades of A, B, C, D, and P (Pass) are considered to have been completed. Classes with grades of F, NP (No Pass), I (Incomplete), and RD (grade delayed) will not be considered as completed. All classes taken at other institutions through a consortium agreement will also be included in the Pace Rate assessment.

Academic Load Full-time (100%) Three quarters-time (75%) Half-time (50%) Less than half-time
Minimum Unit Requirement 12 units or more 9-11.5 units 6-8.5 units .5 up to 5.5

Incremental Standards:

The academic progress of financial aid students will be evaluated after each payment period. Federal and state emergency funds do not count against a student's SAP calculation. Progress will be evaluated after grades for the previous term are posted.

If Satisfactory Academic Progress is not met

Please Note: Students who have been placed on suspension may appeal SAP requirements to request reinstatement of financial aid by following these steps:

Complete required Appeal Form on your WebSmart account 

  • Provide a statement and explain what happened – be clear and to the point
  • Explain what you will do to get back on track

Student Educational Plan (SEP)

  • Provide a copy of your SEP
  • SEP must be current, long-term and show educational goal/major
  • If you do not have an updated SEP, you can schedule an appointment to meet with a counselor to create/update one
    • Financial Aid Counselor – Contact the Financial Aid Office
    • General Counselor – Contact the Counseling Division

Complete an online Student Academic Progress (SAP) Counseling Session

  • SAP Counseling Sessions are now offered at: https://skylinecollege.get-counseling.com
    • The Essentials to Understanding Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and What it Means to You
    • The Key Components to the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Financial Aid Process
  • Make sure to print and upload your certificate of completion indicating that you PASSED
  • Certificate must have your name and student ID Number. 

We require students to submit all documents together to the financial aid office (individual documents will not be accepted).

Note: Students may submit up to two appeals per semester. The determination on the second appeal is final. The student must wait until the following semester to submit a new appeal, which will only impact the term in which the student is completing the appeal. Student will not qualify for a retroactive financial aid disbursement. 

For details regarding the appeal process, please view the Grievances section of the Skyline College catalog.

Other Requirements:

In certain instances, students are allowed to receive financial aid for repeated courses.

  • If a student passes a course on the first attempt and then repeats the course the students is allowed to receive financial aid.
  • Second Attempt Outcome Scenarios:

  • Student doesn’t receive a letter grade (A,B,C,D,F, and NP)= course qualifies for financial aid
  • Student receives a letter grade (A,B,C,D,F, and NP)= course does not qualify for financial aid
  • Students are allowed to repeat classes for financial aid purposes provided the classes are allowed under the SMCCCD repeat policy as specified in the Skyline College catalog. All repeated courses will be included in the maximum time frame assessment, the cumulative GPA assessment, and the cumulative Pace Rate assessment.

    All courses taken at other institutions will be included in the maximum time frame and cumulative Pace Rate assessment, provided the courses will apply toward degree or certificate requirements. Transfer coursework is not included in the cumulative GPA assessment. Courses at proprietary and trade schools will generally not be accepted for credit toward SMCCCD degree or certificate requirements. Upper division courses from four-year colleges and universities will be counted when calculating maximum time frame. All students with bachelor degrees will be considered to have exceeded the maximum time frame and must be approved by the appeal committee before being funded. Foreign courses will be counted if they have been professionally evaluated and accepted by the district. Students with a foreign bachelor’s degree will be considered to have exceeded the maximum time frame and must be approved by the appeal committee before being funded.

    ESL courses will not be counted when determining the remaining maximum time frame for a student. The academic progress in ESL courses will be considered when assessing both the student's cumulative GPA and Pace Rate.

    The first 30 remedial English and math units attempted will not be counted when determining the remaining maximum time frame for a student. The academic progress in these remedial courses will be considered when assessing both the student's cumulative GPA and cumulative Pace Rate.

    All students with prior Bachelor and/or Associate Degrees will be considered to have exceeded the maximum time frame and must be approved by the appeal committee before being funded. Foreign courses will be counted if they have been professionally evaluated and accepted by SMCCCD. Students with a foreign Bachelor’s Degree will be considered to have exceeded the maximum time frame and must be approved by the appeal committee before being funded. Students with prior Bachelor Degrees, foreign or domestic, are ineligible for both federal and state grant assistance.

    "I" (incomplete) grades will be considered as "attempted," but will not be considered to have been "completed." If a student's "I" grade changes during a term, it is the student's responsibility to inform the financial aid office of the change. If the change of grade will affect the student's financial aid eligibility, a recalculation to determine eligibility will be conducted during the term. If the change of grade will not impact eligibility the new grade will not be factored into the cumulative Pace Rate until the next incremental assessment.

    Special Considerations

    1. Withdrawals and Grades of “Incomplete”: Students who withdraw from classes or receive grades of “Incomplete” will have those classes included in the “Pace Rate calculation”. “Withdrawals” and “Incompletes” will be included with all other classes attempted.
    2. Grades of “F” and “NP”: Students who receive grades of “F” or “NP” do not receive units for the classes attempted, but the units will be counted towards the maximum time frame. Note that “F” grades will be used in calculating the GPA.
    3. Grades of “D” or better and “P”: Students who receive grades of “D” or better and “P” will receive units for the classes attempted. Thus, these classes would be considered to have been completed and will be used on calculating the maximum time frame, Pace Rate and GPA.
    4. Repeated Courses: Skyline Financial Aid will follow the SMCCCD policy regarding repeated courses.
    5. Progress in Summer Session: A student's progress in summer session will be counted when assessing cumulative Pace Rate and cumulative GPA.