To be eligible to receive financial aid at RCC, students are required to make satisfactory progress towards successful completion of the program of study to which they have been admitted. Cumulative grade point averages and completion rates must be in compliance with the following minimum standards:

Minimum Qualitative Progress Standards

Minimum Cumulative GPA Credit(s)

1.0                                   1 to 11

1.5                                   12 to 23

1.75                                   24 to 29

2.0                                   30 and over

Minimum Quantitative Progress Standards

Financial aid recipients must satisfactorily complete 67 percent (%) of all course work attempted.

Additional Standards

1. A student can receive financial aid for only two enrollment attempts in the same developmental course, and for a maximum of 30 semester hours of developmental courses.
2. A student cannot receive financial aid for an audited course. Changing from credit to audit will reduce financial aid eligible courses by the number of credits changed to audit.
3. A student can receive financial aid for only two enrollment attempts in any course unless mitigating circumstances exist.
4. A student cannot receive financial aid for a class that is being repeated for which the student received a passing grade, unless a higher grade is required for graduation.
5. Students who drop classes or audit classes must schedule a conference with the financial aid officer to determine the impact of the changes on their financial aid.
6. Students should schedule a conference with the financial aid officer prior to requesting a curriculum/program/plan change.
7. New financial aid recipients who have previously been enrolled at the college, and financial aid recipients, will be evaluated for satisfactory academic progress based on prior performance at RCC.
8. A student cannot receive financial aid for noncredit and credit courses in ineligible curricula.
9. A student receiving financial aid must take no more than 150% of the published amount of credits required to complete his/her program, and must be able to meet the 2.0 cumulative grade point average by the time the student completes graduation requirements.

Monitoring

The financial aid office will review progress at the end of every spring semester and may review progress at the end of other semesters. Students who do not maintain satisfactory academic progress standards in the current semester, may be placed on financial aid probation for the following semester and will be so notified.

Termination Of Eligibility

All financial aid will be suspended for subsequent semesters if students fail to meet minimum GPA/completion rate standards by the end of their probationary semester. If a student completes and receives grades of “A”, “B”, “C” or “S” for all courses attempted in the current semester they will not be suspended even though minimum GPA may not have been attained.

A student on financial aid suspension due to noncompliance with the satisfactory academic standards is not eligible to receive any financial aid funds, and will be so notified in writing.

Students who failed to complete their degree program within a maximum of 1¹/₂ times (150%) the number of credits required for that program will not be eligible to receive any additional financial aid at RCC.

Reinstatement and Appeals

Students who have lost their eligibility for financial aid due to their GPA or completion rate may request that their eligibility be reinstated once they have brought their averages into compliance with minimum standards. Students who have mitigating circumstances which prevented them from meeting the minimum standards may appeal their termination of eligibility by writing to the financial aid officer. Conditions for reinstatement of aid will be determined by the financial aid officer on an individual basis and may include one or more semesters of satisfactory progress funded by the student.

Students whose appeals have been denied by the financial aid officer have the right to pursue final appeal through the Student Affairs Committee. This appeal must be in writing to the dean of student development and will require an appearance before the committee.

If any case arises not specifically covered by this policy that is considered an abuse of the financial aid program, the student may be placed on financial aid probation or have eligibility for financial aid terminated by the financial aid officer. If such an occasion arises, the student will be notified in writing. The student will have the right to appeal to the Student Affairs Committee. The Student Grievance Procedure is included in the student handbook.

This page was last modified on October 21, 2010. If you are looking for previous catalog information, please reference the 2006-2007 Catalog, 2008-2010 Catalog, 2010-2012 Catalog.