Academic Standing and Financial Aid Academic Progress Policy
Hennepin Technical College (HTC) requires that all students make satisfactory progress toward a degree, diploma, or certificate to remain in good academic standing. Additionally, federal and state laws require that a recipient of financial aid make satisfactory academic progress toward a degree, diploma, or certificate to remain eligible for financial aid. In compliance with federal and state laws and to implement college policy, HTC has established procedures defining the standards of academic progress for all students.
Students bear the primary responsibility for their own academic progress and for seeking assistance when experiencing academic difficulty. Students are encouraged to keep a file of their grades and transcripts. Admission and faculty advisors are available to review students’ academic progress.
Implementation Procedures
Purpose This policy and procedure sets forth the process to be used at HTC concerning satisfactory academic standing. Students bear primary responsibility for their own academic standing and for seeking assistance when experiencing academic difficulty. Students are encouraged to keep a file of their grades, transcripts, and course syllabi.
Requirements The requirements for satisfactory academic standing are based on students meeting both a qualitative and a quantitative measure. Satisfactory progress will be measured after a student has attempted their first course.
Qualitative Measure All students are required to maintain a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA (Note: A 2.0 GPA is required to graduate.)
Quantitative Measure All students are required to complete a minimum of 66.67% cumulative attempted credits.
Part 1. Implementation The academic standing of all students will be evaluated at the end of each term as follows:
Subpart A. Academic Warning
Students who fail to meet the minimum cumulative academic standing requirements that term will receive a warning letter from the Registrar and will be placed on academic warning for one term, commencing immediately. This allows students making substantial improvement to continue with the educational objectives.
Students experiencing academic difficulties are encouraged to use the resources available in the Tutoring Centers. Academic assistance includes support in reading, communications, study skills, limited English proficiency, math, tutoring, and special accommodations.
Subpart B. Suspension
Students on warning who fail to meet the minimum cumulative academic standing requirements for a second consecutive term will receive a suspension letter from the Registrar and will be subject to suspension commencing immediately. Suspended students who wish to remain enrolled at the college must successfully appeal the suspension in order to be reinstated. If the appeal is denied or not completed the student’s registration will be cancelled. If students continue under an approved appeal, they will be placed on warning until the cumulative GPA reaches a 2.0 and the cumulative completion rate reaches 66.67%. If reinstated students fail to meet the standards for satisfactory academic progress within a term, they will be suspended.
Subpart C. Academic Plan
Students who are reinstated following an academic suspension shall be required to have an academic plan approved by an HTC counselor. Such plans shall specify the required term completion rate, grade point average and registration requirements for the student. Completion of student success education coursework may also be added to the academic plan and shall become a requirement for returning to good standing. If students fail to meet the term standards, they will be suspended.
Subpart D. Appeals
Students who fail to meet academic standing requirements and are suspended from enrollment have the right to appeal based on unusual or extenuating circumstances. Appeals which are denied may be submitted to the satisfactory academic progress appeals review committee for further review.
Subpart E. Reinstatement
Students who have been suspended from enrollment may continue at the college after an appeal has been approved. If at any point it is determined that students will not be able to finish the required courses to graduate from their program within the 150% time frame, financial aid eligibility will be terminated immediately. Note: It is possible to be reinstated to good academic standing without being reinstated to financial aid Satisfactory Progress eligibility
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Procedure
Part 1. Purpose
This procedure sets forth the process to be used at HTC concerning financial aid satisfactory academic progress. Students are required to maintain satisfactory academic progress toward the completion of a degree, diploma, or certificate in order to receive financial aid. Federal and state work-study, loans, grants, and some scholarships are covered under this procedure. Students bear primary responsibility for their own academic progress and for seeking assistance when experiencing academic difficulty. Students are encouraged to keep a file of their grades, transcripts, and course syllabi.
NOTE: It is possible for a student to be in financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress suspension status but not be in an academic standing suspension status at HTC.
HTC reserves the right to withhold financial aid at any time from any students who are not performing satisfactorily at minimal standards due to an attendance pattern, and thus abuses the receipt of financial assistance. For example, financial aid could be withheld from students who withdraw from all classes for two consecutive terms, or students who have previously attended two or more institutions and who have not progressed satisfactorily, or students who do not appear to be pursuing degree/diploma/certificate completion, etc.
Part 2. Qualitative Measure of Progress
HTC financial aid recipients are required to maintain a cumulative 2.0 or greater Grade Point Average (GPA). Federal Title IV financial aid programs and programs authorized under Minnesota Statutes 136A require HTC to develop satisfactory academic progress procedures that shall apply to all students receiving financial aid under these programs. Monitoring of the quantitative standard is cumulative and will commence with the first credit attempted. All periods of enrollment will be included, regardless of whether a student received financial aid for that period. A cumulative 2.0 GPA is required to graduate.
Part 3. Quantitative Measure of Progress
Subpart A. Required Completion Percentage
Financial aid recipients are required to maintain a cumulative credit completion rate of 66.67% or greater of all credits attempted at HTC. Federal Title IV financial aid programs and programs authorized under Minnesota Statutes 136A require HTC to develop satisfactory academic progress procedures that shall apply to all students receiving financial aid under these programs. Monitoring of the quantitative standard is cumulative and will commence with the first credit attempted. All periods of enrollment will be included, regardless of whether a student received financial aid for the period.
HTC uses cumulative credits completed, divided by credits attempted to measure completion percentage. To remain eligible for financial aid, students are required to progress toward the completion of an academic program by successfully completing 66.67% of all credits attempted at HTC. Courses for which students receive a letter grade of A, B, C, D, and P are included in the calculation of cumulative credit completion percentages as courses successfully completed.
Courses for which students receive a letter grade of I, NC, W, F, FN and FW will be treated as credits attempted but not successfully completed. Audited courses (AU) are not included in the calculation.
Subpart B. Maximum time Frame
The maximum allowable time frame for students to complete an academic program is 150% of the published credit length of the program of study. For example, if the program of study is 60 credits in length, students would be eligible to receive financial aid for up to 90 attempted credits (60 x 1.5 = 90). All cumulative credits attempted are counted, including accepted transfer credits, and consortium credits, regardless of whether financial aid was received for the credits, or the course work was successfully completed. All credits attempted at HTC will be counted, even though a period of time may have elapsed between enrollments and regardless of whether students received financial aid for the terms and credits measured.
Part 4. Evaluation Period
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress will be evaluated three times each year after Fall and Spring Semester, and Summer Term grades are recorded and prior to the 10th day of the subsequent term.
Part 5. Financial Aid Suspension and Warning
- Maximum Time Frame
Students who have reached or exceeded the maximum number of credits permitted to complete their program of record will be suspended from financial aid eligibility. Changing majors, withdrawing from courses, and/or repeating courses can contribute to suspension of financial aid based on the standards for maximum time frame. Credits earned in the college’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program do not count toward the determination of maximum timeframe. All local attempted credits and transfer credits into Hennepin Technical College count towards the maximum timeframe. Completing a major or changing a major will change timeframe calculation and allow the new count of credits to the new major less any transfer of credit. If courses in the previous major are required in the new major, they will not be counted twice in the new maximum timeframe calculation.
- Qualitative Standard (GPA) or Quantitative Standard (Completion Percentage) Failure
Students who fail to meet the qualitative or quantitative measure at the time of evaluation will be placed on academic warning. Students will be eligible for financial aid during this period. Students who fail to meet the qualitative or quantitative measures at the end of the warning period will have financial aid eligibility suspended immediately.
- Reinstatement of Students on Warning Status
At the end of the warning period, students who have met the cumulative qualitative and quantitative standards of the college will have their eligibility for financial aid reinstated by the college.
- Suspension of Students on Warning Status
At the end of the warning period, students who have not met the cumulative qualitative and quantitative standards of the college will be suspended immediately by the college upon completion of the evaluation.
- Continuation of Students Who Successfully Appeal a Suspension
Students who fail to make satisfactory academic progress and are suspended from financial aid eligibility have the right to appeal based on extenuating circumstances. Students who are reinstated following an academic suspension shall be required to have an academic plan approved by an HTC counselor. Such plans shall specify the required term completion rate, grade point average and registration requirements for the student. Completion of student success education coursework may also be added to the academic plan and shall become a requirement for returning to good standing. If students fail to meet the standards documented in the academic plan, they will be suspended.
Part 6. Appeals
Any student who has been suspended from financial aid has the right to appeal their status based on extenuating circumstances.
All appeals must be submitted in writing with supporting documentation attached. Results of an appeal will be sent to the student in writing.
Part 7. Additional Elements
Subpart A. Treatment of Grades
Courses for which students receive a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or P are included in the calculation of cumulative credit completion percentage as courses successfully completed. Courses for which students receive a letter grade of I, NC, W, F, FN or FW will be treated as credits attempted but not successfully completed. All credits and grades in the major are included in the maximum timeframe calculation.
Subpart B. Audited Courses
Audited courses will not be funded by financial aid and are not included in any financial aid satisfactory academic progress measurements.
Subpart C. Consortium Credits
Credits for which financial aid is received under a consortium agreement will be included in cumulative GPA, completion percentage, and maximum timeframe calculations.
Subpart D. Developmental Credits
Developmental credits are included in the cumulative GPA and completion percentage measurement of financial aid satisfactory academic progress. Up to 30 developmental credits are excluded from the maximum timeframe calculation.
Subpart E. Repeated Credits
Students are allowed to repeat a course as often as allowed by the academic policies of the college. For a course that is repeated, the original grade will remain on the transcript but will not be used in the GPA calculation. The grade earned for the most recent attempt will be used in the cumulative GPA calculation. The original course credits remain in the number of attempted credits, but are removed from the credits earned calculation. A student may not receive financial aid for more than one repetition of a previously passed course.
Subpart F. Transfer Credits
Transfer credits accepted by HTC and applied toward students’ degree, diploma, or certificate requirements to graduate will apply toward the maximum time frame calculation and percent of completion calculation. If at the point of admission transfer students’ prior academic record does not meet the college’s minimum cumulative qualitative or quantitative satisfactory academic progress standards, HTC may immediately place the student on financial warning or suspend financial aid eligibility, subject to the conditions under which the student is admitted to the institution.
Subpart G. Withdrawals
Credits for which a grade of “W” is received are considered attempted credits but not successfully completed credits. A grade of “W” does not impact GPA, but does negatively impact the cumulative completion percentage and counts toward the maximum time frame.