Financial Aid Academic Progress Policy

Federal regulations require that students maintain satisfactory academic progress to be eligible for financial aid.  Students in Associate Degree programs will be reviewed at the end of the Spring semester.  Students in Certificate programs will be reviewed at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters.  We begin checking academic progress once the student has attempted 12 credits. The entire official academic transcript, including all transfer credits as well as credits that appear even though the student was granted academic restart, will be reviewed even if the student was not a financial aid recipient in the past.  Permission to enroll does not equal financial aid satisfactory academic progress.  A student must be enrolled in classes for the semester in which a financial aid academic appeal is to be considered. Any classes taken during any summer session (within the same summer) are viewed as one enrolled term. Only credit courses are considered for satisfactory academic progress evaluation.

Satisfactory academic progress is measured on:

The maximum length of time for which a student may receive financial aid. The number of credit hours successfully completed including transfer credits or credits that appear on the official academic transcript even if the student was granted academic restart divided by the number of credit hours attempted. The minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) a student must maintain based on the credits successfully completed. (The minimum cumulative GPA does not include transfer credits.)

Maximum Length of Time

Federal regulations indicate that a student may receive financial aid for no longer than 150 percent of the published length of his/her educational program. For example, for programs requiring 60 credits, the maximum time frame is the equivalent of six full time semesters or 90 attempted credits. A student will not receive financial aid after having attempted 90 credits (including transfer credits or credits appearing on an official academic transcript as a result of academic restart).  For programs requiring 30 credits, the maximum time frame is 45 attempted credits. A student will not receive financial aid after having attempted 45 credits (including transfer credits or credits appearing on an official academic transcript as a result of academic restart). Students who have changed majors and who are seeking additional degrees are limited to additional financial aid up to a total of 90 attempted credits for an associate degree and 45 attempted credits for a certificate program regardless of the number of credits required to complete the additional degree or certificate.

Percentage of Credit Hours Successfully Completed Divided by the Number of Credit Hours Attempted

Credit hours attempted are the sum of all LCCC credit hours for which tuition was charged whether or not financial aid was received plus all transfer hours accepted for credit as well as all credit hours appearing on an official academic transcript for which the student was granted academic restart. If a student changes course of study, the credit hours attempted under all courses of study are included in the calculation of attempted and earned credit hours.  A student is required to earn 67 percent of all credit hours attempted as described above. This quantitative standard is the percentage calculated as “number of credit hours earned” divided by “number of credit hours attempted”. Audited classes (L) are never eligible for financial aid assistance. Most remedial credits are not counted as attempted or earned credits.  The following remedial classes are counted in attempted credits with the final grade received counted as an earned grade:  ENG 100, RSS 100 and MAT 100.

Minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA)

A student must attain the following cumulative grade point average:

• Some LCCC programs have additional or more stringent satisfactory academic progress policies.
• A student may receive financial aid for a previously passed course only once.
• A student who enrolled in a course and passed it, then enrolled in the class again and failed it is not eligible again for financial aid for that class.
•  A student may not receive financial aid for classes not required by his/her major.
• A student may receive federal financial aid for  no more than 30 remedial credits.
• Transfer credits accepted from other schools are counted towards completion of the student’s program as both attempted and completed hours.
• ESL courses are counted as remedial credits up to a limit of 30 credits.
• Students may only receive a financial aid academic appeal  once during the time they are attending Lehigh Carbon Community College.
• An incomplete grade that becomes a failing grade may result in a student failing to meet financial aid satisfactory academic progress.  See below for additional information about failure to maintain satisfactory academic progress.

Right to Appeal

If a student fails to make satisfactory academic progress, he/she has the opportunity to appeal his/her academic progress to the Financial Aid Office in writing. Appeal forms are available from the Office of Financial Aid as well as on the Lehigh Carbon Community College website under Financial Aid. Appeals are considered if the lack of academic progress resulted from death of a relative of the student, an injury or illness of the student, family difficulties, interpersonal problems, difficulty balancing work, family, school, etc., financial or other special circumstances. Appeals are considered on a case by case basis and reviewed by the Office of Financial Aid within 30 days of receipt of the appeal form. The decision or recommendation of the Office of Financial Aid is final. When an appeal is approved the student’s financial aid eligibility will be reinstated with specific conditions for the student to meet to remain eligible for financial aid. If the conditions of the appeal are not met then the appeal becomes void for the next semester and the student is no longer eligible for financial aid. If the initial appeal is denied, the student will remain in an ineligible status and must pay for educational costs. If the student is denied aid based on his/her academic progress, that denial takes precedence over any previous award notification he/she may have received. Students may only receive a financial aid academic appeal once during the time they are attending Lehigh Carbon Community College.

Reestablishing Satisfactory Progress

A student may reestablish his/her eligibility to receive financial assistance by enrolling at Lehigh Carbon Community College at his/her own expense and completing a sufficient number of courses at a sufficiently high grade point average to meet the standards.

Academic Progress Policy For Pennsylvania State Grants Recipients Who Remain Enrolled In State Grant Eligible Programs

Students who have received state grant assistance are required to make satisfactory academic progress. For each academic year (fall, spring and/or summer semester) during which state grant aid is received, a student must successfully complete the minimum number of credits appropriate to the student’s enrollment status during the terms for which state grant aid was received. For example: If a student last received state grant aid during the previous academic year and received two full-time semesters of state grant aid the student must have successfully completed 24 semester credits during or since those two terms in order to be eligible for the next academic year. Likewise if the student last received state grant aid during the previous academic year and received two halftime semesters of state grant aid the student must have successfully completed 12 to 22 semester credits during or since those two terms in order to be eligible for the next academic year.  For transfer students the number of credits to be successfully completed carries over from one school to another. Therefore if the student received a state grant at one school but did not successfully complete the required number of credits, the student is not eligible for state grant at another school until all “make up” credits are successfully completed. Progress for state grant purposes is checked at the end of each academic year.

It is the student’s responsibility to know the requirements as described above. Failure to receive notification will not cancel a student’s financial aid status.

If you have any questions, contact the Financial Aid Office at 610-799-1133.

revised 02/2019