Eligibility

What Makes a Student Eligable?

1. Students EFC (Expected Family Contribution which is determined through the filing of FAFSA) is less than the cost of attendance at the school.
2. Student must be enrolled in a course of study that is eligible for financial aid. You can search for financial aid eligible programs at ICC here.
3. Student must also meet the ICC academic requirements for financial aid. Whether a student is considered to be making satisfactory progress depends on a successful course completion rate, grade point average (GPA), and maximum hours attempted to complete his or her course of study.

Class Override Request

If students have a class that has been determined to not be financial aid eligible but is required to complete a program, students can request an override.

Academic Standards

ICC is required to establish satisfactory academic progress standards (SAP) for its federal and state financial assistance recipients in accordance with U.S. Department of Education regulations. These standards ensure that only students demonstrating satisfactory academic progress toward the completion of their educational programs will continue to receive financial assistance.

It is required by the U.S. Department of Education that an entire student’s record be evaluated for determining academic eligibility for financial assistance, even those semesters for which a student did not receive financial assistance.

• Course Completion Rate

  ICC students must complete at least 67% of their cumulative hours attempted (66.5% or higher). The completion rate is calculated as follows:

  Total # of Hours Completed/Total # of Hours Attempted.

  Hours attempted include all courses taken during a period of enrollment including withdrawals, repeated courses, and remedial courses. All hours forgiven under ICC’s Academic Forgiveness Policy appear on the academic record and count towards hours attempted. There is no forgiveness of courses in the calculation of course completion rate for financial assistance eligibility.

  Hours completed are defined as courses completed with grades of A, B, C, D or S. Hours attempted with grades of F, W, WF, WU, EX, FX, U, I or FA are considered NOT completed. In addition, the WF and FA grades will be used in the GPA calculation as an F grade. All courses with grades of NG, GED classes and hours transferred in from other institutions are not considered in the completion rate calculation. All NR (Not Reported) and I (Incomplete) grades will be used in the calculation of completion rate at the end of the semester. Once the student has been notified that the grade change has been processed, the student must contact the Financial Assistance office for a new SAP calculation.
• Grade Point Average

  Each student must meet a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 to meet the SAP requirements. For the purposes of these standards, GPA is taken directly from the student’s academic record at ICC. All hours forgiven under ICC’s Academic Forgiveness Policy are removed from the GPA calculation on the academic record, and are therefore removed from the GPA calculation under this policy.
• Maximum Hours Attempted

  The maximum attempted hours a student has to complete their degree is equal to 150%, or 1.5 times the number of hours required for the completion of the degree or certificate. This includes hours transferred into ICC from other institutions or hours taken at ICC that were credited toward other program requirements.

  If the student changes their program of study, any previous coursework completed will be included in the calculation of attempted hours for the current program of study designated by the student. Remedial coursework will not be counted toward maximum hours attempted. In general, a student must successfully complete approximately 2/3 of their attempted credit hours each semester to ensure successful completion of their program of study prior to reaching the maximum hours allowed for financial aid.

  Any student exceeding the 150% requirement will automatically be placed on SAP termination status for financial assistance. GED courses are not included in the maximum hours calculation.

Failing to Meet Academic Requirements

The first semester a student fails to meet one or more of the academic requirements, the student is placed on SAP warning. The second consecutive semester a student fails to meet one or more of the academic requirements, the student is placed on SAP termination.

• Academic Warning

  Warning status does not stop a student from receiving assistance and is intended to serve as a notice that eligibility for assistance may be in jeopardy if one or more of the requirements are not met after the next semester. If the student raises his or her course completion rate and GPA to meet the standard, the student will be removed from warning and placed back in a satisfactory status.
• Termination

  Termination status stops a student from receiving all types of financial assistance including Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loans, Federal Work Study, ISAC MAP Grants, ISAC Merit Recognition Scholarships, Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) and some academic scholarships.

  If a student is placed on termination for financial assistance, the student must regain good SAP standing by raising their course completion rate to 66.5% and/or raising their cumulative GPA to 2.0. Once these requirements have been met, and if the student has not reached the maximum hours allowed for their program of study, financial assistance will be reinstated.

  Appealing Termination Status

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