Student smiling in class

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

ACC values academic excellence and encourages students to take responsibility for maintaining satisfactory academic progress. When students do not maintain academic progress, the College will intervene as appropriate to assist students in attaining academic success.

The College maintains a system for monitoring academic progress to identify those students experiencing academic difficulty. The College will intervene in a student’s academic life when circumstances warrant, will limit enrollment and course selection if considered necessary, and may employ additional interventions that foster and encourage academic success.

The College’s academic standings and interventions are:

  1. Good Standing: Cumulative 2.0 or greater Grade Point Average (GPA.) The student receives a congratulatory statement.
  2. Warning: A student who does not meet a cumulative 2.0 or greater GPA. Intervention: Registration hold applied. The student is notified of the academic standing and must meet with Advisor/Completion Counselor/Success Coach/Special Populations Advocate and develop a plan for improvement in order to register.
  3. Probation: Warning moves to Probation when a student does not meet the cumulative 2.0 GPA during the subsequent semester of enrollment. The student must follow the requirements of a performance improvement plan and will remain on Probation as long as the semester GPA is 2.0 or greater. Intervention: Registration hold applied. Students must meet with Advisor/Completion Counselor/Success Coach/Special Populations Advocate and develop a plan for improvement in order to register.
  4. Suspension: Probation moves to Suspension when a student on Probation does not meet the standard of a semester 2.0 or greater GPA during the subsequent semester of enrollment. The student is suspended for one semester. Intervention: Registration hold applied. Student is notified that: The student is suspended and may not enroll in any ACC credit courses for the indicated period. The student may have the opportunity to enroll for the semester under some stipulations. To be considered for conditional enrollment, the student must meet with a counselor for an Academic Standards of Progress Review. If the dean of Student Affairs grants approval, the counselor and the student will develop a plan for academic improvement, including a mid- semester report on academic progress.
  5. Conditional Reinstatement: Suspension moves to Probation after the suspension period. The student will remain on Probation as long as the semester GPA is 2.0 or greater. A student not meeting semester requirements will be suspended for one semester. Intervention: Registration hold applied. The student is notified of the academic standing and must meet with a counselor and develop a plan for improvement in order to register. A student’s academic status returns to Good Standing at any point that the student meets the cumulative 2.0 or greater GPA.

Financial Aid and SAP

Students receiving financial aid also must comply with the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy for Financial Aid Recipients.

Status Description Consequence
Good Standing Student is meeting academic standards or has no academic history. Fully eligible for financial aid.
Financial Aid Warning Student did not meet standards for cumulative GPA and/or 67% completion rate. Eligible for financial aid but must reach all standards by the end of the next semester to maintain eligibility.
Financial Aid Suspension Student is not meeting cumulative GPA and/or 67% completion rate and is not eligible for the Warning status. Ineligible for financial aid.
Warning Maximum Timeframe Students is approaching the maximum timeframe for their declared degree program. Eligible for financial aid but, if a student does not complete their degree within the established maximum timeframe for their program, they will eventually be placed on Maximum Timeframe Suspension (see below.)
Maximum TimeFrame Suspension According to the major on file, the student has attempted too many credit hours to be eligible for aid. Ineligible for financial aid

 

Three Components: Grade Point Average (GPA), Completion Rate, and Maximum Time Frame