Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Federal regulations (34 CFR 668.34) mandate that a student receiving financial assistance under federal Title IV programs must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in his/her course of study regardless of whether or not financial aid is awarded each semester.

Students receiving financial aid must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress towards a Bachelor of Applied Technology Degree, Associate Degree or approved Certificate Program in order to receive Federal Title IV and/or State Financial Aid.

All Federal and State aid awarded by the Financial Aid Office are affected by this policy.

Review Policy

Satisfactory Academic Progress will be evaluated at the end of each semester (Fall, Spring, and Summer). Failure to make Satisfactory Academic Progress may impact future financial aid eligibility for the upcoming academic year.

Academic Standards

You must maintain a minimum overall cumulative grade point average of 2.000 for all credit hours attempted and transferred to Brazosport College.

Completion Rate

You must successfully complete a minimum of 67% of all attempted coursework. Your academic progress will be reviewed at the end of each each semester. If your number of earned hours drops below 67% of your attempted hours, then you will no longer be eligible for financial aid.

How this percentage is determined:

Overall Earned Hours ÷ Overall Attempted Hours = Percentage of Earned Coursework

Example: If you've attempted 62 credit hours overall, you must have completed a minimum of 42 credit hours overall (42 ÷ 62 = 67%) in order to meet the SAP completion rate requirement.

The following counts as attempted hours in the SAP calculation:

• Completed courses
• Transitional courses
• “F” grades
• “W” or withdrawn courses
• “I” or incomplete courses
• “NC” or no credit
• Repeated courses

Maximum Time Frame

The number of semester credit hours you may attempt cannot exceed 150% of the number of semester credit hours required for graduation in your program of study. You can review how many hours are required to complete your program by visiting the Brazosport College Catalog.

Example: If your program requires 60 credit hours to graduate, the maximum you can attempt is 90 credit hours. 

Keep in mind that all periods of enrollment must be considered—even those you did not receive financial aid for as well as hours transferred from another school.

Your academic progress will be reviewed at the end of each semester. During this review, if it is found that you will exceed 150 percent of the hours required for graduation, then you will no longer be eligible for financial aid, regardless of whether or not you have reached the maximum number of hours.

Consequences of Not Meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Financial Aid Warning

You will be placed on financial aid warning if academic or completion rate standards set by the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy are not achieved. You may still receive financial aid while on financial aid warning.

You will be removed from financial aid warning and placed in good standing at the end of the next semester enrolled if Satisfactory Academic Progress standards are met.

Financial Aid Suspension

You will be placed on financial aid suspension if academic or completion rate standards continue to not be achieved or the you have reached the maximum time frame for your program of study.

If you are able to raise your overall GPA and completion rate to the minimum acceptable standards or above, you may regain your good standing status.

If your financial aid eligibility has been suspended, you may appeal the decision, in writing, to the financial aid office, if you believe that you had extenuating circumstances that led to your unsatisfactory progress. You will be notified of the decision made by the Committee on Satisfactory Academic Progress via your Brazosport College email.

You may review the complete appeal process on the full Satisfactory Academic Progress policy.

Financial Aid Appeals

Appeals may be granted to students with extenuating circumstances. Examples of these include:

• Military Leave
• Illness
• Death in family

The following are NOT considered extenuating circumstances:

• Incarceration resulting from a guilty verdict
• Voluntary pause, lapse or termination of employment
• Voluntary overtime
• Young and irresponsible
• Changing majors due to being undecided

Appeals are only available for the Fall and Spring semesters (not available for Summer terms).

Appeals can only be accepted by the Financial Office during the eligibility periods:

• FALL: July 1st until the Official Record Date of the Fall semester (usually the 10th day of class)
• SPRING: November 1st until the Official Record Date of the Spring semester (usually the 10th day of class)

Please contact the Financial Aid Office at finaid@brazosport.edu if you have questions about the appeal process and to request an application during the eligibility periods.

Transitional Courses

You can receive financial aid for a total of twenty-seven (27) attempted transitional hours, including transitional coursework taken at other institutions. Keep in mind that all transitional courses will be counted as attempted hours.

Graduates Who Wish to Return to Brazosport College for a Second Degree

If you graduated from Brazosport College (BC) and re-enroll at BC to pursue another educational program, all developmental courses will be excluded from the SAP calculation. Classes from the program you graduated from that do not count toward graduation for the new program; will also be excluded from the SAP calculation.

The review for a new degree after graduation is limited to one degree plan review; therefore, students are allowed to do this only once after graduation or lifetime at BC.

Review the full Satisfactory Academic Progress policy.