Financial Aid Appeal
Financial Aid Appeal
Re-establishing Your Academic Financial Aid Eligibility
Federal regulations require students to demonstrate Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) toward an eligible degree or certificate program to qualify to receive financial assistance.
If you are no longer eligible for financial aid assistance due to one or more of the federal requirements below, and if you have documented extenuating circumstances, you may submit a Financial Aid Appeal** in an effort to request that your financial aid be reinstated:
- You were denied financial aid because you did not meet the 2.0 cumulative GPA requirement.
2. You were denied financial aid because you did not meet the 67% completion rate (for students who have attempted 30 or more credits OR 60% completion rate for students who attempted 10-30 credits).
3. You were denied financial aid because you did not complete your program within 150% of the program length.
**Students are limited to 3 approved appeals throughout the duration of their enrollment at CCRI. Based on extremely unusual circumstances only, the Director of Financial Aid may approve subsequent appeals beyond this limit**
Extenuating Circumstances backed by Official Documentation
Your appeal should contain extenuating circumstances which prevented you from making Satisfactory Academic Progress.
Extenuating circumstances are considered to be significant life experiences that affected your emotional and/or physical health so much that you were unable to make good academic progress while meeting SAP.
Examples of significant extenuating circumstances include:
- Medical illness and/or injury
- Death of an immediate family member
- Divorce
- Foreclosure or eviction
- Military Deployment
- Legal problems or police matters
All of the above examples must pertain to the semester(s) in which you did not meet Satisfactory Academic progress.
You may not base your appeal on:
- Your need for financial aid
- Your lack of knowledge that your financial aid was in jeopardy
- The classes that you took were many years ago
- You were not focused or committed to your education
- You did not know what classes to register for
- You did not know what to major in
- You did not attend class, or stopped going to class
Financial Aid Appeal Instructions
- Make an appointment with your assigned personal Student Success Coach through Starfish
or if you have not yet been assigned a personal Student Success Coach, register for
a Virtual Drop-in Advising Session at www.ccri.edu/advising. Students should meet with a Student Success Coach to begin the process.
- During this session, the Student Success Coach will create an Education Plan for you. This plan is a required step in the completed Financial Aid Appeal Packet. Incomplete appeals will not be reviewed.
- Complete your appeal form, attach any necessary supporting documentation, and the items from the checklist.
- You will be notified about the status of your financial aid appeal through your MyCCRI email account within 10-14 working days from the date your completed appeal packet is reviewed. You can also view your status in your MyCCRI account - For Students tab - Financial Aid Information - Financial Aid Academic Eligibility (SAP).
All appeals must be submitted in writing and documentation must be provided when applicable. If your appeal pertains to academic history from two (2) or more years ago, documentation is not required if the mitigating circumstances are thoroughly described on the appeal.
The Financial Aid Appeal committee will review appeals and make decisions regarding approval or denial. The decisions of this committee cannot be appealed unless additional information is presented that was not included in the initial appeal. The decision of the Financial Aid Appeal committee may only be overturned by the Director of Financial Aid or their designee.
Deadline for Submitting an Appeal
Students who wish to submit a Financial Aid Appeal Form MUST do so by the last day of Add/Drop period each semester. An extension of this deadline may be approved by the Dean of Financial Assistance and Scholarships, the Coordinator of SAP Initiatives, or their designee.
Conditions of an Approved Appeal
- You MUST have an Education Plan prepared by a Student Success Coach submitted through the DocuSign system to received financial aid funds. An approved appeal without the Education Plan will NOT receive any funds.
- All registered credits from the time of the approval forward MUST be applicable to your program of study. Registering for a non-applicable course will make you ineligible for financial aid.
- Beginning with the term the appeal is approved for and every term going forward,
you MUST complete 100% of the courses you register for with a minimum 2.0 term GPA
and no grade below a D. (Overall 2.0 GPA still applies to meet SAP requirements)
- Grades of W, WP, WF, NA, F, or I/IC (Incomplete) after an approved appeal is a violation of the conditions of the appeal approval and will result in academic ineligibility for Financial Aid.