The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, requires students to maintain satisfactory progress toward their degree in order to receive financial aid. Hawkeye Community College's Satisfactory Progress Standards for financial aid apply to all students who want to establish or maintain financial aid eligibility for federal, state and institutional programs. These include but are not limited to: Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Federal / State Work Study, Iowa Grant, Vocational-Technology Grant, Stafford Loan (subsidized and unsubsidized), and Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students. These standards apply to a student's entire academic transcript, including terms for which financial aid was not applied or disbursed.
The Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress Standards require that students successfully complete a specific number of credit hours each academic semester and maintain a minimum required grade point average as defined by the standards, and complete a degree within a specific time period. These are minimum standards that must be attained. Specific aid programs or department standards may require more than these minimum standards.
The academic progress of students is monitored a minimum of twice each academic year. Students should contact the Financial Aid Office with questions regarding the intent and/or interpretation of these standards.
Students should not confuse these Financial Aid Standards with the "Academic Standards for Satisfactory Progress." They are two different policies so students follow a different procedure when suspended academically and contact Academic Affairs with questions. A student may be suspended from financial aid but not from the college so please always check with both offices.
Satisfactory Academic Progress is a Three-Part Federal Regulation to ensure students:
Only grades of A, B, C, and D are counted as meeting the required credit/hours. Failed classes, audited classes, withdrawn classes, incomplete grades, no credit/no pass, and grade requital do not count as completed credit/hours and may affect Satisfactory Academic Progress. If your incomplete grade is what made you be on probation or suspension, you must submit the final grade to the financial aid office for review.
Students are allowed to repeat courses and Hawkeye Community College will count all credits but only accept the highest grade obtained.
Hawkeye assumes transfer students enrolled at the institution are making satisfactory academic progress. Students will be held responsible only for academic progress made at Hawkeye. Hawkeye will start monitoring students according to the Hawkeye Financial Aid Standards for Satisfactory Progress guidelines.
After one semester of not complying with the Financial Aid Standards for Satisfactory Progress, the student will be placed on "probation" status and be notified via their Hawkeye email. However, the student will still be eligible to receive financial aid during their probation period (unless other financial aid withdrawal guidelines apply-see Financial Aid Handbook).
Once a student is placed on "probation" status, the "probation" status cannot be removed unless the grade that caused the probation was in error or submitted late. If so, please contact the financial aid office. Students on probation status will receive an email reminding them of their probation status at the end of each subsequent Fall and Spring semesters.
After the second semester of not complying with the Financial Aid Standards for Satisfactory Progress, or upon reaching 150% of their degree program length, the student is placed on "suspension" status and is no longer eligible to receive financial aid.
Students are notified via their Hawkeye email if they have been placed on "suspension" status and of the appeal process they may complete in order to be reinstated for financial aid eligibility.
Hawkeye reserves the right to place a student on Financial Aid probation or suspension who exhibits abuse of receipt of financial aid at any time or who receives 0.00 GPA in any term at Hawkeye Community College.
If a student is not able to comply with these academic progress standards due to a crisis situation, the following steps may be completed to receive consideration for reinstatement of financial aid eligibility. If no documentation is submitted with the appeal, it may be denied.
Students may be reinstated if they appeal their suspension status (explained above) and the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Committee approves it.
It is the responsibility of each student to monitor and keep track of his or her academic progress and to notify the Financial Aid Office of any grade changes (i.e. an incomplete grade changes to a passing grade). Students approved to receive aid again will remain in probation status and be expected to adhere to the Financial Aid Standards for Satisfactory Progress Policy outlined above and any other conditions listed on the Financial Aid Academic Progress Agreement Form.
If financial aid has already been awarded and an appeal is not completed or approved, the financial aid funds will be canceled 30 days after the start of the suspended semester. Reinstatement of the financial aid is contingent upon the availability of the funds at the time the appeal is approved.
Financial Aid Office Hawkeye Center - Main Campus 319-296-4020 or 1-800-670-4769 ext.4020 finaid@hawkeyecollege.edu
