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Policies

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

To be academically eligible for Federal Student Aid, a you must be making satisfactory academic progress toward your degree or certificate program. To accurately measure your progress in your program, the DSLCC Financial Aid SAP Policy will incorporate a qualitative measure of progress as well as a quantitative measure of progress.

  • Federal Law requires DSLCC to have a SAP policy.
  • Too many withdrawals (grades of W), are the #1 reason for student’s losing their eligibility for financial aid.
  • You must pass Three (3) SAP criteria to get aid. These guidelines must cover all periods of enrollment regardless of whether or not you have received financial aid in the past:
  1. Complete 67% of all courses attempted with grades of A,B,C,D,S, or P.
  2. Have a cumulative grade point average requirement of:
Credit Hours Attempted Minimum GPA Expected
1-15 1.5
16-30 1.75
31+ 2.0
  1. Not exceed 150% of the credit hours required to graduate from your academic program. Example: If the total credits in your degree plan are 66, then your 150% max is 99. (66 * 1.5 = 99).

Attendance

If you receive Federal Student Aid for tuition and/or bookstore charges and do not attend classes, you will have to repay the US Department of Education any charges used for tuition or textbooks, classes are dropped during the tuition refund period (consult class schedule for exact dates, in myDabney). If you do not begin attendance in all of your scheduled classes, your Federal Student Aid eligibility will be recalculated. This may result in you having to pay back the federal government or DSLCC.

Required Notification

If you receive Federal Student Aid, you are required to notify DSLCC’s Financial Aid Office of any other scholarships, grants, or loans from sources outside of DSLCC. Failure to do so may result in the cancellation of all or part of your offer package.

NOTE: DSLCC’s Financial Aid Office reserves the right to make changes in any offers, when necessary.

Repeated Coursework Policy

  • Federal Student Aid can only pay for 30 credits of developmental courses. If more than 30 developmental credits are taken, the developmental education credits must be paid for by the you, i.e. the additional developmental courses will be factored out of your enrollment level.
  • Federal Student Aid eligibility cannot be determined if a you have one or more incomplete grades, “I” grades, from a previous term.
  • Federal Student Aid will pay for repeated classes until a you pass, in addition to one more attempt, to achieve a higher grade.
  • Repeated courses are always counted in the Satisfactory Academic Process calculation and may negatively affect your Completion Rate, GPA, and 150% Timeframe.
  • Audited, non-credit, and BSK courses are not eligible for Federal Student Aid. These courses will be factored out of your enrollment level.

Federal Return to Title IV Policy

DSLCC’s Financial Aid Office is required by federal statute to recalculate federal financial aid eligibility if you withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term. The federal Title IV financial aid programs must be recalculated in these situations.

If a you leave the DSLCC prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term, the DSLCC Financial Aid Office recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds. Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV funds formula:

Percentage of payment period or term completed = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date (the last date you attended class, not the date you withdraw from the class) divided by the total days in the payment period or term. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) This percentage is also the percentage of earned aid.

Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula:

Aid to be returned = (100% of the aid that could be disbursed minus the percentage of earned aid) multiplied by the total amount of aid that could have been disbursed during the payment period or term.

If you earn less aid than was disbursed, DSLCC would be required to return a portion of the funds and you would be required to return a portion of the funds. Keep in mind that when Title IV funds are returned, you may owe a debit balance to the DSLCC.

If you earned more aid than was disbursed, DSLCC would owe the you a post-withdrawal disbursement which must be paid within 120 days of your withdrawal.

DSLCC must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the date of the determination of the date of the student’s withdrawal.

Refunds are allocated in the following order:

  1. Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans
  2. Subsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans
  3. Direct Parent PLUS Loans
  4. Federal Pell Grants for which a Return of funds is required
  5. Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) for which a Return of funds is required
  6. Commonwealth Grant (COMA)
  7. Virginia Guaranteed Assistant Program (VGAP)
  8. Other assistance under this Title for which a Return of funds is required

Review

Any commitment of federal or state funds is tentative and contingent upon subsequent congressional appropriation and actual receipt of the funds by DSLCC. The Financial Aid Office staff reserves the right, on behalf DSLCC, to review and cancel an offer at any time because of changes in aid and/or academic status.

Bookstore Charges

You may choose to charge textbooks and/or supplies at the DSLCC Bookstore up to the amount of the grant award (but not exceeding the semester limit), minus appropriate tuition and fee charges. Eligible grant recipients may charge in the Bookstore during the designated time period (one week before the regular semester begins through the last date to drop with refund for the regular semester). Allowable items categorized as supplies (required or suggested course materials) include: Pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, highlighters, folders ring binders, USB flash drives, calculators, ear buds, earphones, and WEPA cards. Nursing students can charge uniforms, BP cuffs, stethoscopes, and lanyards. Culinary students can charge uniforms and knife kits. Non-allowable purchases include but are not limited to: Apparel, food and drink, gift items, gift/pre-paid cards, and electronic devices and peripherals used with cell phones, chargers, batteries, power cords, etc.

Taxable Financial Aid

If you receive grants and scholarships that total more than the cost of tuition, fees, and books, you must report the excess on your tax return. Contact your tax consultant for more information.