Appeals and Re-Establishing Progress

Students who have received notification of a financial aid denial and believe they had an extenuating circumstance that prevented them from meeting SAP standards may appeal their denial status. Students should carefully read the instructions and fill out the Financial Aid Appeals Form and submit the following with the appeal to the Financial Aid Office:

• Detailed statement from the student explaining why SAP was not met;
• Explanation of what circumstances have changed that will allow the student to meet cumulative standards/requirements for future terms;
• Students with an excessive denial or students with 100 or more attempted credits, must submit a degree evaluation from the Undergraduate Academic Advisement Office — online degree evaluations from UCONNECT are not accepted; and,
• Graduate students also must a plan of study.

A financial aid appeal committee composed of UCO staff will review the appeal and documentation. Notification of the appeal decision will occur within ten working days of the appeal deadline.

Appeal Deadlines

The second Friday of each month. Semester deadlines: Spring (second Friday of April), Summer (second Friday of July), Fall (second Friday of November).

Probation

Students on a probation term are eligible to receive financial aid for one term. At the end of the probation term, progress will be assessed to determine if cumulative GPA and completion rate/pace standards were met as listed on the SAP Standards and Cumulative Requirements Chart 1 below:

Academic Plan

Students on an academic plan are eligible to receive financial aid. An academic plan is developed using the GPA calculator also accessible to students.

The cumulative credits attempted, cumulative GPA and the desired GPA is entered resulting in the credits and required GPA needed to reach the required GPA entered.

The academic plan will reflect student expectations for a required GPA for a designated number of semesters (based on 12 credits per term) in order to meet SAP standards and cumulative requirements.

A copy of the academic plan will be mailed to the student for acknowledgment and must be signed and returned to the Financial Aid Office for the approved appeal to be processed.

Excessive Hours

Students with an appeal approval of excessive hours will receive notification that notes the last semester which they may continue to receive financial aid.

It is important for these students to complete 100% of coursework taken and maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA for undergraduates and a 3.0 cumulative GPA for graduate students; without any F’s, W’s or AW’s for the remaining terms allowed for financial aid eligibility as stated on the appeal approval letter sent to the student. 

Re-Establishment of Financial Aid Eligibility

This is an option provided for students at a denial status who did not submit an appeal for an extenuating circumstance or students whose appeal was denied.

• The student must successfully complete all credits attempted (a minimum of six credits for undergraduate/five credits for graduate students), without UCO financial aid and with a minimum term of 2.25 GPA for undergraduate students or a minimum 3.25 for graduate students.
• The student must complete an appeal form and provide an explanation of why they initially failed to meet SAP standards and what circumstances have changed that will allow them to meet SAP standards in future terms.
• Hours completed at UCO or another institution must be recorded on the UCO academic transcript.
• Upon review, students will be notified of the appeal decision within 10 working days.

Notifications of financial aid SAP statuses are sent only to students’ UCO email accounts.