If a student fails to meet the requirements of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and/or pursuit of program, they may submit an appeal to the appeal committee via the Financial Aid Office. To be considered for an appeal, extenuating circumstances must have contributed to the student’s inability to maintain SAP and/or pursuit of program. A student must document that there were mitigating circumstances, such as a family illness, death or crisis, that prevented the student from meeting the requirements, and must include how the student plans to improve his/her academic performance going forward.
If the appeals committee approves an appeal, aid will be reinstated for one semester. The student will be notified of the conditions that must be met (i.e. pass a certain number of credits; create an education plan with the Student Success Office) for aid eligibility to be extended beyond the single semester. Students who do not meet the conditions of an appeal must re-appeal for financial aid eligibility. Subsequent appeals will consider only those circumstances that prevented the student from meeting the conditions of the initial appeal.
It should be noted that an appeal is not an automatic right of a student; there are guidelines set forth that must be followed to remain in compliance. NYS limits state aid appeals to one for the student’s entire academic pursuit within NYS. Not all students who fail to satisfy NYS good academic standing requirements are necessarily candidates for a waiver. For example, “difficulty adjusting to college life” is not a reasonable basis for a waiver, since that circumstance might apply to many students. Situations that caused a student to lose good academic standing should be beyond the student’s control, not chronic circumstances that cannot be remedied. With the additional term that results from approval of the waiver, a student needs be able to regain good standing or the request cannot be approved.
Appeal Filing Deadlines: The appeal must be in writing and submitted to the Financial Aid Office by the end of the semester for which you're appealing.