As a financial aid recipient, federal regulations require that students maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (AP) and work towards an eligible degree or certificate. The criteria used to determine AP apply to all of the terms attended regardless of whether or not financial aid was received. Federal regulations also require a student to be on pace of at least 67% to complete the declared degree/certificate within the 150% maximum time-frame of the program, while maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative grade point average (cGPA). This policy and procedure also apply to most state financial aid.
Academic Progress will be determined for all applicants prior to being awarded financial aid. Determination will be based on all transcribed credits at BMCC, any transfer credits evaluated and accepted toward the student’s degree/certificate, and any credits from HOST institutions if a consortium agreement is in place. These credits are considered regardless of whether or not financial aid was received. Academic Progress criteria will also be reviewed at the end of every term to monitor progress and to determine a student’s financial aid status.
Cumulative GPA is calculated from all transcribed grades including both BMCC credits and evaluated transfer credits which have been accepted toward the student’s degree/certificate: (Audit (AU), Incomplete (INC), Pass (P), No Pass (NP), Retake (R), and Withdraw (W) are not included in the calculation of the GPA.
Your Pace is calculated by dividing the total number of credits you have successfully completed by the total number of credits you have attempted (both BMCC credits and transfer credits applied to your program are considered). Grades of A, B, C, D (note: D grades are not acceptable for transfer degrees), and P are considered to be successful. For all degrees, grades of F, FA, INC, NP, and W are considered unsuccessful. For transfer degrees AAOT, ASOT, and AS, a D is considered an unsuccessful grade. Note: a student on probation may be upgraded to Good Standing status if the required cumulative GPA and cumulative Pace is reached even if an unsuccessful grade is obtained while on probation.
The maximum time frame for which a student may be eligible for Title IV Federal Financial Aid is called the 150% rule. A student may be eligible to receive financial aid to ATTEMPT up to 150% of the credits required to complete their stated degree/certificate. For example, for a two-year degree of 90 credits the student would be allowed 135 credits and for a one-year certificate of 45 credits, the student would be allowed approximately 68 credits. Up to 45 credits of Development Education (credits below the 100 level) will be excluded when calculating maximum time-frame eligibility. This rule applies to all students receiving financial aid, even those who have changed their major or are pursuing dual majors.