Maintaining Financial Aid Eligibility

In order to continue receiving financial aid, you must maintain satisfactory academic progress. This means you need to uphold a good GPA and complete classes while making progress towards successful completion of a degree/certificate. Click here for more information about theSatisfactory Academic Progress Policy.

• GPA
  You must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher.
• Completion Rate
  You must maintain a cumulative completion rate of 66.67% or higher
• Degree Progress
  Aid eligibility is limited to 150% of a program's credit length (approximately 135 credits for two-year degree and 75 for one-year certificate) even if a degree is not earned.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools does COCC have to help students keep on track?

GradTracks is a tool to help you track your progress. GradTracks helps you see how completed courses are applied towards your degree/certificate and what requirements and courses are needed to graduate.

How does dropping or auditing classes affect aid eligibility?

Dropping or auditing a class or all classes will impact aid eligibility. It can keep you from making satisfactory academic progress towards your degree/certificate. You could lose your aid eligibility and be required to pay financial aid back.

Why is keeping aid eligibility so important?

When you fail to meet the eligibility standards for either completion rate and/or GPA, an automatic WARNING status is enforced. You will be emailed a notification informing you of your change in status. If your cumulative completion rate and/or GPA are not up to the minimum requirements by the end of your next term, you become ineligible for aid.

So what happens if I do not maintain eligibility?

If you are in warning status and fail to meet the cumulative minimums at the end of the next evaluation period, you will not be eligible for any federal aid. This will include grants, work-study, loans and institutional awards.

Please note
Each students situation is different. So if you are unsure of how dropping, auditing or failing classes will hurt your aid eligibility, please contact the Financial Aid Office at 541.383.7260.