Anoka Ramsey Community College

Standards of Progress

In accordance with federal and state regulations and Minnesota State Board Policy 2.9, Anoka-Ramsey Community College shall monitor all credits for all students and shall apply the following minimum cumulative standards of progress beginning with a student’s sixth (6th) attempted credit:

• Qualitative: Students are expected to meet or exceed a cumulative earned grade point average (GPA) of 2.00.
• Pace of Progression/Quantitative: Students are expected to meet or exceed a cumulative earned percentage of 66.67%.
• Maximum timeframe: Students may continue to receive financial aid through 150% of the published credit length of the declared program (example: 150% of a 60 credit AA degree equals 90 credits).

Evaluation Period

• Academic progress, for all students, shall be evaluated prior to the 10th day of the subsequent academic term.

• Academic Progress for Concurrent Enrollment (ARCC College in the High School campus) students shall be evaluated at the end of their high school academic year. Students enrolled as both Concurrent Enrollment and PSEO on campus will be reviewed manually at the end of every term. Students with classes still in progress at the end of the ARCC term will be evaluated at the end of the high school academic year.

Failure to Meet Standards

• Maximum Timeframe: A student reaching 150% of the published credit length of the program is immediately suspended from financial aid eligibility. All students are subject to the calculation of maximum timeframe, even when not receiving financial aid. Degree changes and subsequent degree pursuits require students to appeal maximum timeframe in order to potentially reinstate financial aid eligibility. The maximum timeframe calculation applies to all students and all credits regardless of major.
• Warning: A student failing to meet the minimum cumulative qualitative or pace of progression/quantitative standard of academic progress is immediately placed on warning. A student on warning remains eligible to enroll and receive financial aid. No appeal is necessary for this status.
• Reinstatement of good academic standing for students on warning status. If at the end of the warning period a student who has been on warning status has met both the institution’s cumulative grade point average and cumulative completion percentage status, the institution shall end the student’s warning status. There is no appeal necessary for this status.
• Suspension of students on warning status: A student on warning status failing to meet the minimum cumulative qualitative or pace of progression/quantitative standard of academic progress during the next term of enrollment is immediately placed on suspension. A student on suspension is not eligible to enroll or receive financial aid.
• Suspension for maximum time frame failure: If at the end of the evaluation period a student has failed to meet the institution’s standard for measurement of maximum time frame, the institution shall suspend the student from financial aid eligibility immediately upon completion of the evaluation.
• Suspension of Students for Extraordinary Circumstances: Students may be immediately suspended in the event of extraordinary circumstances, including but not limited to previously suspended, and reinstated students whose academic performance falls below acceptable standards during a subsequent term of enrollment; students who register for courses, receive financial aid and do not attend any classes; and students whose attendance patterns appear to be an abuse of the receipt of financial aid. Students from other institutions will be held to the same acceptable standards and may be placed on immediate suspension.
• Suspension for inability to meet program requirements within the maximum time frame: If at the end of any evaluation period the institution determines that it is not possible for a student to raise their GPA or pace of course completion percentage to meet the institution’s standards before the student would reach the end of the program for which financial aid is being received, the institution shall suspend the student from financial aid eligibility immediately upon completion of the evaluation.

Appeals and Probation

A student has the right to appeal a suspension or maximum timeframe based on unusual or extenuating circumstances, including but not limited to the death of a family member, student injury, illness or hospitalization. The Suspension Appeal must be submitted in writing for consideration by the Suspension Appeal Committee, and include an explanation of the circumstances that negatively affected academic progress, an academic plan to support success, and applicable documentation for both.

The Maximum Time-Frame appeal must be submitted in writing to the Financial Aid office within the term the student is seeking financial aid. The appeal must include an explanation of the circumstances that negatively affected academic progress, a plan to correct deficiencies, and supporting documentation.

Students may appeal an initial adverse decision and shall have their appeal considered by an alternate process. The result of a student’s appeal/s shall be communicated, in writing, and sent to the student's college email address.

An appeal may be approved only if the institution: has determined that the student should be able to meet SAP standards at the end of the next evaluation period or develops an academic plan with the student that, if followed, shall ensure that the student is able to meet SAP standards by a specific point in time. The academic plan will include term standards of a 2.5 GPA and 100 percent of completion.

Academic Plan Definition: a student who successfully appeals for reinstatement of financial aid eligibility may be required to complete, during a probationary period, specific requirements contained in an academic plan developed for that student. Academic plan details require students to meet a 2.5 term GPA and 100 percent completion rate.

Probation Status

A student who has successfully appealed a suspension shall be placed on probation for one evaluation period. If at the end of the evaluation period, a student has met the institution’s cumulative grade point average of a 2.0 and has a completion percentage of at least 66.67%, the student shall be returned to good academic standing.

If the student has not met the cumulative grade point average and pace of progression/completion percentage standard but has met the conditions specified in their academic plan, the student shall be under a probationary status for a subsequent evaluation period.

If the student has not met the institution’s cumulative grade point average and completion percentage standard and has also not met the conditions specified in their academic plan, the student shall be re-suspended upon completion of the evaluation.

Notification of Status and Appeal Results

Students failing to maintain academic progress standards shall be notified in writing. Notification shall include conditions of warning, suspension or probation and the process to appeal suspension status.

Notification of approved appeals shall include the standards that the student is expected to meet and the academic plan that the student is expected to complete in order to retain financial aid eligibility at the end of the next evaluation period.

Notification of denied appeals shall describe the reason(s) for the denial and the institution’s process for appealing that denial.

Reinstatement

• A probationary student will have their academic good standing reinstated upon meeting or exceeding the minimum cumulative grade point average and pace of progression/completion standard.
• A suspended student may have their eligibility to enroll and receive financial aid reinstated only after an appeal has been approved. Neither paying for his or her own classes, nor sitting out a period of time is sufficient in and of itself to reestablish eligibility.

Treatment of Grades and Credits

Treatment of grades:

• Attempted Credits: Credits for which a student is officially registered at the end of the drop period each term.
• Cumulative Credits: Sum of registered credits for all terms of enrollment, including summer terms.
• Earned Credits: Successfully completed credits with a grade of A, B, C, D, or P (pass). Earned credits do not include credits with a grade of F (Fail), I (Incomplete), NC (No Credit), or with a designation of W (Withdraw) or Z (in progress). All credits and grades are included in the maximum timeframe calculation.
• Earned Percentage: Percentage is calculated by dividing the number of earned credits by the number of attempted credits.
• Grade Point Average (GPA): Calculated using a grade point value for grades of A, B, C, D, and F. (P counts as a credit earned, but it carries no grade point value.)
• Academic Forgiveness: See Anoka-Ramsey Academic Forgiveness Policy 3B.7 
• Audited (AU) Courses: Audited courses shall not be funded by financial aid and shall not be included in the GPA, earned percentage, or maximum timeframe calculations.
• Consortium Credits: Credits for which financial aid is received under a consortium agreement shall be included in the cumulative GPA, completion percentage, and maximum time-frame calculations.
• Developmental Credits: Developmental credits (courses numbered under 1000) shall be included in the cumulative GPA. These credits are excluded from the completion percentage calculations. Up to 30 developmental credits shall be excluded from maximum timeframe calculation.
• Repeated Courses: Students may repeat a course for the purpose of achieving a higher grade or to review course material. Repeat courses shall be included in the earned completion percentage and maximum time frame calculations. With the exception of those courses designated as repeatable, only the highest grade of a repeated course shall be used in the GPA calculation. Students shall not be permitted to receive financial aid for more than one repetition of a previously passed (A, B, C, D, pass) course unless the course was designed to be repeated.
• Transfer Credits: Transfer credits accepted by the institution and applied to the student’s program requirements shall be counted as credits attempted and completed for calculation of cumulative completion percentage. Grades associated with these credits shall not be used in calculating cumulative GPA. Transfer credits accepted by the institution shall apply toward the maximum timeframe calculation.
• Withdrawals: Credits for which a designation of “W” is received shall be included in attempted credits, but not earned credits. A “W” does not impact GPA, but does negatively impact earned percentage.

Students have the primary responsibility for their own academic progress and for seeking assistance when experiencing academic difficulty. Students are encouraged to keep a file of their grades and transcripts.

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History:

08.2002 Adopted and implemented both policy and procedure

05.2004 Revised in compliance with amended MnSCU policy and federal law. Procedures were combined into policy.

03.2005 Eliminated last sentence in second bullet item under "Reinstatement" when MnSCU altered a business practice.

05.2006 Revised in compliance with revised Minnesota State Board Policy. Procedural language was moved to new Procedure

01.2007 Reviewed by the Office of the Chancellor and revised in compliance with MnSCU policy.

04.2011 Updated to comply with new Federal regulation and Minnesota State policy

05.2001 Removed “toward a student’s general education, program, or degree requirements” from Transfer Credits bullet under Treatment of Grades for compliance with Federal regulation.

05.2015 Updates to Maximum time frame language per regulation. Add Academic Forgiveness link.

04.2017 Added definition of "academic plan"

07.2017 Technical changes, MnSCU to Minnesota State

03.2018 "Evaluation Period" updated to include explanation for PSEO and Concurrent Enrollment students. "Maximum Timeframe" clarified language regarding degree changes requiring students to appeal for possible reinstatement of financial aid.

02.2022 Technical change to align treatment of developmental credits with Minn State System policy.

04.2022 Technical changes to align required completion percentage with Minn State policy, make minor language clarifications, and specify that appeal results are sent via college email.