The line at the Student Service Center had to double back several times as students piled in to submit their appeals, following the sudden loss of their financial aid on Dec. 26. After grades for Ohio State finished processing from autumn semester, the Financial Aid department targeted students who failed to meet their requirements, revoked their federal aid, and potentially their educational careers.
One of these students, a sophomore majoring in History, commented on what happened in regards to having his financial aid taken.
“It was the Friday night after Christmas. I had friends over for game night when I got an email from the school, telling me my financial aid had been suspended. That was around 8:45 at night, more than 3 hours after the Student Service Center closed for the weekend.”
Several others in line agreed, noting similar instances of being “SAP’d”, or having their money taken from failing to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements for federal aid.
Chad Foust, associate director of Enrollment Services, clarifies the SAP process and the requirements involved:
“[Students] have to be making progress, Satisfactory Academic Progress, toward a degree. And there are many components of that. There is a GPA requirement. It’s a 1.8 if you’re a freshman. It’s a 2.0 if you’re beyond that” Foust states. “Each year, we look at your grade point average, and if after your freshmen year you’re below 1.8 or after your sophomore year you’re under 2.0, you are going to be SAP suspended. We are going to say, ‘Look, with that GPA, you’re not making the progress to get your degree, so we’re taking that federal aid away from you.'”
Foust goes on to note that there is a Completion Rate requirement, where students who fail to complete 67 percent or less of their classes will lose their aid. Additionally, there is a Maximum Time Frame Requirement, to prevent “Career Students” from taking advantage of federal aid.
These requirements seem reasonable to keep students on track to their degree. What is not reasonable, however, is the appeal process.
Foust claims “There is a warning email sent out, informing students they may have their aid suspended, particularly in cases involving Maximum Time Frame.”
The students in the line for appeals noted a much different situation.
“There was no warning email. I received nothing. My Academic Advisor received nothing. They simply told me that I had reached my maximum number of hours and lost my aid. I didn’t even know that was possible! And we had less than a week to make our appeal in time to get money for tuition!”
For more information on the requirements and how to avoid the penalties, visit the Ohio State student financial aid page: https://sfa.osu.edu/howtokeepit/