Appealing Financial Aid Suspension

SAP Appeal Process

  1. The student will receive an email with information about specific SAP requirements not met and appeal instructions
  2. The student will Login to their Workday student account and will find the appeal in their My Tasks inbox
  3. The student will complete the appeal questionnaire in Workday and also provide their Academic Plan when submitting the appeal. The student will find their Academic Plan in Workday by going to their Profile then Academics then Plan
  4. The submitted appeal will be routed to the student’s Academic Advisor. It is the student’s responsibility to notify their Academic Advisor once the appeal is completed
  5. The student must meet with their Academic Advisor to review their appeal
  6. After the student meets with their Academic Advisor, the Academic Advisor will submit the appeal so it can be reviewed by the Office of Student Financial Aid
  7. The Office of Student Financial id will review the appeal once submitted by the student and Academic Advisor and notify the student and Academic Advisor via email with the appeal outcome

Basis for SAP Appeal

A student may appeal SAP suspension if there are extenuating circumstances that prevented the student from meeting SAP requirements. The following mitigating circumstances can be reviewed on an appeal: academic, personal, health, major, career, financial, employment, family, social, and/or other circumstances not listed that can be documented. Appeal approval is not guaranteed.

The student must document extenuating circumstances on the appeal that prevented them from meeting SAP requirements and include proactive action plans to address the obstacles. The student must include the following on their appeal: anticipated graduation date, courses they plan to take in the upcoming semesters, obstacles that affected their ability to meet satisfactory academic progress requirements, action plan(s) to overcome obstacles, and campus resources the student has used to date. Upon submission of the appeal, the student must also meet with their academic advisor to review their obstacles and ensure support is in place for any action plans cited. The appeal will be reviewed by a Financial Aid Advisor after it is submitted by the student and their Academic Advisor. The Financial Aid Advisor will review the submitted appeal, as well as any of the following when the appeal is reviewed:

  • Prior appeal submissions, if applicable
  • All academic history, include classes attempted away from ISU
  • Degree audit
  • Notes from the Academic Advisor
  • History of degree changes

Appeal Approval – Probation status on the student’s Financial Aid account in Workday

If the financial aid appeal is approved, the student and their Academic Advisor will receive an email from a Financial Aid Advisor with details about the requirements the student must meet as a result of an approved appeal. These requirements may be different from the College’s Academic Warning and Probation policy.

The student will receive financial aid if the appeal is approved but the student is still responsible for checking with their scholarship donor(s) as scholarships may have more strict eligibility requirements for scholarships to be disturbed.

If plan requirements are not met, the student will be placed back on SAP suspension at the end of their next enrolled semester and must appeal again. At the end of the academic plan, the student must be meeting all cumulative SAP requirements or they will be placed back on SAP suspension.

Appeal Denial – Failed status on the student’s Financial Aid account in Workday

If the Financial Aid Advisor reviewing the financial aid appeals feel it should be denied, the appeal must be reviewed by a committee. The committee must reach a unanimous decision to deny an appeal. The appeal decision is final, and the student cannot appeal the denial.

If an appeal is denied, the student and their Academic Advisor will receive an email stating that the appeal has been denied. The email will include a list of private education lenders that do not require that SAP requirements are met. The student will not receive any Federal student or parent loans, grants, ISU financial aid, or state-based financial aid when an appeal is denied. The student is responsible for checking with their scholarship donor(s) to find out if they are still eligible to retain scholarships earned by academic merit.

An appeal for financial aid reinstatement may be denied for the following reasons:

  • Insufficient academic improvement at ISU or another institution
  • Appealing more than once and citing the same or similar obstacles
  • Failure to document extenuating circumstances
  • Number of appeals submitted for the same suspension reason
  • Lack of effort on the appeal
  • Exceeding the length to degree by changing majors multiple times, having one or more withdrawn semesters, and/or exceeding the allowed drop limit
  • Professional determination that is mathematically impossible for the student to meet SAP requirements within one year of the appeal submission date

Paying out of pocket, paying with a private loan, and/or sitting out of ISU with no academic credit earned due to a non-extenuating circumstance are not grounds for appeal approval and will not be taken into consideration when the appeal is reviewed.

Returning to ISU on SAP Suspension

Students who leave ISU while on SAP Suspension are required to appeal for the reinstatement of their aid upon re-entry and will have appeal instructions on their Workday account. Paying out of pocket, paying with a private loan, or failure to earn academic credit away from ISU due to a non-extenuating circumstance are not grounds for appeal approval. Appeals must include the following documentation for approval consideration:

  • Academic transcript(s) while away from ISU that show significant, sustained improvement. The rigor of the courses taken, grades earned, and number of credit hours attempted away from ISU will be taken into consideration when the appeal is reviewed

AND/OR

  • Official documentation to support extenuating circumstances that prevented the student from attempting coursework away from ISU (i.e.: medical surgery, death of a family member, active duty military orders, serving as the primary caregiver for a family member, etc.).

Please note: Per Federal financial aid regulations, appeals are not automatically approved and may be denied based on failure to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements set forth at Iowa State University. Additionally, appeal approval will not reinstate financial aid that has been exhausted due meeting the aggregate borrowing limits.