Los Angeles City College

Financial Aid Appeals

Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals (SAP)

Any student who is disqualified from receiving financial aid due to not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards and who desire an opportunity to have their financial aid reinstated or extended must go through an appeal process.  

There are two types of satisfactory academic progress appeals: 

• Reinstatement appeals: Students disqualified due to not meeting the cumulative minimum GPA of 2.0 and/or the cumulative minimum unit completion percentage of 66.5% may submit an appeal to reinstate their eligibility for financial aid. Approved reinstatement appeals are subject to academic progress conditions (GPA and completion rate) that must be met to carry the approval to the next semester of enrollment. The terms of these conditions will be stated in the approval notification.
• Extension Appeals: Students disqualified due to exceeding the 150% unit time-frame of their stated academic program or major may appeal to extend their eligibility for financial aid beyond the 150% unit time-frame. Students approved under an extension appeal will be subject to an SAP contract for the classes approved by the appeals committee - only the approved classes on the contract are counted towards financial aid eligibility. Students may review the approved courses on the Student Portal (Financial Aid & Scholarships > SAP Extension of Appeal> View/Apply SAP Appeal - the approved courses are marked as "Include towards FA Progress Units").
  
  The appeals committee will monitor changes in the student's educational plan and/or enrollment to update the contract accordingly to the academic program associated with the extension appeal.

• Combination Appeals. Students disqualified due to exceeding the 150% unit time-frame of their stated academic program or major AND also due to not meeting the cumulative minimum GPA of 2.0 and/or the cumulative minimum unit completion percentage of 66.5%. Student under these circumstances may appeal to have their financial aid eligibility extended and reinstated.
  
  Students approved under a combination appeal will be subject to an SAP contract for the classes approved by the appeals committee AND subject to a certain academic progress conditions (GPA and completion rate) that must be met to carry the approval to the next semester of enrollment
  
  Students may review the approved courses on the Student Portal (Financial Aid & Scholarships > SAP Extension of Appeal> View/Apply SAP Appeal - the approved courses are marked as "Include towards FA Progress Units"). The conditions of the approval will be stated on the approval notification.

All appeals are reviewed by the LACC Appeals Committee. There are two levels of appeals. The result of the first-level appeal will generally be emailed to the student's LACCD email account within 45 calendar days. Students whose first level appeals are denied have a second level appeal within fourteen (14) calendar days of the notification. The second-level appeal is reviewed by the Associate Dean or his designee.

SAP Appeals Deadlines

• Summer 2020: July 31, 2020 (extended)
• Fall 2020: November 27, 2020
• Winter 2021: January 15, 2021
• Spring 2021: May 21, 2021
• Summer 2021: July 30, 2021

Income Reduction and Dependency Override Appeals 

Professional Judgment appeals, also known as Income Reductions and Dependency Override appeals, refer to the authority of a school's financial aid administrator to adjust data elements on the FAFSA and to override a student's dependency status. These evaluations are done on case-by-case basis and with adequate documentation. 

The decision of the financial aid administrator is final. There is no appeal. By law, neither the school's president nor the US Department of Education can override the financial aid administrator's decision. 

The deadline to submit a Professional Judgment Appeal is the last day of the enrollment term for the academic year.  

There are 2 types of professional judgment appeals: 

• Income Reduction or EFC Adjustment Appeal: The FAFSA uses the prior to prior year as base income to determine student’s eligibility (for example, for the 2020-2021 year, students use 2018 income to complete the FAFSA). If you believe that the current family income is a more accurate measure of the student’s current financial status than the income reported on your FAFSA, you may be eligible to submit a petition for an EFC adjustment. 

• Dependency Override or Change of Dependency Status: the FAFSA determines the students’ dependency using 9 different criteria. There are times, though, when an otherwise independent student may not meet the criteria established by these questions. If your FAFSA determined that you are a dependent student, but you have circumstances that merit a special consideration, you may qualify for a change of Dependency Status