FAO - Appeal Form for Federal Aid (T4A)

Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form

In order for an appeal to be reviewed by the committee, the student’s circumstances must meet one of the following criteria:
Circumstances Required documentation
(must include dates)

* Severe illness, medical condition or injury; must provide physician’s letter, hospitalization records.

* Death of immediate family member; must provide death certificate and/or obituary.

* Traumatic life-altering event; must provide evidence of event

AND

**All supporting documentation must be uploaded when the appeal is submitted.**

All students receiving financial aid from SUNY Orange must abide by the Federal and State’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards for financial aid. Students who do not meet these standards lose their financial aid eligibility. To appeal your SAP status, you must submit this form along with any required documentation as outlined below, detailing the extenuating circumstances that contributed to your not meeting the SAP standards. Submitting an appeal does not guarantee approval of reinstating your eligibility. The decision of the Appeals Committee is final.

Although federal guidelines state all student must meet SAP, due to the Corona virus pandemic, the federal government has authorized schools to use professional judgment when reviewing SAP waivers for the upcoming academic year. If your failure to meet the Federal SAP was due to issues that occurred during one of the above mentioned semesters and the Covid-19 Pandemic, when completing the Appeal you must explain in detail how you were impacted. Your appeal will then be evaluated by our SAP committee to determine if an override can be granted. Please note, if you are given an override this will not count towards your 2 exceptions.

However, if your failure to meet federal academic standards was not caused by issues surrounding the pandemic SUNY Orange can still grant an appeal exception for the upcoming academic year based upon your written explanation. This exception would be counted toward the 2 exception policy.

UNDERGRADUATE SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS POLICY

Pursuant to Federal regulations, the following constitutes SUNY Orange’s SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS POLICY (SAP) for students.

Right to Appeal

To appeal your Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) status, you must submit a Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form (T4A) explaining the extenuating circumstances that contributed to you not meeting the SAP standards along with any required supporting documentation,. Considerations for appeals exist if you had a severe illness, medical condition, injury, traumatic life altering experience, or the death of an immediate family member that prevented you from being successful in the semester in which you did poorly. Submitting an appeal does not guarantee approval of reinstating your eligibility. The decision of the Appeals Committee is final.

• Students who have received 2 (two) FEDERAL exceptions, are ineligible for any more FEDERAL exceptions.
• Students who have reached FED150 (attempted over 99 credits) and have not yet graduated with an Associates’ degree are ineligible for a FEDERAL exception.
Appeal Approval Conditions: Appeals can only be approved if the Financial Aid Appeals Committee determines:
• You have agreed to follow an Academic Plan that, if followed, will ensure that the student can meet the college’s satisfactory academic progress guidelines by a specific point in time.