Financial aid recipients must be making satisfactory academic progress toward a degree or certificate program to receive financial aid at Black Hawk College. This policy is based on standards established by federal regulations and state policy governing financial aid. These standards are cumulative and include all periods of enrollment at Black Hawk College, including periods when the student did not receive financial aid. Academic progress is evaluated after the completion of each semester.
Students are considered to be meeting the Financial Aid Academic Progress standards if the following three requirements are met:
- GPA requirement – A student must earn and maintain a 2.0 cumulative grade point average.
- Completion rate requirement – A student’s total number of earned (completed) hours must be equal to or greater than 67% of the cumulative total of their attempted credit hours for all periods of enrollment at Black Hawk College.
- Maximum time frame requirement – A student is eligible to receive financial aid for a maximum of 96 attempted credit hours at Black Hawk College. For a certificate program, the maximum attempted credit hours are 48.
General information
- Hours attempted are the credit hours a student is enrolled in at the end of the tuition refund period.
- Grades of A, B, C, D or P are considered earned hours. Grades of F, I, W or X are not considered earned hours.
- Below 100 level courses and pass/fail, courses count in the attempted hours, but the grade is not used in calculating the GPA.
- Repeated courses count as attempted hours and the higher grade is used in the GPA.
- Non-credit courses are not counted in attempted hours or the GPA.
- Transfer hours are added to a student’s attempted hours, but the GPA from the prior college(s) will not be used in calculating the Black Hawk College GPA.
- Summer sessions combined are considered one semester.
- Students are only required to meet the cumulative GPA to receive the Illinois Veteran’s Grant, Illinois National Guard Grant, MIA/POW or GI Bill.
Warning
Students failing to meet the GPA or completion rate are placed on financial aid warning for one semester. While on warning, the student is eligible to receive financial aid. Students failing to meet either the GPA or completion rate requirement by the end of their warning period are placed on financial aid dismissal. The warning semester is meant to inform the student of potential academic problems and provide time for corrective action. Students who meet both the GPA and completion rate requirements after the warning semester will return to good standing.
Alert
Students will be placed on alert when they are approaching the maximum time frame for their program. They are eligible for financial aid while on alert status.
Dismissal
Students on dismissal are not eligible for financial aid at Black Hawk College. However, the student may enroll at Black Hawk College and pay from their own resources. Students who have reached 60 attempted hours and do not have a 2.0 cumulative GPA will be placed on dismissal. There is no appeal for this situation.
Automatic reinstatement
A student’s eligibility for financial aid will automatically be reinstated once they meet both the GPA and completion rate requirements. This is done by enrolling and paying from your own resources.
Dismissal appeal process
Dismissal may be appealed if the student had mitigating circumstances such as a personal illness or injury, the death of an immediate family member, or an emergency or other unavoidable event beyond the student’s control.
Dismissal Appeal Form | Advising and Educational Agreement Plan
Dismissal time frame
Students who have reached 96 or more attempted hours for an associate degree or 48 hours for a certificate program are not eligible for financial aid at Black Hawk College.
Dismissal time frame appeal process
Students on dismissal time frame may appeal if they can document a change in academic program, they have taken developmental courses, or they have other mitigating circumstances listed above. There is no automatic reinstatement for dismissal time frame. Dismissal Appeal Form Time Frame
