To qualify for financial aid, you must be in good academic standing and meet certain basic requirements.
If you would like assistance in determining whether you are eligible, contact the Financial Aid Office at (315) 574-4035.
Access this information through your My.Herkimer account.
Each course will indicate if it is eligible for state and/or federal aid.
Herkimer College expects students to remain in good academic standing, which means students must be making satisfactory academic progress (SAP) towards completing their degree or certificate program. Herkimer College reviews SAP each term (fall, winter, spring, and summer).
Attempted credits include remedial, developmental, withdrawn, transferred, incompletes, and all credit bearing courses including “F” grades.
Earned credits include grades of A, B, C, and D (+/-), including transfer as well as remedial credits. Repeated courses count as earned credits only once.
A student who fails below the satisfactory academic progress standards will be notified by the Provost Office. A student who is not making SAP will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for the following semester and will remain eligible for financial aid. If a student on Financial Aid Warning fails SAP, the student will be placed on Academic Dismissal and will no longer be eligible for federal aid. Students who feel they have extenuating circumstances that led to their dismissal may appeal the dismissal status. Students who are granted a financial aid reinstatement based on their appeal will be placed on Financial Aid Probation. Note: Decision of Financial Appeals are separate from Academic Appeals.
When students fail to meet the SAP requirements, they are placed on Financial Aid Warning for a period of one semester. Students placed under Financial Aid Warning will be eligible for federal aid for the following semester. Students will be counseled and advised to utilize the Academic Support Center, and to adjust their course schedules to assist the students to get back to good standing. After the warning semester, the warning status is removed if students successfully meet SAP.
If students fail to meet the SAP requirements after the Financial Aid Warning period, they will be placed under Academic Dismissal. Students who are academically dismissed will no longer be eligible for federal aid and will have all registered classes withdrawn from the following term. The student will need to submit an appeal to return to the college and/or receive financial aid. Note: Decision of Financial Aid Appeal is separate from the Academic Appeal.
Students who were granted a Financial Aid Appeal will be placed under Financial Aid Probation for the next term. They are required to meet with an advisor prior to registration and to create an academic improvement plan to get back into SAP. In some cases, an academic plan may incorporate more than one semester to get back to SAP. If the student fails to meet the requirements of SAP or the academic plan prescribed for the student, he or she will be academically dismissed again and will not be eligible for federal aid.
SAP looks at your cumulative GPA, not your semester GPA.
In order to meet the Quantitative Standard of SAP, you must have successfully completed the courses you registered for the term using the required percentage listed on the SAP Chart. For example: You have attempted 30 credits and only earned 18 (18/30=.60 or 60%). The quantitative chart indicates that a student who attempted 30 credits must earn 67% to meet the SAP requirements.
A grade of W (withdrawn) does not count in your earned credits or cumulative GPA, but it does count as an attempted credit in determining if you were successful in the percentage calculation of SAP. Note: Withdrawing from a course can be the right option even if it places you on Financial Aid Warning. You just need to be aware that withdrawing from courses in multiple semesters can lead you to being academically dismissed and no longer eligible for federal aid.
This means that if the published length of your program is 64 credits, then you need to complete your program within 96 credits (64 x 150% = 96).
Students who have been placed on Academic Restriction will also be placed under Financial Aid Warning and are allowed to continue as full-time students and receive federal financial aid. However, failure to improve SAP will result in being academically dismissed in which a student will no longer be eligible for aid unless a financial aid appeal is approved.
If a student is academically dismissed from Herkimer College, they may appeal to the College to be reinstated. A dismissed student is not eligible for federal financial aid and must find alternative payment methods. An academic appeal can only be made based on extraordinary circumstances that occurred during the term(s) in which the student failed to meet SAP requirements. If the appeal is approved, the student’s status would be moved from academic dismissal to academic restriction and they will be allowed to continue their studies. The student will be required to seek academic advisement and develop an Academic Plan to support moving toward satisfactory academic progress.
If a student is dismissed and an academic appeal is granted, the student is not eligible for financial aid unless they are granted financial aid based on a Financial Aid Appeal. The Financial Aid Appeals Committee is separate from the Academic Appeals Committee and decisions are also separate. Appeals can only be granted based on extraordinary circumstances that caused the student to not meet the SAP standards.
You must include the following items in order for your financial aid appeal to be considered as complete:
You may be granted an academic appeal but be denied for a financial aid appeal and would therefore be eligible to continue studies, but denied eligibility for federal aid.
Yes. All students are assessed for SAP each term. If you are not doing well you may be put on Academic Restriction. We will work with you to provide you with the resources you need to be successful and to avoid being dismissed from Herkimer College.
For more information, email finaid@herkimer.edu.