Appeals

Appeal Timeline

Timeline
Term	First Day to Submit	Last Day to Submit
Summer 2024	5/1/2024	7/19/2024
Fall 2024	7/3/2024	11/1/2024
Spring 2025	1/3/2025	4/4/2025
Summer 2025	4/4/2025	7/11/2025

Please Note: Appeals can take 6-8 weeks to process depending on time of year.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal

A student who has lost eligibility due to failure to make Satisfactory Academic Progress may file a Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal. An appeal will be reviewed only for documented "extenuating circumstances" beyond the student's control. Appeals not meeting the "extenuating circumstances" category will not be accepted. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee the reinstatement of financial aid. Therefore, students should be prepared to pay for their books and other school-related expenses pending the outcome of their appeal. If an appeal is approved, the student will receive financial aid for the semester at the soonest payment date following approval.
Students placed on Progress Disqualification may file an appeal for consideration of reinstatement of financial aid eligibility. The following are examples of reasons a student may file an appeal:

Examples of Extenuating Circumstances
Circumstance	Required Documentation
Serious physical or emotional illness of student or immediate family member	Attach medical documentation confirming onset and duration of illness or condition
Death in the family	Attached copy of obituary, funeral notice, or Death Certificate
Accident or injury to student or immediate family member	Attach medical and/or other documentation verifying the date and duration of the occurrence
Disasters affecting student's attendance	Attach documentation of insurance claims or other 3rd party information verifying location and date and nature of disaster
Loss or change of employment	Attach letter from the employer verifying the circumstances and dates of loss or change in employment
Student made significant improvement during Warning semester even though cumulative criteria do not meet SAP standards yet (e.g. enrolled at least 6 units, completed all units attempted with 2.0 or higher semester GPA, but Standards (GPA and Quantitative Pace) have not been met)	Attach copy of course and grades for preceding semester. These will be verified by the Financial Aid Office
Change in academic major, or Exceeded Timeframe	Detailed explanation disclosing reasons for change in major and reasons for exceeding the posted unit limitation.
Extenuating circumstances that were beyond the student's control	Any documents that would help verify student's circumstances. Should include date and duration.

The following are not considered for appeal: Incarceration, circumstances such as wrong or difficult classes, too many units in the term, poor time management, instructor's teaching style, transportation problems, not having the assigned books or course, taking online classes and not having a computer and/or online access, personal problems not requiring professional intervention, being unaware of academic progress policies or other college requirements, not following placement test and/or Academic Counselor's recommendations, or child care problems.

Appeal for Maximum Timeframe

Students who exceed the maximum unit timeframe for their educational goal will not be eligible for further financial aid without meeting with an Academic Counselor and submitting an Appeal.
Students must complete their educational goal within 150% of the published length of the program, for example:
- Most certificate programs: 30 units are needed to graduate; the maximum timeframe to complete the program would be 45 attempted units
- Most degree and transfer programs: 60 units or more are needed to graduate; the maximum timeframe to complete the program would be 90 attempted units
- Up to 30 units of remedial coursework may be excluded from the student's cumulative units attempted.
All repeated coursework and courses disregarded under Academic Renewal will be included in units attempted.
If College of the Siskiyous has official transcripts from prior colleges on file, those units will be included when determining a student's maximum timeframe.
The Financial Aid Office reserves the right to require official academic transcripts from all prior colleges attended before determining a student's financial aid eligibility.
You must have your official transcript evaluation and education plan on file before submitting a max appeal.

If at any point in time it is determined that the student cannot complete their course of study within the maximum timeframe, the student will be immediately disqualified from future financial aid for the remainder of his or her program, even if he or she is meeting the current SAP standards outlined above.

Students Who do not Make SAP While on Financial Aid Probation or Academic Plan Appeal

Students are no longer eligible to receive further financial aid, including loans, and will be unaided until or unless they are able to reestablish eligibility. Reinstatement of eligibility requires achieving SAP standards:

enroll in at least 6.0 units for a semester, and
complete 100% of units attempted for the semester, and
achieve a semester GPA of 2.0 or better,
achieve a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better, and
achieve a minimum 67% PACE of all cumulative units attempted

2024-25 Special Conditions Appeal - EFC / Income Adjustment

If you or your parent(s) current income is substantially different (50%) from the income reported on the FAFSA due to unforeseen circumstances, you may submit a request to reprocess your FAFSA using current and/or projected income.

Special Conditions 2023 Actual Income	Special Conditions 2024 Estimated Income
If you made significantly less money in 2023 than you did in 2022 (the income being requested on the 2024-25 FAFSA) you may fill out our Special Conditions Request form for 2023 Actual Income.	If you are making significantly less money in 2024 than you did in 2022 (the income being requested on the 2024-25 FAFSA) you may fill out our Special Conditions Request form for 2024 Estimated Income.

Only documentation that should be gathered prior to submitting the appeal:

2023 Income Documents (IRS Tax Transcript, IRS Wage and Income Transcripts, etc…)

or
2024 Income Documents (IRS Tax Transcript, IRS Wage and Income Transcripts, Unemployment statements, W2's, etc…). Any documents that can prove your income change from the required 2022 tax year.

Contact Financial Aid

Email: financialaid@siskiyous.edu
Phone: (530) 938-5209
Fax: (530) 938-5367