Loss of Aid Appeal

If you have lost federal financial aid, a Baylor scholarship or grant, or Tuition Equalization Grant due to not meeting academic performance requirements Satisfactory Academic Progress, you must complete a Loss of Aid Appeal to request to reinstate these funds. You can also use this form to request a Baylor scholarship exception if you want to use your scholarship during a summer term or during your graduation term while under the enrolled hour requirement.

Loss of Federal Aid Due to Not Meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Appeal

If a student does not meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) after the warning period, an appeal process is available for those students who had a personal injury or illness, death of a relative, or believe they had other special circumstances that affected their ability to meet SAP. Financial aid will not be awarded until SAP is met or an appeal is approved. 

Probationary Period

This is the semester that a student may receive financial aid after the appeal has been approved. Continuation of financial aid on probation is contingent on the student successfully meeting academic improvement plans provided with the approved appeal.

When to Appeal

Appeals are reviewed once all grades are posted for the last term attended, please wait until grades have been released for that term to submit an Appeal to ensure timely processing. See the chart below to see what term’s grades will be needed to Appeal for a term.

If requirements are not met at the end of the warning term, the student will be placed on suspension for their next term of attendance.  While on SAP Suspension a student cannot receive financial aid unless the SAP decision is appealed. If the appeal is submitted early before grades have posted, the Student Financial Aid office will wait to review your appeal which will delay the normal time frame for notification.

Note: Students enrolled in Summer 2 that are appealing for Fall may need to setup a payment arrangement or apply for private loans to pay their Fall bill by July 31. After Summer grades are posted, if their appeal is approved, then their federal aid will be added, and the private loan amount (if any) will be decreased.

Appeal Process

Step One: Student should schedule a meeting with his or her Academic Advisor.

The student should meet with his or her Academic Advisor and complete the Academic Advisor Appeal Questionnaire or Graduation Plan..  These documents must be submitted with the appeal, show a valid academic plan, support for the plan, and Advisor and Student agreement through signatures at the bottom of the form. 

Step Two: Submit the Loss of Aid Appeal along with the required supporting documentation.

After meeting with his or her Academic Advisor, the student should submit the Loss of Aid Appeal with the following supporting materials:

• Documentation supporting mitigating circumstances which lead to not meeting satisfactory academic progress. The student must state why he or she failed to meet SAP requirements
• Documentation supporting the corrective action the student will take to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress guidelines. The student must state what has changed so that he or she will meet SAP at the next review
• Submit completed Academic Advisor Appeal Questionnaire

Step Three: The Student Financial Aid Office will review the appeal and respond to the student with the results. Please allow at least two weeks to receive a decision.

• Approved appeals include:
  • Approval and terms of reinstatement of financial aid eligibility
  • Possibility of meeting SAP in next semester
  • Possibility of an academic improvement plan over an extended period
  • Consequences for not meeting terms of approval
  • Financial aid being awarded for the semester
     
• Denied appeals include:
  • Reasons for denial
  • What the student must do to meet SAP
  • The student with denied appeals will not be awarded financial aid until SAP is met. If denied, eligibility will be limited to private loans which do not require SAP. Private loan information can be found at onestop.web.baylor.edu/loans

Step Four: The student must continue to meet the terms, as established until SAP is met to continue receiving financial aid on a probationary basis.  Once SAP is met, the student is no longer considered to be on probation.  Failure to maintain SAP thereafter will result in receiving an additional warning for the upcoming semester.

Loss of Baylor Scholarships and/or Grants or Scholarship Exception

To retain eligibility for a merit-based scholarship or Baylor Need-Based Grant, specific requirements must be met. In some circumstances, you may appeal for an exception to these requirements. 

Please provide as much relevant information as possible to ensure the committee can make a fair assessment of your situation.  Once the committee reviews your request, you will receive an email notifying you of their decision. Submissions will only be processed once grades are posted for the term preceding the term of appeal and should be completed in 4-5 business days.

The Baylor Scholarship and Grant Appeal can be used to appeal the following requirements:

• Your merit-based scholarship and/or need-based grant has been cancelled due to academic performance and you have not met the minimum CGPA requirement for reinstatement:
•  Your merit-based scholarship and/or need-based grant has been cancelled due to academic performance and your CGPA meets the minimum requirement for reinstatement:
• You are not enrolled full-time in the term of your graduation.
• You are graduating in less than 8 semesters and would like to receive your merit-based scholarship in the upcoming summer term. Based on reduced tuition/fee rates, we will cap merit-based scholarship awards at tuition for summer.

The following scenarios cannot be appealed:

• Need-based grants cannot be used in summer terms.
• If a student graduates early and has not used all eight semesters of their scholarship, they cannot add the unused semester amounts to their final semester at Baylor resulting in two semesters worth of scholarships in one term. (For example, if you are graduating in the Fall after seven semesters, you cannot add the eighth semester of your scholarship to your Fall awards).

Loss of Tuition Equalization Grant (TEG) Due to Hardship

The State of Texas requires that students meet certain academic standards for continued renewal of TEG.

• Completion rate of at least 75%
• Cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher
• Earn at least 24 credit hours per year

If you encountered a severe difficulty that prevented you meeting any or all of these standards, you can submit a Loss of Aid Appeal.  Examples include:

• Severe illness or other debilitating condition that affected your academic performance
• Death of a family member
• Divorce of parents

TEG hardship appeals are limited to academic requirements only.  Other TEG qualifiers such as need, state residency, and enrollment are not subject to appeal.