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(425) 352-8000
Federal and state financial aid regulations require colleges to set minimum standards for satisfactory academic progress and to hold students accountable for meeting those standards.
Cascadia checks your academic progress before awarding aid, even if you did not receive financial aid in past quarters. We also check your progress at the end of every quarter that you receive aid.
On this page:
You must have a 2.00 cumulative grade point average (GPA) at the end of each quarter.
If you do not have a calculated cumulative GPA because you received a grade such as P (pass) for one or more classes, we will consider you to have met the 2.00 cumulative GPA requirements if you meet the credit completion requirement (see below) for the most recent quarter you attended Cascadia.
Courses in the following programs do not count toward the GPA requirement: Adult basic education (ABE), including ESL, adult high school completion, GED test preparation, and English and math fundamentals.
Each quarter, you must complete the appropriate minimum number of credits according to your enrollment level.
Full time (12 or more credits)
Three-quarter time (9-11 credits)
Half time (6-8 credits)
Less than half time (1-5 credits)
Enrollment level is based on the number of credits enrolled in as of the end of the last day to add/drop classes for the quarter, or the number of credits a student is registered in when a financial aid award is made, if after the add/drop deadline for the quarter. (see the academic calendar).
Only credits that you complete by the end of the scheduled quarter count toward the credit completion requirement. Audited courses do not count toward the requirement. The following grades do not count as completed credits:
For more details, see Grading System. See a financial aid advisor to determine the impact of dropping classes or earning no credit for a course.
Courses in the following programs do not count toward the financial aid credit completion requirement: Adult basic education (ABE), including ESL, adult high school completion, GED test preparation, and English and math fundamentals; Running Start or Tech Prep; or continuing education.
You must complete your program of study within a maximum time frame: Cascadia awards no further financial aid after a maximum number of credits.
You reach the maximum when the number of credits that you have attempted equals 125% of the credits required for your degree, rounded down to the nearest whole credit.
Courses that count toward the maximum number of credits allowed:
To appeal the maximum, submit a financial aid maximum credits appeal form. [PDF]
No maximum credits appeals are granted for the Washington State Need Grant (see Grants).
Courses that do not count toward the maximum number of credits allowed are the following: Adult basic education (ABE), including ESL, adult high school completion, GED test preparation, and English and math fundamentals; non-credit courses; the first 45 credits of for-credit developmental courses (English, math, and other courses numbered below 100); or continuing education.
Repeated courses. The retake of coursework using financial aid may be permissible under certain circumstances. All coursework that is retaken must be a requirement to complete your program of study.
Coursework may not be retaken using financial aid if the class was previously taken (regardless if financial aid was used) and a grade above a 0.0 was earned, except when a pre-requisite requirement of 2.0 is needed to advance to the next course in the sequence.
Classes that are repeated to earn a better grade or GPA will not be covered if repeated (except in the case of a pre-requisite course - see above).
A reduction or repayment of financial aid may be required if it is determined that a student is repeating a course that does not qualify to be repeated.
Each time a class is repeated, whether or not financial aid paid for the course, the credits are counted again toward the time limit requirement and/or the 45 credit limit for developmental courses.
Changing your program. Your program of study is the individual associate degree, associate in applied science degree, or certificate that you are pursuing according to the educational plan that you make with an academic advisor.
If you stop pursuing a program of study and switch to another one, your attempted credit count will not start over. All credits that you have attempted count toward the maximum allowed for your new program. Discuss any changes that you are considering with an advisor in the financial aid office to be sure you know how many attempted credits you have remaining.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are receiving financial aid and are within 15 credits of completing your degree or certificate, you may not be allowed to change your program without losing your financial aid until you have completed your current program of study.
An advisor may determine that the only way for you to meet the requirements of your program is to take a class at another college (a “host” college). To meet financial aid requirements, you must:
Before we can award you aid for future quarters, you must provide a transcript showing your work at the host college so that we can evaluate your host college grades (along with all your other grades). See Submitting Transcripts to Cascadia.
A single program is an associate degree, an associate in applied science degree, or certificate that requires 24 or more credits to complete.
Concurrent programs are two programs that you pursue simultaneously. At Cascadia, you may only pursue and receive financial aid for one program of study at a time.
Consecutive programs are programs that you pursue one after another. Cascadia does not award financial aid for a second program until you have completed the first program. To receive aid for a second program, go to the Kodiak Corner/Student Services Center and ask for a program change form. You may only receive financial aid for one associate degree, one associate in applied science degree, and one certificate program at Cascadia.
To receive aid for a second program, you must submit an educational plan and a degree audit, and a Cascadia academic advisor must evaluate credits from the first program for eligibility for transfer to the second program. We will award financial aid only to fund the credits you need to complete the second program in accordance with your educational plan.
Financial aid probation status is considered a warning. Students on probation may still receive financial aid. Students may be required to take a reduced course load while on probation. Financial aid probation is for one quarter. During that quarter, the student must pass the required number of credits for their enrollment level and meet the GPA requirements to be returned to satisfactory progress. Students who fail to complete the minimum credit and GPA requirements during any probationary quarter will be terminated from financial aid for subsequent quarters
Students on financial aid termination are not eligible to receive any type of federal or state financial aid including grants, loans and work study.
If you become ineligible for financial aid for reasons other than reaching the maximum number of credits allowed, you can earn reinstatement in either of 2 ways: