HCOM Satisfactory Academic Progress

This policy has been developed to ensure that the Student Financial Aid Program at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic medicine meets or exceeds requirements set forth by federal regulations governing academic standards of progress for financial aid eligibility. It closely adheres to the Committee on Student Progress Policies and Procedures which govern academic advancement for medical students.

The Financial Aid Office is an integrated component of the Office of Student Affairs. This Office is responsible for the registration and tracking of all medical students. The Director of Student Affairs, who ultimately supervises the Financial Aid Office, serves on the College’s Committee on Student Progress which tracks academic performance quarterly and is responsible for communicating all leaves of absence, dismissals or repeating of the curriculum. Because of the integrated nature of the office, the importance of tracking the medical students for subsidy purposes, there is an extraordinary amount of collaboration among the offices responsible for financial aid, registration and progress.

This policy applies to those students receiving Title IV & VII financial aid.

1. Time Limits on Financial Aid Eligibility

   A student will be permitted a time limit of two years of enrollment beyond the standard required length of study as a full-time student to complete the program for which he or she is enrolled. Summer enrollment, if required, is considered part of the academic year for purposes of this measure. There can be exceptions to these limits depending on the circumstances of the student. Exceptions will be handled through written appeal to the College’s Committee on Student Progress, which is an advisory group to the Dean.

   Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Standard is 4 years. Maximum is 6 years.

   Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine/Ph.D. Standard is 7 years. Maximum is 9 years.

   Students who are on leave from the medical school program to complete graduate degrees will receive their financial aid from the University and be governed by the guidelines of their College and the university while on leave from the medical school.

   For transfer students, the total years for completion of a degree includes time spent at the previous institution, to the extent that credit hours are transferred and applied toward the degree objective at this institution.

   A student registering for less than full-time enrollment (extremely infrequent) will be allowed additional time of eligibility based upon a proportion of the actual registered hours since the time of first enrollment, as compared with normal full-time hours for the same period.

   A student failing to meet this standard will be suspended from financial aid eligibility.

2. Completion of Course Requirements
   1. A student must complete with passing grades, including reassessments, all credit hours for which the student registered and paid fees for each academic year (fall through summer terms). Any student failing to meet this standard due to unsatisfactory or failing grades or withdrawal will be required to repeat a portion or the entire academic year or have a substitute remediation plan in place. This student is eligible for financial aid during the semesters that are repeated. Educational budgets will be adjusted to account for books or equipment permitted in the initial year. The student is on probation and must achieve a 100% standard (including reassessments) for all enrolled courses for the period beginning the next fall term and ending the following summer term, or be suspended from financial aid eligibility.

1. OU-HCOM does not measure academic progress by means of a cumulative grade point average. The student is required to complete with at least a “CR” grade or its equivalent all of the required courses in the curriculum in order to graduate. Therefore, grade performance as a measure of satisfactory academic progress for financial aid eligibility must be reviewed in the context of each course for which the student registers. In the case of the PCC curriculum, the curriculum is viewed as a continuum and final grades are given based on the annual performance. Grades are not applied until the end of the year although students are reviewed quarterly by the Committee on Student Progress for their performance.

   The following standards for financial aid eligibility have been established:

   1. Completion of first year of enrollment: Earned credits in each of the required courses in Year 1 before entering year 2.
   2. Completion of second year of enrollment: Earned grade of credit in each of the required courses in Year 2 before entering Year 3.
   3. Completion of third year of enrollment: completion with earned grade of credit in year 3 before entering year 4.
   4. Completion of fourth year of enrollment: Satisfaction of all graduation requirements including board passage.
2. Any student failing to meet the above grade requirements will be placed on financial aid probabition.
3. A student placed on probation for financial aid eligibility must, by the end of their probationary enrollment year, attain the standing specified in IV.A. of this policy for satisfactory academic progress; failure to do so will result in suspension of financial aid eligibility.

A student on probation or suspension may appeal by indicating in writing to the Director of Student Affairs (2) reasons why he/she did not achieve minimum academic standards; and (b) reasons why his/her aid eligibility should not be terminated or should be reinstated. Each appeal will be considered on its own merit. Individual cases will not be considered as precedent.

1. The Director of Student Affairs will review the written appeal and turn it over to the Committee on Student Progress (which DSA is a member of). This will be done within 3 weeks of receiving the request.
2. The Committee on Student Progress will make a recommendation to the Dean based on an examination of the student’s progress and rationale. The student will be notified of the decision within two weeks of the Committee’s notification to the Dean of its recommendation.
3. The student may appeal in writing the decision of the Dean within one week of receiving notification,
4. The Dean will give a final decision to the Dean within two weeks of receiving the request.

A student shall be reinstated for financial aid eligibility at such time as he or she successfully completes sufficient hours to meet the minimum eligibility requirements as set forth in this policy. It is the student’s responsibility to present evidence to the Financial Aid office at the time he/she has met minimum requirements for reinstatement.

The Office of Student Affairs shall have primary responsibility for enforcing this policy. The Office of the Registrar and other offices that maintain student information relevant to enforcement shall provide information, when requested by the Director of Student Affairs.