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 Catalog - Student Loans and Grants 

Danville Area Community College participates in need-based programs. The US Department of Education and the State of Illinois supports these programs. Descriptions of these need-based programs are as follows:

Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC)

A resident of Illinois (who is a US citizen or permanent resident of the United States), enrolled in an eligible program at Danville Area Community College, and demonstrating financial need as determined by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, may receive a grant of up to full tuition. There is no separate State application, a student need only indicate Illinois residency to be considered for the monetary award when the FAFSA is completed. The college notifies the student of eligibility by mail with an award letter.

Federal Pell Grant

The Pell Grant is available to eligible students at Danville Area Community College. To apply you must:

Complete the FAFSA application for financial aid. Applications can be obtained in any high school or from the Financial Aid Office. The resulting family contribution will be used to determine your eligibility for all financial aid programs, including student loans.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program (FSEOG)

This program is for students with exceptional need. This is determined from the results of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as those students with a zero (0) Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Those eligible are notified by mail with an Award Letter.

Federal College Work-Study Program (FCWS)

Students are eligible to participate in the College Work-Study Program if they qualify under the following terms:

Students in good standing may be employed by Danville Area Community College for up to 20 hours per week.

The beginning pay rate for DACC student employees is the same as the Federal minimum wage.

Students interested in student employment should contact the DACC Career Services office located in Lincoln Hall.

FEDERAL FAMILY EDUCATION LOAN PROGRAM (FFELP)

To be eligible to apply for any of the Title IV student loans you must:

Federal Stafford Loan Program (subsidized and unsubsidized)

Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)

Parents may borrow for their undergraduate students. Parents would be eligible to borrow up to the cost of education minus any financial aid. Contact the financial aid office for the PLUS application.

34 CFR Section 668.202(e)(1) of the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program provides that a school may refuse to certify a FFEL Stafford or PLUS loan application or may reduce the borrower's determination of need for the loan if the reason for that action is documented and provided to the student in writing provided the determination is made on a case-by-case basis.

Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS)
Students qualified to receive this aid should contact the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG)
Tuition and some fees scholarship.

Illinois National Guard (ING) Tuition scholarship.

Veterans’ Educational Benefits

  1. Montgomery G. I. Bill (Chapter 30).
  2. Vocational Rehabilitation (Chapter 31).
  3. Veterans’ Educational Assistance Program VEAP (Chapter 32).
  4. Survivor and Dependents Education (Chapter 35).
  5. Illinois National Guard/Selected Reserve members (Chapter 106).
  6. Illinois Veteran's Grant.

School Refund Policy

The refund period is prior to the first day the class meets or the first two weeks of class for those who meet twelve weeks or longer, or the first week of class for those meeting less than twelve weeks. If a student officially withdraws from a class during the refund period a 100% refund will be issued.

The exception to this policy is when the Department of Education Federal Refund Policy must be applied to those students whose costs are paid by student financial aid funding.

State and/or Accrediting Agency Refund Rule
The State of Illinois has not established a mandated refunding rule for community colleges. The North Central Association, as an accrediting agency, has not established a refund rule.

Federal Refund Rule (Return of Funds)

The Department of Education mandates that unearned federal financial aid funds are returned to the specific programs if a student withdraws from a semester. The amount of the refund is determined by the days of the semester that the student was in attendance verses the remaining days (after withdrawal) until the semester ends.

Students are notified by mail of their debt to the Department of Education. This debt must be paid in a timely manner in order for the student to receive future financial aid.

DANVILLE AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DEFERRED PAYMENT

For students who have applied for financial aid, and will be eligible for funding, but have not finalized their paper work a deferment payment for tuition, fees, and books may be available.

An interview with the Financial Aid Specialist is required. Proof is required that the proper forms have been filed and eligibility for aid must be determined before a deferment will be granted.

A non-refundable fee is charged for this service and is subject to change.

Payment Plan

To assist DACC students in meeting their educational expenses, the College offers FACTS which is a convenient monthly payment plan. FACTS is a tuition management plan that provides the student with a low cost option for budgeting tuition and fees. FACTS is not a loan program. The student pays no interest and no finance charges are assessed. The only cost to the student to budget monthly payments through FACTS is a $25.00 per semester non-refundable fee. Students may budget their tuition and fees in one of two ways through FACTS; Automatic Bank Payments or through the Credit Card Option. Enrollment in the FACTS payment plan is online.

To learn more about FACTS, pick up a brochure available at the student kiosk in Lincoln Hall or connect to the e-CASHIER site on the DACC home page, http://www.dacc.edu/finaid.

ACADEMIC STANDARDS OF PROGRESS

  1. Grade System

    The final semester grades are determined by the instructors, according to the grades the student earns in all phases of class work: class discussions, tests, daily work, laboratory work, reports, term papers, and the semester examinations. Final grades should reflect consistent improvement as well as averaged grades.

    Grade reports are issued by the Records Office at the end of each semester. Mid-semester grades are posted by individual instructors.

    A student may file notice and repeat any unsuccessfully completed course, and the higher grade earned will be used to compute the cumulative grade point average.

    The letter system of grading is employed as follows:

    A -- Excellent -- 5 grade points per semester hour
    B -- Good -- 4 grade points per semester hour
    C -- Fair -- 3 grade points per semester hour
    D -- Passable -- 2 grade points per semester hour
    F -- Failure -- 1 grade point per semester hour

    Grades of W or I do not affect grade point average.

    W -- Official Withdrawal of a student within the Withdrawal Policy guidelines.

    I -- Incomplete - This is a temporary grade. All incomplete work involved with a temporary "I" grade will be performed within 30 calendar days after the end of the term so that a grade may be recorded.

    AU -- Audit - Student auditing a class will receive an "AU" grade.

    (Satisfactory and Unsatisfactory are used in some courses.)

  2. Minimum Satisfactory Grade Level

    A student will be considered on academic probation if he or she fails to maintain the cumulative Grade Point Average required for good standing, as shown below:

    Semester Hours
    Earned at DACC    		                 Minimum GPA
    for Good Standing
    0-17 credit hours                 2.40
    18-31 credit hours                 2.60
    32-48 credit hours                 2.80
    49+ credit hours                 3.00
  3. Academic Probation

    A student placed on academic probation will be limited to a maximum of twelve (12) credit hours of enrollment for the next term. The following criteria also apply:
    • The student must earn a 3.00 Grade Point Average (GPA) or higher for the term.
    • The student will remain on probation until he/she attains a cumulative GPA for good standing (see above chart).

    In the event that the student does not achieve either of the above criteria, the student will be placed on academic suspension.

  4. Readmission

    Before a suspended student will be readmitted he or she must prepare a Probation Contract which will identify the measures to be applied to improve the student's GPA (e.g. change of program, remedial classes, tutorial or other academic support services, etc.). Enrollment for the next semester will be limited to a maximum of eleven (11) credit hours. The student must earn a 3.00 GPA or higher for the term. The student will remain on probation until he/she attains a cumulative GPA for good standing (see above chart). In the event that the student does not achieve either of the above mentioned criteria, the student will be placed on academic suspension for one term.

  5. Appeals

    The student enrolled at DACC may appeal an academic suspension through the Associate Vice President of Students Services' Office by completing an Appeals Form. The student's appeal will be reviewed with respect to past/current academic standing and/or demonstrated ability to achieve academic success. Submission of an appeals form does not guarantee or suggest automatic reinstatement. The Associate Vice President of Student Services' Office is located in in Lincoln Hall, Room 104H

Standards of Academic Progress (SAP) for Financial Aid Recipients

The Danville Area Community College (DACC) Office of Financial Aid is required by federal regulation (HEA Sec.484(c), 34 CFR 668.16(e), 668.32(f), 668.34) to monitor academic progress toward a degree or certificate for all degree seeking aid applicants. As a result, the Office of Financial Aid reviews the academic history of all attempted course work of all applicants prior to the awarding of Title IV Federal Student Aid and/or Illinois State Student Aid. These standards must have components of a Quantitative Measure and a Qualitative Measure and be reviewed at stated intervals. At DACC SAP is reviewed at the end of each enrollment period.

Academic progress is evaluated the first time a student is awarded student financial aid and at the end of each term thereafter. If, during the semester, you withdraw from a class we will mail you a copy of the SAP standards for your review. We hope this process will help you remain in "good standing" with the Federal and State student financial aid programs.

The Standards of Academic Progress (SAP) apply to the following programs.

Federal Title IV Programs

Illinois Student Assistance Commission Programs:

Veteran's Educational Benefits:

DACC Presidential Scholarship Recipients

Completion Rate and Grade Point Average Requirement

You are required to meet the standards listed below or your eligibility to receive student financial aid will be placed in a Financial Aid PROBATION (warning), Financial Aid SUSPENSION (denied), or Financial Aid TERMINATION (ineligible) status. To be in "GOOD STANDING" for Student Aid you must be meeting the minimum standards each enrollment period and have a cumulative success rate of 67% of all credits attempted and complete your program within the published time frames formatted in credit hours.

MINIMUM CREDIT HOUR COMPLETION (Quantitative Measure)

At the end of each enrollment period SAP is reviewed. Cumulatively you must successfully complete a minimum percentage of all credit hours attempted. Attempted credit hours include any credit hours in which you were enrolled after the refund period is over. Generally this is after the tenth day of classes.

If you have accepted Title IV aid for days you attended during the refund period and you totally withdraw you will be placed on SAP Suspension status. Some students will have slightly different refund periods because of late starting classes. Each semester's refund period is published at the DACC WEB page, in the Student News or you may contact the Registration Office for the dates.

Successful completion of a class is a letter grade of A, B, C, D, S. Unsuccessful completion is defined as Failure (F), Withdrawal (W), Incomplete (I), or Unsatisfactory (U). Remedial classes are graded as: passing "S" for satisfactory or "U" unsatisfactory (which is considered not completing the course work). The completion rate requirement applies to remedial classes. Note that remedial coursework does not calculate into your GPA.

Minimum Percentage

If you fail to successfully complete the minimum percentage of credit hours required you will be placed on financial aid Probation for the next term of enrollment.

A student must complete 67% of credit hours attempted. If you are already on probation and not demonstrating progress, you will be placed on suspension.

GRADE POINT AVERAGE (GPA) REQUIREMENT (Qualitative Measure)

You are required to earn and maintain a 3.0 (C) Cumulative grade point average out of a possible 5.0.

FINANCIAL AID PROBATION

A Probation Status occurs the first time a student fails to meet the minimum standard in any one of the components. If you are placed on Probation you will still be eligible to receive Student Financial Aid.

Upon the end of your next period of enrollment if you meet the minimum standards for cumulative completion of credit hours and your cumulative GPA is at 3.0 or better you will "automatically" be reinstated and placed into SAP "Good Standing".

If upon the end of your next period of enrollment you have demonstrated progress in the cumulative Quantitative Measure and/or cumulative Qualitative Measure continuing probation status will remain even though you have not yet met the cumulative minimums.

FINANCIAL AID SUSPENSION

Total withdrawal or failure to complete ALL credit hours will result in SUSPENSION. This includes the refund period if Title IV was accepted for the days in attendance.

Failure to complete the minimum cumulative standards of either component while on a financial aid status of Probation and not demonstrating progress in the cumulative Quantitative Measure and/or cumulative Qualitative Measure will result in the SUSPENSION of your future aid eligibility.

REINSTATEMENT OF AID ELIGIBILITY (Appeal Procedures)

If you feel there were circumstances beyond your control that affected your academic performance, you may appeal the Suspension. An appeal is a written statement from you with supporting documentation explaining your circumstances. Other support documentation could include:

MAXIMUM HOURS ATTEMPTED (Cumulative Quantitative Measure)

Time of Completion: Title IV and/or Illinois State Student Aid eligibility will be TERMINATED if you exceed the 150% completion of the published program time frame for all cumulative credit hours attempted (not earned). Remedial coursework credit hours attempted will be counted as part of your program of study timeframe. Students who require remedial coursework are limited to a maximum of 30 credit hours of attempted remedial coursework. You are advised to work with your academic advisor to "stay on target" to complete your educational goal.

If your financial aid eligibility is TERMINATED and you are no longer eligible for student aid funding due to exceeding the maximum time frame (cumulative attempted hours), you may submit a personal letter (an appeal) explaining and documenting why you have not completed your program of study. Your letter must be submitted with an academic plan of program completion including total hours and semesters required. This plan is called a Degree Audit and must be prepared by your DACC academic advisor/counselor The Appeals Committee will take into consideration that remedial coursework may have extended the timeframe towards your completion date.

DEADLINES TO SUBMIT APPEALS

The deadline to submit an appeal is no later than two weeks PRIOR to the semester you wish to attend and be reviewed for eligibility for student aid. If you miss the appeal deadline your appeal WILL NOT be considered for that semester. It is to your advantage to submit your appeal immediately after being notified of your academic progress status. Appeal deadlines are published in the Student News, DACC's Financial Aid web page (under "Important Dates") and various bulletin boards on campus. The SAP status letters highlight the two week prior to the term deadline as well.

Be aware that appeal approvals may have certain limitations and specific conditions that a student must follow to continue using financial aid funding. The Appeals Committee will take into consideration that remedial coursework may have extended the timeframe towards your completion date. If you are not clear of the meaning of your appeal response visit the financial aid office for clarification of the Committee's decision. In order to protect your privacy these matters will not be discussed over the phone.

*THE DECISION OF THE APPEAL COMMITTEE IS FINAL*

These requirements are mandated by federal regulations (HEA Sec.484(c), 34 CFR 668.16(e), 668.32(f), 668.34) - satisfactory academic progress is the law. The SAP policy applies to all students including first time financial aid recipients. Past academic history (if any) at DACC is evaluated before financial aid is awarded.

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