09/25/2024 | Press release | Archived content
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) reintroduced legislation that will preserve and expand access to federal student aid for college students. Specifically, the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Reset and Reform Act will restore federal aid eligibility for students who had previously failed to meet existing requirements needed to receive financial assistance. The legislation will eliminate a double standard that often holds financial aid recipients to different academic requirements than fellow students who do not receive financial aid.
Existing "Satisfactory Academic Progress" or SAP requirements for federal student aid programs, such as completing a certain number of credits or courses and meeting a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0, have become increasingly strict and inflexible for students over the last 40 years. A recent study focused on three Minnesota community colleges by Higher Learning Advocates found that 29 percent of students in 2019 did not maintain SAP requirements. Similarly, approximately 40 percent of first-year Pell Grant recipients are at risk of losing aid due to their inability to meet SAP criteria's course credit component.
Current SAP policies disproportionately harm communities of color, specifically students of Black, Latino, and Native American descent. For the 2015-2016 school year, 57 percent of black students, 47 percent of Latino students, and 51 percent of Native American students relied on Pell Grants compared to 39 percent of all undergraduate students. Allowing students' SAP requirements to be reset serves as a second chance for students to earn a degree and helps move higher education institutions towards more equitable education policies and practices.
"Higher education is one of the most powerful tools for expanding opportunity and breaking the cycle of poverty," said Senator Booker. "Yet, every year students lose out on financial aid due to rigid, outdated academic requirements that don't reflect the challenges they face. The SAP Reset and Reform Act will allow students a fair chance to regain their financial aid, and create more equitable standards."
The Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Reset and Reform Act amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 in the following ways:
The legislation also outlines changes to the frequency of SAP evaluations and communications:
To read the full text of the bill, click here.