Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Financial aid standards

Students must meet the following academic requirements to be eligible for financial aid.

plus minus GPA

Financial aid students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher. This is a C average. Your cumulative GPA includes all grades earned at PCC, whether or not financial aid was used. Find your GPA in your unofficial transcript: on the MyPCC Home tab in the Quick Links section, click unofficial transcript. Your cumulative GPA is at the bottom on the row titled Total Institution.

percent Completion rate

Financial aid students must have a completion rate of 66.67% or higher. If you pass every class you register for, your completion rate would be 100%. If you don’t pass a class, you don’t earn credit for that class and your completion rate goes down. To calculate completion rate, divide your total completed credits by your total attempted credits:

Credit totals include classes taken at PCC and classes transferred from another college. Any class that you register for and don’t drop is added to your total attempted credits.

What grades count as a completed credit?

• Completed: A, B, C, D, P (pass)
• Not completed: F, NP (no pass), W (withdraw), I (incomplete)

 

hourglass end Credit limit

There is a maximum number of credits you can attempt while receiving financial aid. Financial aid is available for up to 150% of the credits required for a program of study. For example, if a degree requires 90 credits, financial aid can be used for 135 credits.

If you cannot complete your declared program before reaching the credit limit, you are ineligible for financial aid and will be flagged to appeal your eligibility. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee approval.

Credit limit appeals are required for students nearing their credit limit, and for students with a bachelor’s degree pursuing one of the following associate degrees: Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer, Associate of General Studies, Associate of Science, or Associate of Science Oregon Transfer in Business.

What classes count toward the 150% credit limit?

• Credits earned at PCC, whether or not financial aid was used
• Credits transferred to PCC from another college
• Credits earned at another college through a consortium agreement
• Non-traditional credits (including AP, CLEP, IB, and military)
• Failed and incomplete classes
• Repeated classes
• Excluded from the credit limit: up to 45 credits of ESOL and below-100 classes (e.g. Math 60)

 

Financial aid reinstatement and appeals

If your financial aid has been suspended, you have the right to submit an appeal to regain eligibility.

Appeal forms

• Satisfactory academic progress appeal
  Use this form if your aid was suspended due to GPA or completion rate issues. You’ll be asked what circumstances led to past academic difficulties and how the challenges have been resolved.
• Credit limit appeal
  Use this form to request additional credits to complete your certificate or degree. You’ll work with an advisor to create a term-by-term plan of classes.

Appeal outcomes

Appeals must be received and approved before the end of the term for which aid is being requested. You’ll get the results in your MyPCC email within 2-4 weeks. Appeals can result in the following outcomes:

• Approval: reinstatement of eligibility.
• Probation: reinstatement of eligibility on condition of following an academic plan. Failure to follow the academic plan will result in suspension of eligibility.
• Denial: no longer eligible for financial aid. On request, denied appeals can be reviewed by the committee one additional time.