Do the COVID-19 SAP Exceptions Apply To the Summer 2020 Payment Period and Beyond?

This AskRegs Knowledgebase Q&A was updated to include the latest guidance about the end date of the following COVID-19 waiver or flexibility in the June 14, 2023 Electronic Announcement (GENERAL-23-46).

Yes. Section 3509 of the CARES Act sets forth no timeframe beyond the period of the national emergency, stating, "Notwithstanding section 484 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091), in determining whether a student is maintaining satisfactory academic progress for purposes of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), an institution of higher education may, as a result of a qualifying emergency, exclude from the quantitative component of the calculation any attempted credits that were not completed by such student without requiring an appeal by such student."

According to the June 14, 2023 Electronic Announcement, "This waiver ends at the end of the payment period that includes May 11, 2023. After that point, schools are no longer permitted to calculate a student’s SAP with consideration of COVID-19 related circumstances as it relates to attempted credits and excluding credits due to temporary cessation of operations at a school. Beginning with the following payment period, schools must comply with normal SAP requirements. Schools may continue to approve student appeals based on COVID-19-related circumstances on a case-by-case basis based on normal SAP authority."

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) further clarified this guidance for NASFAA, stating that attempted credits that were excluded from a student's SAP evaluation under the waiver will continue to be excluded in future SAP evaluations. ED stated, "we would not require nor desire schools to rescind their original decisions based on the waiver. Including prior excluded credits would negate the benefits afforded the students based on issues with COVID." Going forward, attempted credits can only be excluded from SAP if a school approves student appeals based on COVID-19-related circumstances on a case-by-case basis based on normal SAP authority.

See AskRegs Q&A, How Do We Treat COVID-19 Related Withdrawals In Our SAP Calculation? Reference Section 484 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), as amended, [20 USC 1091]

Update Notes: 

• This Q&A was updated on April 11, 2023 to note that the general COVID-19 national emergency ended on April 10, 2023, while the separate public health emergency ended on May 11, 2023. With the introduction of two separate emergency end dates, it was unclear at the time which date was to be used for the expiration of the above COVID-19.
• This Q&A was updated on February 1, 2023 to note that the COVID-19 national emergency will end on May 11, 2023.
• This Q&A was updated on August 24, 2020 to reflect extended deadlines in the August 21, 2020 Electronic Announcement apply through the end of the payment period that includes December 31, 2020 or the end of the payment period that includes the end date for the federally declared qualifying emergency related to COVID-19, whichever occurs later.
• NASFAA's previous guidance was based on the April 3, 2020 Electronic Announcement, which appeared to limit the SAP exception to the 2019-20 award year.