I found this site searching for S.A.P. limit issues. For those that don't know, it stands of "Satisfactory Academic Progress." Here's a link explaining it -
https://students.asu.edu/policies/sap At issue for people returning to school are the pace rate and maximum credit hour standard. If you made significant progress toward a degree (that is, a lot of credit hours) before having to drop out; and then find yourself in a different state, trying to go to a different school, with different program requirements.....you'll end up hitting that credit hour limit before you can complete your degree. (I've also heard that nursing students at community colleges run into this. The limit is much lower, and while sitting on a waiting list they'll work toward a "back up" degree. Problem is, once they get into the nursing program they're likely to hit the credit hour limit)
There are appeal processes, but I don't know how forgiving they are.
And there are also private loans, which are considered a last resort in most cases. At this site, near the bottom, there is a list of banks that don't require satisfactory academic progress -
http://finaid.wvu.edu/aid/loans/private_loansThe question i would add - does anybody know if there are time limits? I have credits that are well over 15 yrs old. At some point do they stop counting toward the maximum credit hour limit?