Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid Eligibility
Federal regulations require that a student receiving Title IV financial aid funds maintain specific standards in his or her academic program in order to remain eligible to receive these federal financial aid resources. These standards are called Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). SAP is defined as passing a required number of hours and achieving a required grade point average during a reasonable period of time. Regulations require that a student’s entire academic history be considered, including periods of time when he or she did not receive financial aid. These Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress apply only to eligibility for financial aid, and not necessarily to eligibility for continuation at the University, or for readmission to the University.
Please see the Satisfactory Academic Review Policy for University standards.
The SAP Components
SAP regulations require that the University monitor three different areas of a student’s academic record. Students must meet the required threshold in all of these areas in order to remain eligible to continue to receive financial aid. These standards are cumulative and a student must meet the requirements at the end of each term of enrollment.
The three components of SAP are:
1. Quantitative Standard – Pace
Pace is the rate at which a student is progressing toward program completion. Students must receive passing grades (A, B, C, D, P or X) in at least 67% of all credits attempted. Credit hours attempted include withdrawals (WW, WS, WF, WU or WN), in progress evaluation (I), no credit (N) and failing (U, F, FX) grades. Pace is calculated by dividing the total number of hours completed by the total number of hours attempted. For example, a student who has attempted 50 credit hours and has successfully completed 40 credit hours would have a Pace of 80%. All transfer credit hours that are accepted from other institutions will be counted as both attempted and completed hours.
2. Qualitative Standard – GPA
An undergraduate student must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2.0. A graduate student must maintain a minimum CGPA of 3.0. Some programs require a higher GPA. Please refer to the individual program for specific program requirements.
3. Quantitative Standard – Maximum Time Frame
A student is ineligible to receive financial aid after she or he has attempted 150% of the credit hours required to complete the degree program. The maximum time frame is one and a half times the degree program length. For example, an undergraduate student enrolled in a 180-hour degree program is allowed 270 hours to complete the program. At the end of the add/drop period all registered hours will be counted in the maximum time frame determination. All transfer credit hours that are accepted from other institutions will be counted as both attempted and completed hours. Once a student has reached the maximum time frame, she or he is no longer eligible to receive financial aid.
Please note that SAP is monitored at the end of each academic term of enrollment for all students. The quantitative and qualitative standards used to judge academic progress will be cumulative and will include all periods of the student’s enrollment, even periods in which the student did not receive financial aid funds.
Withdrawal and In-Progress Grades
Courses with withdrawal (W) grades and those with in-progress (I) grades are included in hours attempted but not in hours passed.
Repeated Courses
Students are permitted to repeat a course when the grade earned does not award credit for the degree of study three times and receive financial aid for the class. Students are also permitted to repeat a passed course once and receive financial aid for it. Repeating courses must be in accordance with university policy. The grade achieved in the repeated course is recorded on the academic record, however, the original grade also remains on the academic record. The course with the highest grade is used in determining cumulative credit earned and in computing the GPA. All repeated courses are included in hours attempted.