Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
SAP is a monitoring system to assure that students are going to be able to meet set expectations each year as they progress toward completion of their degree. With few exceptions, students are expected to complete a degree at Berea within eight (8) regular terms of attendance (see “Eight Term Rule”). By the end of the first full year, students must have accumulated seven courses. Transfer students will be informed by the Student Records Assistant in the Student Service Center about their classification and the number of terms they have been charged with for previous course work, based on the number of credits accepted by Berea that were not earned while in high school. Students also must complete Developmental Mathematics and certain General Studies Required (GSTR) courses within a set period of time. Developmental Mathematics courses count toward load credit for SAP purposes, but do not count in the 32 courses required for graduation (typically 34 in Nursing). (See “First-Terms Requirements” in the General Education Program of The Academic Program section for details on these deadlines.) Students also must graduate with a minimum major GPA (usually 2.0, but higher for certain majors) and a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0. (See the “Academic Programs and Courses” section of this publication for specific major’s requirements.) For a complete description of the standards required to maintain SAP throughout a career at Berea, please see “Satisfactory Academic Progress” in the Financial Aid and Student Records and Academic Performance Standards sections. Failure to meet these standards may result in Academic Probation, Academic Suspension, and a loss of Financial Aid Eligibility.