Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
To be eligible to receive federal financial aid, students must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) as defined by the University and in compliance with federal regulations. SAP must be evaluated at least once a year and qualitative and quantitative standards must be used to determine whether a student is making adequate progress toward graduation.
Undergraduates – SAP Requirements
Qualitative standard based on cumulative grade point average.
- Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher.
Quantitative standards based on rate of progress, number of non-progress grades, and maximum time frame (attempted hours).
- Rate of Progress: Students must successfully complete at least 66.67% of all credits attempted. Rate of progress is determined by dividing the total number of earned hours by the total number of attempted hours.
- Earned hours include letter grades A, B, C, D, and P.
- Attempted hours include earned hours and all non-progress hours, E, I, IE, UW, W, WE, and T, as well as repeated hours, transfer credit, AP and IB credit, foreign language exam credit and other exam credit.
- Non-progress Hours: Students cannot have more than 60.0 non-progress hours if their major requires 120 hours to graduate. For students in majors requiring more than 120 hours, non-progress hours cannot exceed 50% of the hours required for graduation.
- Maximum Time Frame (Attempted Hours): Federal regulations allow for a student to attempt 150% of the number of credit hours required for graduation. Most undergraduate degree programs require 120 hours to graduate which allows for 180 maximum attempted hours. For students in majors requiring more than 120 hours, we may adjust the maximum attempted hours to be 150% of the number of hours needed for graduation.
Graduates – SAP Requirements
Qualitative standard based on assessment by Graduate Studies Office.
- Graduate programs evaluate students’ progress as “satisfactory,” “marginal,” or “unsatisfactory.” Only students with a “satisfactory” or "marginal" designation meet SAP.
- Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher.
Quantitative standard of maximum time frame defined by program of study.
- Master’s candidates must be done within five years of their first enrollment.
- Doctoral candidates must be done within eight years of their first enrollment.
| Satisfactory Academic Progress Summary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduates | Graduates | |
| Qualitative | < 2.0 cumulative GPA | “Satisfactory” or "marginal" standing |
| < 2.0 cumulative GPA | ||
| Quantitative | Rate of Progress complete 66.67% | Defined by program of study |
| Non-progress Hours <60 non-progress hours | ||
| Maximum Time Frame <180 attempted hours | ||
Annual Review of SAP
SAP is evaluated once a year at the end of winter semester. After all winter grades post, we will review all student's SAP eligibilty.
- Students who “pass” this review meet SAP and will be eligible for federal financial aid for spring and summer terms of the current academic year and fall and winter semesters of the following academic year.
- Students who “fail” this review do not meet SAP and will not be eligible for federal financial aid for spring and summer terms of the current academic year and fall and winter semesters of the following academic year. Students will be notified of their failed SAP status by the Financial Aid Office via the Message Center.
Financial Aid Petitions (Probation / Academic Plan)
In general, students who fail to meet SAP are not eligible to receive federal financial aid. However, federal regulations allow the Financial Aid Office to place students on financial aid probation or an academic plan if the student has extenuating reasons why they were not able to meet SAP and the student has an approved academic plan.
Extenuating circumstances generally include something outside the student’s control, such as:
- Serious illness
- Accident or injury
- Medical or family emergency
- Death of relative
- Federally-declared disaster
- Other personal crisis
Note: Students may not request to override SAP for a previous enrollment period. Federal regulations require that requests must be submitted and approved before or during the enrollment period in which the student is requesting an exception.
If you do not meet SAP and feel you have extenuating reasons why, you may schedule an appointment with your financial aid counselor to discuss your situation. If your counselor determines that your circumstance warrants an exception to policy, he or she will provide you with the petition form. To schedule an appointment with your counselor, please call One Stop Student Services at 801-422-4104.
