Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Financial Aid SAP Policy

Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress: Students must meet SAP Policy requirements to be eligible for federal, state, and institutional financial aid. All quarters of attendance, including those in which financial aid was not received, are used in determining SAP status prior to offering financial aid. Students are notified via preferred email if SAP conditions are not met.

There are three standards to the SAP Policy that are evaluated at the end of each quarter:

• Pace of Progression: Qualitative (completion-based) assessments
  • Students must maintain a minimum pace of progression of 67% to be eligible to receive financial aid.
  • Students must successfully complete the enrollment level/credits standard each quarter indicated in the Quarterly Pace of Progress Assignments table: 

• Grade Point Average (GPA) - (performance-based)
  • Students will be on warning status if their quarterly GPA is under 2.0. No points calculated grades (N, NC, I, U, V) are equivalent to F (fail) for financial aid purposes
  • Students will be on suspension if they have two consecutive quarters with their GPA below 2.0 
  • Students may be placed on a warning or suspension status if their cumulative GPA is at risk of not reaching 2.0 or better throughout their program.
• Maximum-Time frame: Quantitative (time-based) assessments:
  • Financial aid eligibility cannot exceed 150% of the maximum length of the students' degree or certificate program.
  • Only credits that apply toward a student’s current program are considered. This includes all transferred credits, pre-requisites, and remedial courses exceeding 45 credits.
  • Basic studies, transitional courses, English Language Acquisition (ELA), and up to 45 credits of remedial coursework will be excluded from the maximum timeframe calculation. 
  • For SAP purposes, attempted credits include letter grades: C-Credit, NC-No Credit, F-Failed, I-Incomplete, N-Audit, R-Repeat, U-Unsatisfactory, V-Vanished (Unofficial Withdrawal), W-Withdrawal, Y-In Progress grades 

Financial Aid Warning

Students who do not satisfy the Quarterly Pace of Progress requirement will be placed on a warning status (refer to the Quarterly Pace of Progress Assignments table above). Students are eligible to receive aid for their next attended quarter while on warning status. However, they are at risk of losing their financial aid eligibility if they do not complete the quarter in good-standing. Two consecutive quarters (back-to-back) of warnings will result in financial aid suspension status.  

Financial Aid Suspension

Students who do not meet all three of the quarterly SAP standards requirements will be placed on suspension status (refer to the SAP standards listed above). Students may be subject to suspension if they are mathematically and reasonably unable to complete their program. Students on suspension are not eligible to receive financial aid funding unless their status changes through the appeal process or self-reinstatement.  

Financial Aid Probation

Students will be placed on probation status for the next quarter they attend after their appeal is approved and their aid reinstated. Students who are on probation status and did not satisfy their approval conditions and/or didn’t complete their quarter in good standing will be placed on suspension status. Students may be on probation status if they have an unsuccessful academic history even if they did not receive financial aid in the past. 

Regain Eligibility for Financial Aid

Students who are suspended from financial aid have two (2) options to regain their eligibility:

1. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal: students have the right to appeal their financial aid suspension. Appeals must describe the hardship which resulted in losing financial aid eligibility, included but not limited to illness, injury, a death in the family or other extenuating circumstance.
2. Self-Reinstatement: If students choose not to appeal, or if their appeal is not approved, they may request a self-reinstatement evaluation after completing five (5) or more required credits in good standing using a non-financial aid source. During that quarter, students must complete all attempted credits while meeting all three (3) SAP standards listed above. The self-reinstatement evaluation must be requested by selecting the option on the SAP appeal form.

Students will be notified of appeal decisions via preferred student email. Appeal review timelines may vary depending on the volume of appeals received. If a student’s appeal is approved, they will be placed on probationary status and/or specific Academic Educational Plan.

Changing Program of Study

Students who change their program of study multiple times without completing their prior program(s) may be subject to SAP. Students will be at risk of not completing their new program within the maximum time frame and may exhaust their lifetime funding eligibility when changing programs. Students may not receive aid if they are mathematically or reasonably unable to complete their program in a timely manner.  

Repeat Coursework

Per state and institution policy, students may repeat a course twice - this is defined as two repeats in addition to the original enrollment (for a total of 3 attempts). Repeated courses are counted as attempted credits, however, only passed courses may apply towards program completion. Students may receive financial aid for repeated failed courses if they are within the maximum time frame for their program and have not reached their lifetime eligibility for funding. For SAP purposes, a failed course is defined as any grade below 1.0 or non-passing letter grade. Previously passed courses earned 3.5 or below GPA may be repeated only once.