All financial aid applicants must meet our Standards of Satisfactory Progress to receive financial aid. The US Department of Education requires all institutions to set minimum standards which students must meet to receive financial aid. The standards for financial aid are different than those used by the Office of the Registrar; we must count all courses attempted (including all repeated courses, dropped courses, incomplete courses, and withdrawals); for example, if you took a course and received an "F" and retook the same course receiving an "A", the Registrar will determine you have a 4.0 (allowing the highest grade for the course to stand) but financial aid will consider you to have a 2.0 counting all credits completed and all credits attempted.
You must meet a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 for undergraduate and 3.0 for graduate students.
You must have a pass rate of 67%; in the example provided, the student would have a 4.0 according to the Registrar, a 2.0 according to financial aid and a pass rate of 50%: 3 credits completed divided by 6 credits attempted. In this example, the student would not meet the pass rate standard and would have to submit an appeal with mitigating circumstances.
Students may not receive financial aid after attempting 150% of the hours required to complete their degree. The academic records office according to the published standards in the University Bulletin establishes the length of each program. Courses, which transfer from another post-secondary institution, will reduce the time frame accordingly.
Examples: (1) If your degree is a 120 hour degree: 120 x 150% = 180 hours maximum time frame. You are eligible for only the first 180 hours of attendance. (2) If you transfer and bring 70 hours credit into a 120 hour degree program: 120 x 150% = 180 – 70 = 110 hours maximum time allowed for degree funding.
All students must meet all three parts of Satisfactory Academic Progress: GPA, Pass Rate, and Maximum Hours/Time Frame. Students who do not meet the standard may appeal using the appeal form in the forms area of the web site.