Satisfactory
Academic Progress (SAP)
For answers to
Frequently Asked Questions
about SAP, click
here.
Federal SAP Policy
Undergraduate Requirements:
(for graduate
requirements, click here)
Once a student has been
enrolled at LHU, in order to receive or continue to
receive federal financial aid, the requirements
of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) must be met. In
summary, the requirements for undergraduate students are
the following:
· A full-time student must
earn a minimum of 21 new credit hours in each two
semesters of enrollment.
· A full-time (i.e. student
enrolled in a minimum of 12 credits) student enrolled
for only one semester of an academic year must earn a
minimum of 9 new credit hours during that semester.
· A part-time student must
earn 100% of credit hours attempted.
· A student enrolled full-time one
term and part-time another must earn a minimum of 9
new credits during the full-time semester and
100% of credit hours attempted during the part-time
semester
· A student must have and
maintain a grade point average (gpa) equal to the
Academic Probation and Suspension Policy. The current
policy requires that a student maintain a 2.000 minimum
cumulative gpa.
· A student must have and
maintain a 2.000 minimum cumulative grade point
average after two years of enrollment.
· A student must complete his
educational program within a maximum time frame not to
exceed 150% of the length of the program. This includes
all semesters of enrollment even if no financial aid was
received. Once a student attempts more than 150% of the
credit hours that it normally takes to complete his/her
program of study, he is no longer eligible for federal
financial aid.
Examples:
Length of
Program Maximum Time Frame
60-credit program
90 credits attempted
120-credit program
180 credits attempted
Review Process:
When a student fails to meet these
requirements, he is placed on financial aid probation for the next
academic semester, with these exceptions:
(1) any
student who has previously failed to meet the
requirements will not be eligible for financial aid probation.
Therefore the student will be placed on financial aid
suspension and will not receive federal financial aid
due to failure to make SAP;
(2) any student
who is below a 1.000 cumulative gpa will not be
eligible for financial aid probation. Therefore
the student will be placed on financial aid suspension
and will not receive federal financial aid due to
failure to make SAP;
(3) students who do not
have a 2.000 gpa at the end of their second year will
not be eligible for financial aid probation.
Therefore the student will be placed on financial aid
suspension and will not receive federal financial aid due to specific Title IV regulations for
SAP.
During the financial aid probationary period, a student is
eligible to receive federal financial aid provided that
the student maintains full time status and passes a
minimum of 12 new credit hours the next academic term with a 2.000 or
better. Students on financial aid probation will be reviewed at the
end of the next consecutive term.
Satisfactory Academic Progress
(SAP) is checked after the spring semester of each year,
and a student who does not meet the requirements is
notified of either his financial aid probationary or
financial aid suspension status. Financial aid
suspension (i.e. ineligibility)
applies to all forms of federal financial aid, including
federal student loans and federal parent (i.e. PLUS)
loans. The options available to a
student who wishes to reestablish eligibility are to:
enroll during the summer to make up deficiencies (at the
student’s expense); pay for the next semester on his own
and be reviewed after that; or submit an appeal of the
SAP requirements, based on extraordinary, personal circumstances.
Any student who takes summer classes to reestablish
eligibility must contact Student Financial Services upon
receipt of his grades to request that his SAP status be
reviewed.
Appeal Process:
Students who have extraordinary,
personal circumstances have the right to appeal their
financial aid suspension. Acceptable
circumstances are defined as:
-
the death of an immediate
relative
-
a serious illness or accident
requiring medical intervention
-
significant, unexpected
family obligations
-
catastrophic loss (e.g.
flood, fire, etc.)
-
extreme personal crisis
Students who wish to appeal
must do so in writing. Letters of appeal must
include:
-
a signed, personal statement
that completely and explicitly explains the basis of
the appeal
-
documentation from an
objective, non-relative, adult professional that verifies the
extraordinary personal circumstances on which the
appeal is based
-
an explanation as to how
those circumstances affected the student's academic
performance
-
a description of the steps
that have been or will be taken to prevent the
problem from happening again
Note: Appeals
that do not contain all required information will be not
be accepted.
Signed letters
of appeal should be mailed or delivered to:
Student Financial Services
Lock Haven University of PA
123 Russell Hall
Lock Haven, PA 17745
IMPORTANT!! PLEASE NOTE:
A successful
appeal of academic suspension does not result in
reinstatement of a student’s financial aid eligibility.
Appealing one’s
financial aid status is a separate process. In
addition,
a
successful appeal of academic suspension does not
guarantee that a student may register for classes.
Students who have past
due account balances are placed on hold by the Student
Financial Services (SFS) Office and are not permitted to
register. Any student who wishes to appeal his or her
financial aid status or whose student account is on
registration hold must contact Student Financial
Services for assistance.
Incomplete Grades:
Credit
hours in which a student receives a grade of “I” (i.e.
incomplete) are included in the number of attempted
hours, but do not count as earned credits hours for SAP
purposes. It is the student’s responsibility to inform
Student Financial Services of all grade changes (e.g. a
change from “I” to “B”) to ensure that his SAP status is
reviewed.
Repeating Courses:
Many
students repeat courses that have been passed in order
to raise their grade point averages (gpa). Students are
very often unaware that repeating a course in which
credit has been earned (a grade of “D” or higher
received), will not earn additional credit. While there
may be academic reasons for repeating such courses, it
is not the purpose of financial aid to pay for the
multiple taking of the same course. Students should plan
their class schedules accordingly, or expect to make up
classes during the summer, when repeating a class for
which credit has already been earned causes them to fall
short of the minimum requirements.
Withdrawals:
Credit
hours in which a student receives a grade of "WP" or
“WF” are included in the number of attempted hours, but
do not count as earned credit hours for SAP purposes.
Remedial Courses:
Financial
Aid is available to students enrolled in remedial
courses (e.g. MATH009). These courses are included in
the number of attempted hours and also count as earned
credit hours for SAP purposes.
Transfer Students:
SAP will start when the student begins his course of
study here. Prior credits will count only towards
maximum time necessary to complete the degree. Transfer
credits are included in the total number of attempted
credit hours for the measurement of maximum time frame.
Additional Undergraduate Degrees:
Students
pursuing a second undergraduate, baccalaureate
degree are limited to 90 credit hours of work between
the receipt of the first degree and the completion of
the second. Second degree students may not receive
federal financial aid beyond 90 credit hours of
enrollment in the second undergraduate degree program.
Students
pursuing a second undergraduate, associate degree
are limited to 45 credit hours of work between the
receipt of the first degree and the completion of the
second. Second degree students may not receive federal
financial aid beyond 45 credit hours of enrollment in
the second undergraduate degree program.
PHEAA’S PA State
Grant
Academic Progress Policy
Academic progress for the PA State Grant, as defined by
the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA),
is different from federal satisfactory academic
progress. PA State Grant progress is reviewed annually
after the spring semester and is defined as successfully
completing a minimum of 12 new credits for each
full-time semester of state grant received (6 new
credits for each part-time semester grant received)
during the preceding academic year. Students enrolled
in four-year programs may receive a maximum of 8
full-time semester grants (or the equivalent), while
students in two-year programs may receive a maximum of 4
full-time semester grants (or the equivalent).
After PHEAA determines that a student is eligible for a
PA State Grant, the Student Financial Services Office,
on behalf of the University, determines whether the
student is maintaining satisfactory academic progress.
The University must cancel the student’s state grant,
even after the initial award is made by PHEAA, if the
student is found not to be making satisfactory academic
progress. Questions about PHEAA’s academic progress
policy should be directed to PHEAA at 1-800-692-7392.
Students who believe they have grounds to request an
exception to PHEAA’s academic progress policy must
contact PHEAA at 1-800-692-7392 to request a State Grant
Program Academic Progress Exception Form.
Notes:
(1) Students should refer to
the complete written progress requirements sent by PHEAA
with their state grant award notice. (2
Non-Pennsylvania State Grant programs may have different
Satisfactory Academic Progress guidelines. Students
with those awards should refer to their state grant
award letters for program-specific requirements.
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