Satisfactory Academic Progress
Financial Aid Policies
Students who wish to receive financial aid must be in good academic standing and make satisfactory academic progress towards a degree or certificate program in addition to meeting other eligibility criteria.
Graduate students are evaluated at the end of each semester (Fall II and Spring II) and summer school (Summer III). The following minimum academic standards must be met:
Qualitative Measure
Graduate students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 in order to be eligible for federal, state, and institutional funds.
Quantitative Measure
Graduate students must complete 67% (just over two-thirds) of all units in which they originally enroll from the time of first attendance. Thus, a first-term graduate student who originally enrolls in nine units, withdraws from three units, and successfully completes the remaining six units, would be meeting the quantitative measure requirement since the student passed at least 67% of the units in which he or she originally enrolled (6/9 = 67%).
The policy applies to cumulative units only. A graduate student who successfully completes 21 units without withdrawing from any classes and then enrolls in six units but drops all of them would still be making satisfactory progress because the student would have completed 21 out of 27 total units (21/27 total units = 78%) which is greater than 67%.
Time Limit for Graduate and Doctoral Programs for Receiving Federal Financial Aid
- 5 years for School of Business Management degrees
- 10 years for the Master of Divinity degree
- 8 years for all other master’s and doctoral degrees
The measurement begins from the date of initial enrollment in the degree program.
Time Limit for Credential Only Programs for Receiving Federal Financial Aid
All Credential only programs will be measured 150% of the total units in their program. This policy refers to all units in the student’s admitted credential only program. For repeated courses, the credits from all attempts will be counted toward the maximum time frame. Students that reach the end of their maximum time limit but fall short by one unit in order to receive aid will automatically receive grace for that one unit.
Grades
The only grades that meet satisfactory academic progress standards are grades for which credit is awarded; A, B, C, P, and CR. (Some departments and/or schools require a higher minimum GPA in order for coursework to meet program requirements.) Withdrawal and incomplete grades are not passing grades. Challenge exams and audited courses are not considered.
Reinstatement
Students who fail to maintain a minimum cumulative GPA will be given one semester of “Aid Probation” in which they must earn a 3.0; additional terms of probation may be continued if a student earns a 3.0 term GPA but the cumulative GPA is not a 3.0 otherwise, the student will be placed on “Aid Suspension” and be ineligible for all financial aid (federal, state, and institutional).
Students who do not successfully complete 67% of all the units they originally enrolled in will be placed on “Aid Suspension” for the following semester. They will have their aid reinstated when they achieve completion of at least 67% of all the graduate classes they have taken.
In addition, students may appeal for reinstatement of assistance if they, a spouse, or dependent children have experienced illness that prevented class attendance for an extended period of time; they have experienced a death in the immediate family (parents, siblings, spouse, or dependent children); or they have experienced some extraordinary situation that prevented them from meeting the minimum standards. Such a situation must be exceptional and nonrecurring in nature. The appeal for reinstatement must explain the cause of the academic difficulty and how the situation has been resolved.
An appeal must be made within 30 days of the date the notice of ineligibility is mailed to the student by the Financial Aid Office. A Financial Appeals Committee will make a ruling on the appeal. Appeals must be in writing.
