 What is
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)?
SAP is an academic standards policy designed to ensure you, as a
financial aid recipient, satisfactorily progress toward
degree/program completion. The Financial Aid Office is required by
law to implement standards that will help you complete your program
with a cumulative 2.0 GPA and within the 150% Maximum Credit Limit
(less than 180 hours attempted for a 4 year undergraduate degree).
Each designated term, the Office of Financial Aid will review both
your cumulative GPA and your term completion rate. As a financial
aid recipient, you must earn a 2.0 GPA/upperclassmen or 1.75
GPA/freshmen each term AND complete 75% of the credits attempted
during the term. If you maintain both the GPA and completion rate
requirement, you are considered to be in Good Standing.
Beginning August 1, 2011: SAP will be reviewed at the end of
each long semester and at the end of the summer term (combined
sessions).
To remain in good standing, freshmen students (0-24 hours)
must maintain a 1.75 Grade Point Average (GPA) and complete 75% of
the credit hours in which they are enrolled on Schreiner’s official
census date.
After the student has completed their first academic year, (25 hours
and above) the cumulative GPA must remain at a 2.0 or better and
complete 75% of the credit hours in which they are enrolled on
Schreiner’s official census date.
Students who fail to meet the initial and renewal requirements will
be placed in the appropriate stage below for immediate intervention:
Level 1= Warning. At the warning stage, a letter will be sent
to the student, parent(s) of dependent student (if applicable
parental confidentiality waiver is on file), advisor and the
Director of Retention. The letter to the student/family will clarify
the situation, outline potential consequences, and ask for “buy-in”
from parents to monitor student performance. Families will be
reintroduced to the Director of Retention and asked to complete and
return a form with their email address and commitment to partnership
agreement. This form will be tracked in Financial Aid and future aid
disbursements will be held up until this form is returned.
Students who fail to meet SAP requirements while on Warning will be
placed on Financial Aid Suspension.
Level 2= Suspension. Students and families will be notified
of suspension and potential appeal procedures. While on FA
Suspension you cannot receive financial aid until your suspension
status is resolved. This status cannot be resolved on its own – you
must take action.
If an appeal is granted for legitimate reasons, the student will be
placed on probation. All appeals will include a written contract. No
further appeals will be granted if students do not meet contract
requirements.
Copy of Appeal Form
Appeal Procedure(s):
Students who fail to meet these standards and have lost eligibility
for financial aid may appeal this decision. Appeal form and
substantiating documentation should be submitted to the Office of
Financial Aid within 30 days of the student receiving notice of
suspension. Reasons that may be acceptable for the appeal are: (1)
serious illness or accident on the part of the student; (2) death,
accident or serious illness in the immediate family; (3) change in
academic program; (4) other extenuating circumstances. The
reasonableness of the student's ability for improvement to meet the
appropriate standards for the certificate or degree program in which
the student is enrolled will be taken into consideration.
Appeals will be reviewed by the Director of Financial Aid and will
be either denied or approved for a probationary period not to exceed
one semester. The Director may choose to use a faculty committee to
aid in this process.
Students will be automatically ineligible for financial aid,
regardless of whether they have previously been placed on financial
aid warning, beginning with the next semester of attendance when one
of the following occurs:
a) student receives grades of "F" in all courses attempted in any
semester. In evaluating satisfactory progress, a grade of "I" will
be considered an "F".
b) student is academically dismissed.
Students who pre-register for a subsequent semester before grades
are evaluated and who use financial aid to pay tuition and fees may
owe a financial aid repayment if they do not maintain satisfactory
academic progress and have been disqualified from financial aid once
grades are posted and reviewed.
A student who is disqualified from financial aid more than one term
consecutively for failure to meet these standards must meet with a
financial aid counselor to discuss plans for re-establishing
financial aid eligibility. Unless there are extenuating
circumstances, a student in this category should expect to enroll
for a least 12 semester credits without financial aid and
successfully pass all courses with a minimum of a 2.00 GPA to be
reconsidered for financial aid.
Suspension from financial aid does not prevent a student from
enrolling without financial aid if he or she is otherwise eligible
to continue their enrollment. However, the student should be aware
that the college's policies for academic eligibility and financial
aid eligibility closely mirror one another, since both are measures
of satisfactory academic progress intended to encourage behavior
which leads to academic success.
Level 3- Probation. Suspended students who have their appeals
approved will be placed on probation. Probation Status means
that your appeal to be reinstated is approved. You are eligible to
receive grants, work study and loans. However you must complete your
probation term in Good Standing to avoid FA Suspension in the
subsequent term. An academic contract will be drafted by the Office
of Financial Aid or Office of Retention on a case by case basis.
Copies of the signed contract will be sent to the Director of
Retention, the student, the parent (if applicable) and the Director
of Financial Aid. Failure to meet the requirements of the contract
place the student on automatic suspension.
Dropping Classes- How will this affect my financial aid?
Before you drop, here are some important things to consider:
• If dropping causes
you to go below the 75% completion rate, your future financial
aid may be in jeopardy. You will be put on Warning or
Suspension.
• If dropping the credits takes you below half-time status, your
loan grace period will begin.
• If you are receiving Veteran Education Benefits, you
may owe the VA for courses paid on your behalf and not
completed.
• Dropping below full time status can affect other areas
including veteran’s benefits, state aid, scholarships, and
whether or not you can continue to be covered under your
parents' health or car insurance policy. Check into all of these
areas before dropping classes.
If you drop or stop
attending all of your courses before 60% of the term is over, you
will not have earned the full amount of financial aid originally
disbursed to you. You may be required to repay to Schreiner
University, a portion of the funds you received before registering
for any future term.
Click here for detailed explanation of Return to Title IV
Policy.
How do I know what my enrollment level was at the time my
financial aid disbursed? On the 12th Class day for regular terms
(3rd class day for summer terms) Financial Aid takes a snapshot of
your enrollment. Your financial aid is paid out at this enrollment
level. You are required to complete 75% or more of the minimum
credits per your enrollment level on that date.
Terms and Explanations:
Withdrawals (W grades) which are recorded on the student's
permanent academic transcript will be included as credit hours
attempted and will have an adverse effect on the student's
eligibility to meet the requirements of the credit progression
schedule for financial aid. This will affect your 75% completion
rate calculation.
Incomplete and Progress grades - Courses that are assigned an
incomplete or progress grade are included in the cumulative credits
attempted. These cannot be used as credits earned in the progress
standard until a successful grade is assigned. This will affect your
75% completion rate calculation.
Repeated Courses - Repeated courses enable the student to
achieve a higher cumulative GPA. However, repeating courses
adversely effects the student's ability to meet the requirements of
the credit progression schedule. Note: financial aid will pay for
one repetition of a class. This will affect your 75% completion rate
calculation.
Transfer Students: Only credits officially accepted in
transfer and specifically applied toward a student's certificate or
degree will be counted toward the maximum credits allowed. If the
student is required to take hours above the maximum number allowable
as a result of transfer from another institution, the student may
submit a written appeal to the Office of Financial Aid requesting an
extension.
Second Degree Students: Only officially accepted credits
which are specifically applied toward the student's current
certificate or degree program will be included in the maximum number
allowed.
Graduate Students: Graduate students will be expected to meet
the same minimum GPA and cumulative hours requirements as
undergraduate students. However, graduate students will only be
eligible to receive aid for one semester beyond the number of
semesters it should be required to complete the program. For
example, students in the Masters of Education program who have a 36
credit hours requirement are expected to complete a minimum of 12
credit hours per semester and will not be eligible for aid beyond a
4th semester.
Part-time Students: These standards will be adjusted
according to the hours enrolled. For example, half-time students
will be eligible for a maximum of 20 semesters while three-quarter
time students will be eligible for a maximum of 15 semesters.
Cumulative GPA requirements are the same as for full-time students.
Students Admitted on Warning: Students admitted on warning
will be eligible for financial aid for one semester. At the end of
that semesters the student must have completed enough credit hours
and obtained a high enough GPA to be removed from warning status for
financial aid to be continued.
Appealing Loss of TEG (Texas State Aid)
Students who have lost eligibility for TEG due to lack of hours
completed during the previous academic year and/or cumulative grade
point average totals falling below a 2.5, may submit a written
appeal (with documentation) to the Director of Financial Aid and the
Financial Aid Committee no later than 30 days before the start of
the next long semester.
Examples of hardships that could be approved include:
1.) Severe illness of the student
2.) Documented family illness/crises that was the student’s
responsibility to manage
3.) For students awarded TEG after September 1, 2005, an appeal may
be granted if student can demonstrate that the increased criteria
for renewal was an academic hardship.
No hardship appeal will be granted in excess of one academic year. |
