Financial Aid Awards Standards

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy

 

Description PDF
Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form Application

   

It is important to read the instructions on the SAP Appeal Form before you submit documents to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA).

 

OSFA monitors students for compliance within the three SAP standards: Qualitative, Pace and Timeframe.

Students are monitored at the end of every term. Failure to meet these standards may result in the loss of financial aid eligibility. For financial aid eligibility, terms are defined as fall, spring, and summer semesters. Law, Medicine, and Pharmacy students are monitored by their respective college.

 

Note: These standards apply to federal and institutional aid and do not necessarily reflect the cumulative grade point average (GPA) or units required to maintain scholarships or advance grade levels.

 

STANDARDS

 

Qualitative


You must successfully meet the minimum cumulative GPA as shown in the chart below:

Minimum Cumulative GPA

Undergraduate

2.0

Graduate

3.0

 Graduate Non-Degree Seeking Students enrolled in undergraduate coursework will be monitored at the Graduate standard.

The following courses do not count towards the GPA:

  • Incomplete
  • Withdrawn
  • Transfer credits
  • Remedial/ Developmental

Pace

You must successfully complete 66.7% of the cumulative units you attempted.

 

Pace = Cumulative number of hours (credit hours) that you have successfully completed
Cumulative number of hours (credit hours) that you have attempted

 

The following courses do not count as attempted or completed units in the SAP calculation:

  • Correspondence
  • Audit
  • Credit by exam
  • Non-credit remedial

The following courses count as attempted but do not count as completed units in the SAP calculation:

  • Incomplete
  • Failed
  • Withdrawn
  • More than one repeat of any previously passed course 

Timeframe

You must be making progress toward a degree. To quantify academic progress, the University of Arizona sets a maximum timeframe in which you are expected to finish a program. Accumulation of excess units results in not meeting timeframe standards. Excess units are defined below:
Maximum Timeframe
Undergraduate
150% program length
Graduate
Monitored by Graduate College
Following is an example of how an undergraduate student does not meet timeframe standards:
This student, whose program requires 120 units toward graduation, has accumulated 190 units, thus exceeding the 150% maximum timeframe.
Degree credit requirements
150%
Cumulative
SAP Status
120
180
190
Not Meet
Repeat Coursework - Financial aid is available for the first repeat of any previously passed course. Each attempt is factored into pace and the timeframe allowance. The UA course repeat policy can be found at http://registrar.arizona.edu/regtrans/course-repeat-spring-2011.
Withdrawals
  • For the first occurrence of a term withdrawal
    • If you are currently meeting SAP standards, you will be placed in Financial Aid Warning.
    • If you were already in a Warning or Probation Status, you will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension.
  • For the second occurrence of a term withdrawal within 2 academic years, you will be placed in Financial Aid Suspension.

SAP Status

Financial Aid Warning Status
The first time you do not meet SAP standards, you will be placed in Financial Aid Warning. This means you are one term away from losing your financial aid eligibility. You are still eligible for financial aid.
 
Financial Aid Suspension Status
If you are in Financial Aid Warning and do not meet SAP standards, you are immediately placed on Financial Aid Suspension. You will not receive federal or institutional financial aid. You may appeal this status.
 
Financial Aid Probation Status
If you have successfully appealed a Financial Aid Suspension, you will be placed on Probation for one term. If you meet the SAP standards at the end of the Probation term, your SAP Status will reset back to Meets SAP. If you do not meet the SAP standards at the end of your Probation, you will be placed back into Suspension.
 
Financial Aid SAP Academic Plan Status
If you have successfully appealed a Financial Aid Suspension, you may be placed on a SAP Academic Plan. You must successfully follow your SAP Academic Plan while in this status. You will be monitored at the end of each term. If you do not meet the criteria outlined in your SAP Academic Plan, you will be placed back into Suspension. If you are meeting the criteria outlined in your SAP Academic Plan, you will remain in this status until either the plan expires or you are meeting SAP standards.
 
If you meet SAP standards while on Probation or your SAP Academic Plan, you will be placed back into a Meets SAP Status for the next term.
 
Consortium Agreements: If you are not meeting the SAP Pace standard and you have an approved consortium agreement, you need to submit an official transcript from the institution you attended to the Office of Registration and Transcripts. The transcript must indicate that you successfully completed all approved coursework with a 'C' grade or better. Official transcripts are automatically sent for students who were enrolled at Pima Community College with an approved consortium agreement. These transcripts take time to be evaluated.
 
REINSTATEMENT OF FINANCIAL AID ELIGIBILITY
If you lose federal and institutional aid eligibility because you are not meeting SAP standards you may regain eligibility in one of the following ways:
 
1. Submit a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal Form with supporting documentation. That form provides a non-exhaustive list of circumstances for which you may appeal. You must advance toward attaining a degree and show progress within your SAP Academic plan for graduation.
 
2. Complete one semester using your own resources at UA with at least half-time enrollment (6 graded units undergraduate/5 graded units graduate). Courses taken must be chosen in consultation with an Academic Advisor. You must advance toward attaining a degree and adhere to your SAP Academic Plan for graduation. You must submit a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal Form at the end of the term after the grades have been posted by the Registrar's Office onto your official record.
Once you regain eligibility, you will be awarded financial aid for the following term subject to your financial aid eligibility and the availability of funds.

 2010-2011 SAP standards which expired June 30, 2011.