Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

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

The following courses do not count towards the SAP GPA:

• Incomplete*
• Withdrawn
• Transfer credits

The following courses do count towards the SAP GPA:

• Completed courses
• Failed courses
• Developmental/ Remedial courses
• Courses purged through Academic Renewal
• Repeated courses are calculated in the SAP GPA in accordance with the University of Arizona's grading policy on repeat coursework

You must meet Pace and progress toward graduation by successfully completing 2/3 of the cumulative units you attempted.

Pace = Cumulative completed units with passing grade
                   Total cumulative attempted units

Below are examples of how a student would meet or not meet the Pace SAP standard.

We encourage you to be mindful of how many units you are attempting throughout your career. Work with your academic advisor to create a plan to complete your courses at a steady, but manageable pace.

The following outcomes count as both attempted and completed in the Pace SAP calculation:

• Passing grades (including College of Medicine Honors grades)
• Accepted transfer units

The following outcomes count as attempted (but not as completed) in the Pace SAP calculation:

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• Withdrawn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

The following attempted or completed courses do not count in your Pace SAP calculation:

• Correspondence
• Audit
• Credit by exam

*Incomplete classes that are later converted into a grade will be counted in the GPA and Pace standards in accordance with the Registrar's Incomplete Grade Policy.

Federal financial aid is meant to enable you to make progress toward the completion of your degree(s). To calculate academic progress, the University of Arizona sets a maximum timeframe in which you are expected to finish a program. Excess units are defined below:

The following example shows when an undergraduate student does not meet the Timeframe standard:

Financial Aid Warning Status

The first semester you do not meet one or more of the three SAP standards, you will be placed in Financial Aid Warning Status. During the subsequent semester you are still eligible for financial aid, however you are one semester away from losing your financial aid eligibility.

Financial Aid Suspension Status

If at the end of your warning semester you do not meet one or more of the three SAP standards, you are then placed in Financial Aid Suspension Status. You cannot receive federal or institutional financial aid while in the Financial Aid Suspension Status. However, you may submit a SAP appeal to regain eligibility.

Financial Aid SAP Academic Plan Status

If your SAP appeal is approved,you will be placed on a probation status of Academic Plan for one semester. You will be eligible to receive financial aid for this semester and you must successfully follow your SAP Probationary Conditions (and for Maximum Timeframe students, your Maximum Timeframe Academic Plan) while in this status. You will be monitored by OSFA at the end of each semester. 

• If you meet SAP standards at the end of the semester, you will be placed back into a Meets SAP Status and you will be eligible to receive financial aid for the next semester.

• If you do not meet SAP standards at the end of the semester but meet your probationary conditions, you will remain in an Academic Plan status and will not need to submit an additional appeal to receive financial aid for the next semester.

• If you do not meet your probationary conditions (and for Maximum Timeframe students, your Maximum Timeframe Academic Plan), you will be placed back on the Financial Aid Suspension status and you will not be eligible for financial aid. You may appeal this status by submitting a new SAP Appeal (with new extenuating circumstances) in order for your aid eligibility to be re-reviewed.

The SAP Appeal includes three sections:

• Section 1: Student Circumstances

  • You will answer a set of questions to address the extenuating circumstance(s) that prevented you from meeting one or more of the SAP standards in the past semester and what steps you have taken/will take to ensure that you will be academically successful in the future.

  • If you feel supporting documentation may be helpful in our review, you may submit additional documentation. 

• Section 2: Academic Advisor Statement, Required

  • This section will be completed by your academic advisor. During a meeting with your academic advisor, you will both determine the best plan of action to regain eligibility. This will include addressing which SAP standard(s) you are currently not meeting and sharing your plan of action.

  • After your meeting with your academic advisor, they will write a statement for our review and sign your form.

• Section 3: Student Certification In this section, your signature certifies that you understand and agree:

  • To read and complete any necessary requirements that you receive via your University of Arizona email from our office

  • All information submitted with your appeal is true 

  • Submission of the SAP Appeal form does not guarantee approval

If you are not meeting the Maximum Timeframe Standard, you will also need to include the Maximum Timeframe Academic Plan that has been approved by your academic advisor.

The Maximum Timeframe Academic Plan form includes five sections:

• Section 1

  • Indicate if this is the first time you are submitting an academic plan or if this is an update to a previous academic plan.

• Section 2: Advising 

  • Must be completed by your Academic Advisor.

  • This section helps us understand your current circumstances more clearly.

• Section 3: Academic Plan

  • Work with your advisor to determine your academic plan to graduate.You will only be allowed to take the coursework that is listed on this plan

  • We will use this plan to check your progress each semester, so be thorough in your plan.

  • If necessary, advisors may list the general course/tier that is required rather than a specific course number and name.

  • Be sure to total the number of needed units at the bottom of this section.

• Section 4: Student Certification

  • With your signature, you are certifying that you understand you must follow the academic plan as determined by their academic advisor and failure to do so may result in you becoming ineligible for federal or state financial aid.

• Section 5: Advisor Certification

  • Your advisor will need to sign this section, certifying that they have met with you and you both agree to the plan as listed above.

We understand you might have questions about how this could impact your funding and your options moving forward. If you were placed in a warning status, here is a list of frequently asked questions to help you plan for the upcoming semester: 

• Can I get out of the ‘Financial Aid Warning’ status and regain my ‘Meeting SAP Standards’ status? Yes! Because we review to see if you have met SAP standards at the end of each semester, if you are meeting them at the end of your next semester, you will be placed back to the ‘Meeting SAP’ status.
• What happens if I do not meet SAP standards at the end of my next semester? If you are still not meeting SAP standards at the end of next semester, you will no longer be eligible for financial aid. If extenuating circumstances prevented you from meeting SAP standards, you may be eligible to submit a SAP appeal, which must be approved by our office to continue to receive aid for an additional semester.
• What resources are available on campus to support me? Across the Arizona campus, there are countless individuals dedicated to your success and we encourage you to take advantage of some of the services that are available to you, including:
  • Academic advising appointments
  • Think Tank tutoring and exam prep
  • Student Engagement and Career Development
  • SOS is a free service that provides answers to any and all questions whenever you need help – 24/7
  • Campus Health
  • Counseling and Psych Services (CAPS)

For those not meeting GPA and/or PACE

A student who is suspended for GPA and/or PACE and has an approved appeal will be given probation requirements they must meet within that semester. At the end of the semester, our office will review the student’s academic progress to determine if they have met those conditions. If so, their probation status will roll into the next semester (fall, spring, summer) and they will not be required to submit an additional SAP appeal. 

Rolling Probationary Status Requirements:

• 2.0 undergraduate semester GPA or 3.0 graduate semester GPA  AND/OR

• 67% pace completion

*Please note, these are minimum requirements and OSFA may require additional/higher requirements be met for  a student to remain on a probationary status.  

For those not meeting Maximum Timeframe

A student who is suspended for Maximum Timeframe will be asked to submit a Maximum Timeframe Academic Plan in addition to a SAP Appeal Form. They will be required to meet with their Academic Advisor and compile a list of the courses that are needed in order to complete the graduation requirements of their degree(s). 

If their SAP Appeal Form and the Maximum Timeframe Academic Plan is approved, at the end of the following semester, our office will review what coursework the student took during that semester to confirm that only the courses listed on the previously submitted Maximum Timeframe Academic Plan were taken.  If they have met those conditions, their probation status will roll into the next semester (fall, spring, summer) and they will not be required to submit an additional SAP appeal. 

Financial aid is available to cover the cost for the first repeat of any previously passed course. 

• For Maximum Timeframe calculation, each repeat attempt of a course is factored in.
• For the Pace calculation, any 2^nd repeat of a course that was previously passed (with a D or better, including Pass grade) will be counted only as attempted (but not as completed).

Please see the Financial Aid Policy for Repeat Coursework.  

The University of Arizona’s academic repeat policy is different from the federal financial aid repeat regulations.  Academic policies surrounding repeat coursework can be found through the Office of the Registrar, at the Registrar website.

If you withdraw from a course, those units will be factored into the pace and timeframe calculation.

• GPA: Units taken at another institution that are transferred back to Arizona are not counted in your cumulative GPA calculation.
• Pace: Units taken at another institution that are transferred back to Arizona will count as attempted and completed in your Pace calculation. If you are not meeting the SAP Pace standard, please note that only ‘C’ grades or better will count toward attempted and completed.
• Timeframe: Units taken at another institution that are transferred back to Arizona will count as completed in your Timeframe calculation.