Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy

The Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy monitors and measures whether the students are maintaining satisfactory academic progress in their educational programs. The standards and requirements of satisfactory academic progress apply to all enrolled students.

This page is provided as a general introduction and informational resource for SAP. Please see the Academic Catalog for the full policy related to SAP.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards

The satisfactory academic progress (SAP) standards are measured after the final grades are recorded at the end of Fall, Spring, Summer I and Summer II, which are called “evaluation points”. SAP is measured by the following three criteria.

Maximum Time Frame for Program Completion (MTF)
Qualitative Standard: a required minimum cumulative grade point average (cGPA)
Quantitative Standard: a required minimum completion rate (CR)

If SAP is met, a student will continue on in good academic standing with no additional indication in the student’s record.

Students who fail to meet any of the above-mentioned criteria will be considered not meeting the SAP requirements and will be put on Academic Warning or Academic Dismissal. If SAP is not met, a letter will be sent to the student’s official university email of record and a copy will be placed in the student record based on the category.

At the time of SAP review, students will fall into one of the following categories:

GOOD STANDING: Student has met all required SAP standards and is eligible for aid for the following semester or academic year provided that all other requirements are met, no administrative action is taken if SAP is deemed “met”.
ACADEMIC WARNING: Student has not made progress standards for the first time; the student will remain eligible for financial aid for one semester. The student must make improvements on all SAP standards in order to be removed from Academic Warning.
ACADEMIC DISMISSAL: Student fails to meet the required SAP standards at the end of an academic warning period or fails to comply with the Academic Plan during or at the end of an Academic Probation period, or who again does not meet SAP standards; the student is no longer eligible for Financial Aid. Please see re-establishing eligibility below.
ACADEMIC PROBATION: Students who face an Academic Dismissal (having been on Academic Warning in the prior semester/term) who, for compelling reasons, are able to justify to the SAP Appeal Committee that they are able to make significant changes in future terms to overcome any potential areas of academic concern. If the SAP Committee agrees with the student’s justification and potential plan for improvement, the student can continue on Academic Probation and will remain eligible for financial aid for one semester or length of Academic Plan. At the next evaluation point, if the student continues not to meet SAP, then the student will not be eligible for financial aid.
FINAL ACADEMIC DISMISSAL: Student received an Academic Warning and then an Academic Dismissal in a subsequent, consecutive term. The student appealed to continue in the program and was placed on Academic Probation to make improvements, following an Academic Plan. The student failed meet the terms of the Academic Plan and receives a Final Academic Dismissal. This Final Dismissal can be appealed, but the reasons for the appeal must be materially and significantly different than the original appeal. If a student does not appeal, or if their appeal is denied, the student is required to withdraw for a period no less than 365 calendar days.

SAP is calculated by Registrar’s Office at each “evaluation point” and the actual calculation is maintained by the Registrar.

Please see the Academic Catalog for full descriptions of the evaluation points, methods for calculating SAP, and consequences for not meeting SAP.