The Higher Education Amendment Act of 1965, as amended,
mandates institutions of higher
education to establish a minimum
standard of “Satisfactory Academic
Progress” for students receiving
federal financial aid. North
Carolina A & T State University
makes its standard applicable to all
federal, state and institutional
funds. The satisfactory academic
progress applies to all terms
regardless of whether financial aid
was received. Satisfactory academic
progress will be evaluated for
all students (full or part-time)
annually (at the end of each spring
semester). Students re-admitted
under the “five year rule” must also
meet the Satisfactory Academic
Progress standards to receive
financial aid.
To ensure Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) students must
meet all of the following standards:
Minimum Cumulative Grade Point
Average (GPA)
Minimum Completion Standard for
Attempted Credit Hours
Maximum Time Frame for Degree
Completion
Undergraduate SAP Requirements
All undergraduate students must maintain the following
minimum requirements to be in
compliance with SAP:
Total Number of Attempted Hours
Minimum
Cumulative GPA
1-12
1.60
13-24
1.75
25-36
1.90
37 or more
2.00
Graduate
and Doctoral SAP Requirements
All graduate and doctoral students must maintain the
following minimum requirements to be
in compliance with SAP:
Must have a Cumulative Grade
Point Average of 3.0 or higher
·Must Earn 67% of Hours
Attempted
·Must not Exceed 150%
of Hours Required for Degree
Completion
Completion Standard for Attempted
Credit Hours
Students who receive financial aid must successfully complete
a minimum of 67% of all attempted
hours. If the number of completed
hours drops below 67%, the student
will no longer be eligible for
financial aid. Attempted hours
include all hours attempted at the
University and transfer hours,
whether or not the student earns a
grade or receives credit.
Successful completion of a course
means that the students must obtain
a grade of A, B, C or D (excluding a
grade of D for a graduate or
doctoral student).
To calculate 67%, multiply the total number of attempted
hours by .67 (rounded to the nearest
whole number). As an example if a
student attempts (registered for) 30
credit hours in an academic year, he
or she must complete a minimum of 20
credit hours (30 x .67 = 20) in
order to ensure SAP for the year.
Maximum Time Frame
The number of credit hours a student attempts may not exceed
150% of the number of credit hours
required for graduation in his or
her program of study, as published
in the University Bulletin. If the
published number of hours required
for graduation is 124, a student may
not attempt more than 186 credit
hours (124 x 1.5 = 186)
and continue to receive financial
aid. All periods of enrollment must
be considered, even those for which
the student did not receive
financial aid as well as hours
transferred from another school. If
the number of attempted hours
reaches 150% of the hours required
for graduation, the student will no
longer be eligible for financial
aid.
Financial Aid Termination
Students who do not meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress
standards are not eligible for
further financial aid and this
includes Summer I, Summer II and
Dual sessions. Students will be
notified by Office of Student
Financial Aid of their financial aid
termination at the end of the spring
semester through a letter to their
permanent home mailing address and
to their University e-mail account.
Students whose financial aid is terminated from financial aid
must remove their academic
deficiencies or have an appeal
granted before their aid can be
reinstated. Students who withdraw
from a class or classes after the
add/drop period, receives all “F’s”
for the semester or a grade of
“Incomplete” may affect their
ability to earn the required credit
hours.
Conditions for Reinstatement
Students who are denied federal and/or state financial aid
for failure to meet the SAP
standards are advised by the Office
of Student Financial Aid of their
right to appeal the decision.
Students may appeal the decision in
writing to the Office of Student
Financial Aid if they had
extenuating circumstance(s) that led
to their unsatisfactory academic
progress. The student will be
notified in writing of the
decision. If the student is not
satisfied with the decision, then
the final option is to appeal to the
Financial Aid Appeals Committee.
The student must request in writing
that their appeal be reviewed by the
Committee. This request must be
submitted to the Office of Student
Financial Aid. The Chair of the
Financial Aid Appeals Committee will
notify the student in writing of the
decision.
Any student whose financial aid has
been terminated may reestablish
satisfactory academic progress by
any of the following methods:
Enroll in a course or courses
for Summer I, Summer II and/or
Dual Session.
Repeat courses in which a grade
of F was earned.
Satisfy requirements for all
incomplete grades.
Appeal Procedure
To appeal for the reinstatement of financial aid eligibility,
students should complete and submit
the Satisfactory Academic Progress
appeal form to the Student Financial
Aid Office. A letter from the
student documenting the extenuating
circumstance(s) (i.e. personal
illness, injury, medical problems,
undue hardship, death of parent or
immediate family member, or other
special circumstances) that may have
prevented the student to perform at
his/her academic best must accompany
the Satisfactory Academic Progress
appeal form.
Students will be notified, in writing of the appeal decision.
If an appeal is approved, the
student must sign a Satisfactory
Academic Progress Action Plan with
the Student Financial Aid Office,
which indicates the stipulation of
the appeal. Students who are granted
an appeal and do not meet the
requirements indicated on the action
plan are placed on financial aid
suspension until satisfactory
academic progress is achieved. The
Financial Aid Appeals Committee only
grants a student two appeal
approvals.Effective
the end of Spring 2008
