Satisfactory Progress Standards

Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards

Satisfactory Academic Progress for Student Financial Aid—Undergraduate Students

For full-time undergraduate students, a maximum time frame of five years (ten semesters) is established for attainment of the baccalaureate degree, and federal financial assistance will be limited to a maximum of five years. Full-time undergraduate students will be required to progress to sophomore, junior, and senior standing in accordance with the requirements of each of the undergraduate schools. Students who fail to earn the minimum hours and grade point average to progress to the next higher class level as determined by each of the undergraduate schools will be reviewed by the Academic Committee of the school of enrollment and may be allowed to continue their enrollment on academic probation for one or more additional semesters in order to correct their academic deficiencies.

Satisfactory Progress Standards—Federal/State Recipients

The academic progress and performance of all financial aid applicants will be reviewed by the Office of Student Financial Aid at the end of each academic year and satisfactory progress will be verified by the Financial Aid staff before an award of Federal/State funds will be approved for the subsequent year. For students who are making satisfactory progress, the award commitment for the subsequent year will normally be for the entire academic year. For students who fail to complete the required credit hours within the specified time frame and/or fail to maintain the minimum GPA required by the undergraduate school, the financial aid award will be for one probationary semester only and further review will be required at the end of the probationary semester. Beginning with the 1998/1999 academic year, one change has been made to the awarding of probationary semester awards. In the past, all aid has been awarded for one semester only. We are now awarding the Federal Stafford and PLUS loans for the full academic year. At the close of the probationary semester, we will review the student’s academic progress. If the student has not progressed and the aid must, therefore, be suspended, we will return (or cancel) the second disbursement of the Stafford and PLUS loans.

Financial Aid Probation

During the probationary semester, students must earn a minimum of 12 hours and a GPA of 2.0 and qualify for the next higher class level in order to continue receiving Federal/State financial assistance for the following semester. After qualifying for junior standing, all full-time aid recipients are expected to earn a minimum of 12 hours per semester and a GPA of 2.0 (1.9 in Engineering).

Students who fail to earn the minimum credit hours and GPA specified above during the probationary semester will be considered as not making satisfactory academic progress and all financial assistance will be terminated or suspended until the academic deficiency is corrected. After receiving aid for one probationary semester, students who then consistently earn a minimum of 12 hours per semester with a minimum 2.0 GPA will be considered to be making satisfactory progress for purposes of receiving Federal student aid provided that they do not exceed the maximum time frame for degree completion as specified by the undergraduate school.

Students who are terminated from Federal/State financial assistance may have such aid reinstated by subsequently attaining the minimum cumulative credit hours and GPA required for the appropriate time increment.

Less than Full-time Status

For undergraduate students who have approval from the dean of their school to enroll for less than full-time status, credit hours must be earned on a pro-rata basis of the full-time requirements and the minimum specified GPA must be maintained in order to be eligible for Federal/State financial assistance. Peabody (undergraduate) students enrolled for their “professional semester” (student teaching or internship) will be considered to be full-time students for this purpose.

Satisfactory Progress Standards—Institutional Aid Programs

University need-based grants are typically awarded for the academic year to undergraduate students on the basis of financial need, grade point average, and academic progress. The minimum required cumulative GPA for renewal of University need-based grant funds is a 2.00 after the freshman year, but we anticipate that the level of academic performance for each student will be higher. In addition, for renewal, the student must be making satisfactory progress toward his/her degree.

For students who fail to complete the required credit hours within the specified time frame and/or fail to maintain the minimum GPA stipulated above, the need-based grants will be terminated.

Typically, students are notified prior to the academic year that they may appeal for a reinstatement of grant funds if the number of required credit hours to advance to the next higher level is achieved and/or their overall GPA is raised to the 2.00 level in the following subsequent semester. It will be the responsibility of the student to contact the Office of Student Financial Aid to request the reinstatement of Institutional aid.

Appeal and Reinstatement Procedures for All Students

Any student whose Federal/State/Institutional student aid is terminated due to unsatisfactory academic progress may submit an appeal for reinstatement of such assistance to the Office of Student Financial Aid. The appeal will be considered by the director of financial aid or his/her designate, with the right for further appeal to the associate provost for academic affairs. If it is determined that the student’s lack of academic progress was the result of illness, death in the family, or other exceptional or mitigating circumstances, eligibility for Federal/State/Institutional student aid funds may be reinstated on a probationary basis by a financial aid officer.