Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards for Title IV Financial Aid
Deadlines
- Feb. 8 — Last day to submit a Federal Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal form for the spring 2013 semester.
Policy Summary
Brooklyn College students must satisfy the following qualitative and quantitative federal financial aid satisfactory academic progress (SAP) standards, as defined by the U.S. Department of Education and Brooklyn College in order to remain eligible for federal financial aid. §CFR668.34
Federal aid programs governed by these regulations are:
- Federal Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)
- Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loan
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Perkins Loan
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
- Federal Teach Grant
- Federal Work-Study
- TAP (Note: While failing to meet federal financial aid satisfactory academic progress (SAP) can impact your eligibility for TAP, New York State has developed its own guidelines for New York State satisfactory academic progress).
Definitions
Our definition of SAP has three components:
Qualitative Standard
Undergraduate students must achieve the follwoing grade point averages:
• 0 – 12 credits: 1.50
• 13 – 24 credits: 1.75
• 25+ credits: 2.00
Graduate students must achieve a grade point average of at least 3.00.
Maximum Time Frame
Undergraduate students may not attempt more than 150 percent of the credits normally required for completion of the degree. All students must meet this minimum requirement.
Graduate students may not attempt more than 150 percent of the credits normally required for completion of the degree.
Quantitative Standard (credits earned vs. credits attempted)
Undergraduate students who have attempted fewer than 150 percent of the total program credits must have their accumulated (or earned) credits be equal to or greater than two-thirds the cumulative credits attempted at the institution or meet the CUNY conditional standard. See the chart below for examples.
Graduate students accumulate credits toward the degree greater than or equal to two-thirds the cumulative credits attempted at the institution.
All students much complete two-thirds or at least the CUNY conditional standard (undergraduates only) of their courses during each term with a grade of A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-,C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, P or CR.
Title IV Progress Chart
| Cumulative Credits Attempted | 12 | 24 | 36 | 48 | 60 | 72 | 84 | 96 | 108 | 120 | 132 | 144 | 156 | 168 | 180 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative Credits Earned | 8 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 40 | 48 | 56 | 64 | 72 | 80 | 88 | 96 | 104 | 112 | 120 |
| Cumulative Credits Earned / Conditional Standards | 0 | 0 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 | 54 | 63 | 72 | 81 | 90 | 99 | 108 | 117 |
Determination of Cumulative Attempted Credits and Cumulative Earned Credits
Withdrawals
Courses that are dropped during the add/drop period will not be counted as cumulative attempted credits. Withdrawals that are recorded on a student's permanent record will be included as cumulative attempted credits and will have an adverse effect on a student's capability to meet the appropriate standard.
Incomplete Grades
Courses with incomplete grades are included as cumulative attempted credits. However, these courses cannot be used as credits accumulated toward the degree because successful completion is the criterion for positive credit accumulation.
Repeated Courses
Successfully completed courses can generally be accepted toward degree requirements once (cumulative earned credits). Repeated courses, regardless of the prior grade, reduce a student's capacity to meet the required credit accumulation standard.
Transfer Students
Transfer students shall have their status initialized for the purpose of measuring satisfactory academic progress by using the number of credits determined to be acceptable toward the degree as both the student's cumulative attempted credits and cumulative earned credits.
Change of Degree
If a student changes his or her objective and begins pursuing a different degree, he or she will be subject to the maximum time frame for the new objective without regard to time spent pursuing the previous degree.
SAP Changes Effective July 1, 2011
The following changes are required by the U.S. Department of Education and are to be implemented for the 2011–12 academic year:
No automatic periods of SAP warning are permitted. Students found to be unsatisfactory due to failing one or more components of SAP at the annual review are ineligible for financial aid. No tolerance is permitted.
First-year students must earn a 1.50 GPA within their first 12 credits and a 1.75 by their 24th. Continuing students at 24+ credits must earn a 2.00 GPA.
Students are reviewed annually at the end of each academic year. A student who is found to be deficient in one or more components as defined above is ineligible for any future financial aid immediately. A student who is ineligible has the right to appeal if there are extreme extenuating circumstances that contributed to the deficiency.
Appeals are approved for documented extreme situations only. Students who appeal will be approved only for the following federally defined reasons:
- Serious physical or mental illness of the student
- Serious physical or mental illness of the student's immediate family member
- Death of the student's immediate family member
- Other extreme circumstances
The circumstance must have occurred during the time the student struggled academically. All appeals must have documentation of the circumstances claimed in the appeal.
Approved appeals can result in no more than one term of financial aid eligibility. Students who have approved appeals are granted one term of financial aid probation. For continued eligibility, students must resolve all SAP deficiencies during the period of probation. Students who cannot mathematically resolve all deficiencies in one term will once again become ineligible for federal financial aid.
Students are permitted one appeal per academic career. There is no secondary- or director-level appeal process. Students may appeal once as an undergraduate and once as a graduate student. Students may not appeal a denial by the SAP committee.
Reinstatement
A student whose appeal has been denied or who has lost eligibility by not meeting the standard without appeal may regain eligibility by leaving the institution for at least one year. Upon re-admittance, the student will receive assistance for the terms in the academic year of re-admittance and will be subject to evaluation of eligibility at the end of that year against the appropriate standard for the degree program in which the student is enrolled.
Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal
The Office of Financial Aid has established an appeal process for suspension of financial aid related to satisfactory academic progress.
In order to submit an appeal, you must complete the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form (pdf). Any student who wishes to appeal the suspension of financial aid should read and complete the attached materials.
Procedure
- Complete the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal form. Please be sure to attach documentation to support your appeal. Appeals submitted without supporting documentation will not be reviewed.
- Submit your appeal to the the Enrollment Services Center (Financial Aid Inquires) counter.
Guidelines
- Be specific when explaining your circumstances. Lack of information or documentation may result in a denial of your appeal. If health problems played a role in your circumstances, please attach supporting documentation from a physician or counselor.
- Print legibly and sign the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form (pdf).
