Academic Progress

Students who receive assistance in any form, which includes but is not limited to University grant, scholarship, State grant, Federal Pell Grant, SEOG, FWS, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal PLUS/Stafford, etc., must maintain satisfactory academic progress in their program of study in order to continue to receive those funds. Satisfactory academic progress for students at the University is defined as

1. Earning between 12 and 18 credits each semester, and

2. Maintaining a minimum cumulative and semester grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 ("C"average).

If a student's semester or cumulative grade-point average is below 2.0 ("C" average), he or she is automatically placed on probation and required to attain at least a 2.0 cumulative grade-point average by the end of the next semester, and meet other requirements as specified by the dean's office.

Students may be required to maintain a GPA higher than 2.0 in some departments or majors. Thus, it is possible to be placed on probation at higher GPAs. A student who does not meet the above-cited grade-point average and credit load requirements will jeopardize his/her financial aid eligibility.

Insufficient Credit Accumulation

In addition to the qualitative standard (GPA), students are also required to meet a quantitative measure of academic progress (rate of credit accumulation).

Students who receive merit- and/or need-based aid must earn sufficient credits each semester toward graduation. Students who enroll for at least 12 credits during a given semester must complete, with a grade of “D” or higher, at least 12 credits in order to continue to receive financial assistance.

Although 12 credits is the minimum per-semester credit accumulation to maintain eligibility for financial assistance, the student will NOT be on track to graduate in four years at this rate. Also, “D” grades will cause the student to fail the qualitative (GPA) progress standard.

Each student‘s total credit accumulation is reviewed at the end of each semester. Students who complete fewer than 24 credits per academic year will be placed on FINANCIAL AID PROBATION for the following semester. If, by the end of the probationary semester, the student has not earned at least 36 credits (for the three-semester period being reviewed), the student then loses his/her eligibility for financial assistance.

Students may fail the quantitative standard regardless of GPA. The student‘s eligibility for financial assistance will be restored when the student has earned at least 36 credits and has met all other academic progress requirements.

PHEAA Grants

The state grant agency requires that a student earn a minimum of 24 credits each academic year in order to continue to receive state grant assistance. Any student who earns fewer than 24 credits will not be eligible for his/her state grant for the first semester of the following year. Students who enroll for a single semester are required to earn at least 12 credits to retain their PHEAA Grant. The University will not replace funds for which the students has lost eligibilty.

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Academic Progress Appeals

University-Administered Financial Aid

The University reviews the academic standing of all students at the conclusion of each semester. Students who have not met the academic progress standards required for continued financial aid eligibility have the following options for appealing loss of aid.

Please note—under federal privacy guidelines we are only permitted to discuss academic matters with the student.

If the student wishes to appeal the loss of financial aid, except PHEAA state grant, he or she may do so in writing to the Financial Aid Office. (PHEAA state grant appeals must be addressed to PHEAA).

Appeals are reviewed by the Financial Aid Appeal Committee. Appeal letters must be written by the student and must document significant, unusual circumstances that contributed to academic difficulties. (Significant circumstances include events like major illness, severe injury, or family upheaval such as death or divorce). Students are required to provide documentation of the circumstances upon which the appeal is based.

In order to be considered the appeal letter requesting reinstatement of aid for a given semester must be received in the Financial Aid Office prior to the first day of classes for that semester.

Students are cautioned that the committee that reviews financial aid appeals meets on an as-needed basis and generally requires approximately three weeks to respond to appeals. Appeals that are submitted close to the beginning of any semester are unlikely to be reviewed prior to the start of classes. Thus, students should be prepared to pay their invoice in full. If the appeal is granted the student will be reimbursed from any credit balance created by reinstated financial aid.

The University does not have the authority to make exceptions to federal financial aid policies and will not entertain any requests to do so. For example, federal law requires that students be enrolled on an at least half-time basis for Stafford loan eligibility. The University cannot and will not make exceptions to this and other federal regulations.

Students who have been placed on academic probation and wish to appeal their probationary status should follow the guidelines under the Academic Review section in this catalog. For those financial aid policies under which the University has discretionary authority to make exceptions, the Financial Aid Appeal Committee’s decisions are final and cannot be further appealed.

PHEAA State Grant Appeals

The University has no authority to make exceptions to PHEAA state grant policies. Students wishing to appeal the loss of state grants must write a letter of appeal to PHEAA.

Appeal letters must include documentation of those significant events (major illness, severe injury, or family upheaval such as divorce or death) that impacted the student’s academic performance. Students wishing to appeal the loss of state grant eligibility are urged to do so as soon as such information is known, as the state requires several weeks (typically 8-10) to respond to appeals.