| Academic Progress Academic Progress Appeals |
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 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 GrantsPlease 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.
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.