Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students must maintain a cumulative GPA minimum requirement at the end of each academic year for all credit hours attempted. If the cumulative GPA drops below the minimum requirement, the student will no longer be eligible for financial aid.
Undergraduate Students: Maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0
Graduate Students: Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0

Calculate Your GPA

Students receiving financial aid must successfully complete a cumulative minimum of 75% of all attempted coursework, including hours transferred in from another school and accepted towards the current degree program. If the number of cumulative completed hours drops below 75% of attempted hours, the student will no longer be eligible for aid.

Examples:

i)  If a student attempts (registers for) 30 hours, the student must complete a minimum of 22 hours (75% x 30 = 22.5) in order to make SAP. All partial credit hours will be rounded down to the nearest hour.

ii)   If a student attempts 36 hours, the student must complete a minimum of 27 hours (75% x 36 = 27) to make SAP.

iii)  If at the end of the second year a student has attempted 60 hours, the student must have completed a cumulative minimum of 45 hours (75% x 60 = 45) to be making SAP.

If the number of attempted hours reaches 150% of the hours required for graduation (as published in the University Catalog) or it becomes mathematically impossible to complete degree requirements within 150%, the student will no longer be eligible for financial aid.

Attempted hours include all credit hours you have registered to take at UIW as well as all credit hours you have transferred from another institution, whether or not you earn a grade, receive credit, or receive financial aid.

Example: Undergraduate Pursuing a Bachelor's Degree

If the published number of hours required is 120, a student may not attempt more than 180 hours (120 x 150% = 180). Therefore, if a student has already attempted 90 hours, but requires 91 more hours to complete degree requirements then it is no longer mathematically possible for the student to complete the program within 150%. At that point, the student will no longer be eligible for financial aid. 

Maximum Timeframe Per Level

At the end of every spring semester, our office will review the progress of every financial aid recipient to determine their eligibility for financial aid for the upcoming aid year.

Dropping coursework affects your cumulative completion percentage; that is, the percentage of hours you have earned versus those you have attempted. The cumulative percentage includes any coursework attempted/earned at any previous college/university.

Dropping can cause you to lose eligibility for current or future aid due to renewal requirements for specific aid funds, or the federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirement. If you are already on SAP probation, you may lose all future eligibility for aid, unless you submit a new appeal and it is approved.

Any time you withdraw or drop below half-time enrollment, we are required to report the change in enrollment to your student loan servicers. This may trigger you to go into your grace period (typically 6 months) and subsequently into repayment on your student loans.

You should always  contact the Office of Financial Assistance before you withdraw to find out what kind of financial impact this will have on your aid. When you withdraw from a semester (or a mini-term), the Dept. of Education requires that we calculate how much of the time you were  scheduled to attend (i.e. registered) versus the time you  actually attended. This results in a percentage that may require us to return part of your aid. This is required even if you completed a previous mini-term in the same semester AND even if you receive a 100% refund of tuition/fees. Withdrawals also cause a reduction in your cumulative completion percentage, since they are hours attempted that you have not earned. This can cause you to lose eligibility for future aid (pending an appeal) due to the federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements.

Students on financial aid who do not finish all courses in a semester or who stop attendance, are subject to having their paid financial aid returned in part to the government. This is known as Return of Title IV funds. In addition, students who cease a minimum of half-time enrollment will enter their grace period for their loans and can incur a balance to the University due to funds pulling back.

If it is determined that you do not meet the minimum SAP requirements, you will be automatically placed on  financial aid suspension. Students on financial aid suspension are not allowed to receive any additional financial aid until the progress suspension is cleared.

Students whose eligibility for financial aid has been terminated may appeal the decision if they believe that they had extenuating circumstances leading to their unsatisfactory progress. Circumstances which warrant an appeal include: death in family, injury/illness of the student or family, or other circumstances beyond the student’s control. In order to appeal, the student must complete the SAP Recovery Packet (PDF), which must include a formal written statement signed and dated by the student. The statement needs to provide a full explanation, along with detailed documentation, verifying the circumstances that led to the inability to meet SAP. This explanation must also provide steps taken to overcome these obstacles and how they will not interfere with progression.

The completed packet must be returned to the Office of Financial Assistance and will be submitted to the SAP Review Board. The SAP Review Board will make a determination based on the information provided and will inform the student by email within approximately 3-5 business days. The SAP Appeal Form is due to the UIW Office of Financial Assistance by the scheduled deadlines below:

If a SAP appeal is approved, the student will be placed on probation for the following semester and their academic progress will be monitored at the end of each semester to ensure they continue to meet the conditions of their academic plan. Once the Office of Financial Assistance determines that SAP was met for the probationary period indicated on the academic plan, then the student will be in good standing and will no longer be monitored each semester.

The requirements of an academic plan will vary from student to student depending on their specific situation and the documentation submitted with the SAP appeal. These requirements must then be met at the ending of each semester for a specific probationary period indicated on the academic plan. Upon conclusion of the academic plan, the student must be meeting all SAP requirements or have completed all degree requirements. If a student fails to meet the academic plan requirements, the student will no longer be eligible to receive financial aid and must complete a subsequent appeal to be considered for financial aid for a future semester.

If a student’s Satisfactory Academic Progress Recovery Packet is denied, the student will be notified of the reason for the denial and how to re-establish financial aid eligibility. Students cannot appeal this decision but may submit a subsequent appeal in a future semester to be reconsidered for financial aid. If a student's appeal was denied, the student may decide to pay out pocket, utilize other outside funding, or not attend for a semester. Nonetheless, taking any of those actions does not make a student eligible for financial aid and does not guarantee a future appeal will be approved.

Please contact the Office of Financial Assistance with any questions by email at  finaid@uiwtx.edu.

If a student has a change in major and is not meeting SAP requirements, only credits earned towards the current degree program will be included in the Satisfactory Academic Progress determination upon the official SAP evaluation. If it is determined that the maximum timeframe has been reached, but a change in major has occurred, the student may still appeal their termination of financial aid and will be evaluated based on the information submitted with the appeal.

All students must adhere to the SAP appeal deadlines listed below. If a student submits an appeal after the indicated deadline, it will be up to the administrator’s discretion to accept the documentation for the indicated semester. However, if an appeal is submitted after the ending of a semester, the student will not be eligible for federal financial aid and will be evaluated for the most current/next semester.

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