Minimum Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid Recipients

Note: This standard became effective fall semester 2011 

 

 

I. Qualitative Measure – Cumulative Grade Point Average

Students are required to maintain a minimum financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Grade Point Average (SAP GPA). WSU and consortium agreement credits are used to compute the SAP GPA. Please refer to Section VIII D below for a description of consortium agreement credits.

 

A. Undergraduate Students
An undergraduate student with the following number of attempted credits at the end of a semester must have at least the minimum listed SAP GPA.
1 – 15 attempted credits                             1.75 minimum SAP GPA.
16 or more attempted credits                   2.00 minimum SAP GPA.

B. Graduate Students

A graduate student with the following number of WSU attempted credits at the end of a semester must have at least the minimum listed SAP GPA 

 1+ Graduate Credit                                          3.00 minimum SAP GPA.

 

 

II. Quantitative Measure – Percentage of Credits Completed

 

A.   Required Completion Percentage

Students must complete at least 66.66% of the credits attempted. 

To measure the Required Completion Percentage:
 

  • Combine WSU earned credits, consortium earned credits, and credits accepted in transfer to obtain cumulative earned credits.
  • Combine WSU attempted credits, consortium attempted credits, and credits accepted in transfer to obtain cumulative attempted credits.
  • Divide the cumulative earned credits by the cumulative attempted credits to obtain the completion percentage.
B. Maximum Time Frame

Students may not exceed the maximum number of attempted credits listed below and continue to receive financial aid (these include credits earned at WSU and credits accepted from other institutions):  

Undergraduate Student:  May not exceed 180 attempted credits.  
Post Baccalaureate (2nd degree) Student:  May not exceed 45 attempted credits.
Graduate Student:  May not exceed 45 attempted credits.  Contact the Financial Aid Office for programs with degree requirements exceeding 30 credits.  

 

III. Evaluation Period

 

 

              Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress is evaluated at the end of each semester including the summer term.

     

IV. Failure to Meet Standards

Warning for Failure to Meet Standards
A student who does not meet standards is placed on warning for the next semester of enrollment.  A student may continue to participate in student aid programs during the warning period.
Suspension for Failure to Meet Standards
A student who is on warning and does not meet standards during the warning period is places in a suspended status.  A student may not participate in Federal and State student aid programs while on suspension.  A student with a special circumstance that caused the suspension has the right to appeal.  See the "Appeals" section for details.
  

 

V. Notification

 

At the end of each semester including summer term a warning notice is sent via the WSU e-mail account to students who were in good standing and no longer meet the standards. 

At the end of each semester including summer term, a notice of suspension is sent via the WSU e-mail account to students who were on warning and do not meet the standards.  

 

VI. Appeals

 

 

A suspended student who has experienced a special circumstance may submit an appeal to the Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress Review Committee to have the situation reviewed for possible reinstatement of aid.  In order for an appeal to be approved the student must demonstrate that extraordinary circumstances have directly affected the student’s ability to maintain satisfactory progress.  Examples might be illness, hospitalization, death of a relative, etc.  In addition, a student may appeal after an absence if there is a valid reason to appeal.   An appeal may be submitted by email to the Financial Aid Office: fasatprog@winona.edu

The appeal should consist of:

  • An explanation of why the student has fallen below the standards.
  • What changes are being made to ensure the student will be able to get back on standards
  • Any other documentation to support the case

 

If the appeal is approved the student will be placed on probationary status for one semester and will retain financial aid eligibility. The student will remain in probationary status if he/she do not meet the cumulative standards but has successfully completed 75% of the classes attempted for that semester with a 2.20 GPA.  Financial aid will be reinstated on a semester by semester basis until the student is either back on standards cumulatively or placed back on suspension.

 If the appeal is not approved the student remains in a suspended status and is not eligible for federal and state financial aid.

 

 VII. Reinstatement

When the cumulative standards are met the student automatically returns to a status of good standing.
Aid cannot be reinstated for a semester in which the student is academically ineligible.

 

 VIII. Additional Elements

 

A. Treatment of grades
 

WSU courses receiving grades of A, B, C, D, F, W (withdrawal), P (pass), NC (no-credit), I (incomplete), IP (in progress), Z (no grade reported), HA (Honors) and HB (Honors) are considered to be credits attempted for purposes of monitoring the financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress standard.

WSU courses, which receive grades A, B, C, D, P, HA and HB are counted as satisfactorily completed for purposes of monitoring the financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress standard.

                B. Academic Pardon

Credits for which students have been granted academic pardon (“academic forgiveness,” “fresh start,” etc.) shall be recorded and retained in the Student Data System in such a way that they will be included in both the qualitative and quantitative measurement of financial aid satisfactory academic progress. 

                C. Audited Courses  

   Any courses being audited do not count as credits attempted or credits earned and are not funded.

                D. Consortium Credits 

Credits for which financial aid is received under a consortium agreement are recorded in the Student Data system to be included in cumulative GPA, completion percentage, and maximum time-frame calculations as transfer credits.

                E. Remedial Credits  

Classes in this category are considered attempted for purposes of monitoring the Required Completion Percentage.  Up to 30 remedial credits are excluded from the Maximum Time Frame calculation.    

                F. Repeated Courses  

When a student repeats a course, only the last grade received and credits earned are counted in the grade point average and as earned credits for this standard. However, the credits are considered to be attempted each time the course is taken.  For financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress there is no limit on the number of times a single course may be repeated, however a student shall not be permitted to receive financial aid for more than one repetition of a previously passed course.

 

                G. Transfer Credits  

Transfer credits accepted by WSU are counted as credits attempted for calculation of cumulative completion percentage.  Grades associated with these credits are not used in calculating cumulative GPA. Transfer credits accepted by WSU apply toward the Maximum Time Frame calculation.

                H. Withdrawal  

If a student withdraws from the University before financial aid disbursement, the student does not receive any aid since no progress has been made toward a degree. The student must pay expenses from his or her own funds. Standard University refund policies and procedures are followed when a student withdraws from the institution for any reason during the term after student aid has been disbursed. Withdrawal credits are considered credits attempted for purposes of monitoring the financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress standard.

Effective starting fall semester 2011