Satisfactory Academic Progress

Undergraduate students are required to meet a number of specific criteria to be eligible to receive or continue to receive financial aid. These policies are explained in detail in the SAP handbook linked below.

Grade Point Average: Undergraduate students are expected to achieve and maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative and term G.P.A. for all semesters attended.

• After any term of enrollment, students below a 2.0 cumulative/term G.P.A. for the first time will receive a warning notice (Form 3R).
• After any two terms of enrollment with a cumulative/term G.P.A. below 2.0, the student will be denied further financial aid until the student brings themselves back into compliance with a 2.0 or better term and cumulative G.P.A.

• Transfer students must meet the minimum cumulative/term 2.0 G.P.A. requirement for all terms.

Minimum Credit Hours: Students who are enrolled in 12 or more credit hours are considered to be full-time. To maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress, a full-time student must complete a minimum of 12 credits.

Students who are enrolled in less than a full-time basis must complete minimum credits according to the following schedule:

Credits Enrolled	Credits That Must Be Completed
9–11 Credits	Must Complete a minimum of 9 credits
6–8 Credits	Must Complete a minimum of 6 credits
5 or Less Credits	Must Complete all credits attempted

 

• Warning/Denial: If you fail to make satisfactory academic progress during any term, you will be placed on a one-term warning status or may have your aid denied. The following criteria is used to determine your status:

• Warning Status
  • Warning status occurs when students fail to complete the minimum number of hours required, based on their individual enrollment. Students are allowed one warning term to complete the minimum credit hours that are needed in order to get back into compliance.

Credits enrolled in:	Placed on warning if completed only:
12 or more credits	6–11 credits
11 credits	6–8 credits
10 credits	5–8 credits
9 credits	5–8 credits
8 credits	4–5 credits
7 credits	4–5 credits
6 credits	3–5 credits

.

• Denial of Financial Aid Funds
  • Denial of financial aid funds occurs when students fail to complete the minimum number of hours required during a warning term or students fail to complete at least 50% of the minimum number of hours required based on individual enrollment.
  • If a student successfully appeals and is placed on an academic plan (contract), the student is considered to be in a probation status.

Pace Towards Degree – Credit Completion

To be eligible for financial aid, you must complete at least 67 percent of your overall attempted credits, which includes any additional credits transferred to WSU. This is the minimum rate needed to complete a degree within the 150 percent maximum eligibility time frame (see below). 

• If you drop below the cumulative 67 percent completion rate you will be placed on  “warning” status and have one term to bring your completion rate above 67 percent before losing your eligibility for aid.
• If you are still below the cumulative 67 percent completion rate at the end of the warning term your financial aid will be suspended.
• You may regain your eligibility for aid if you successfully appeal or complete a term on your own and are no longer in suspension status.

Maximum Time Frame

Students not completing their degrees within the maximum time limit, as described below are not considered to be making satisfactory academic progress toward their degree. Double degrees or majors will not justify exceeding the maximum time frame limit. Additionally, a change of major or other outside factors are not considered justification for exceeding these limits.

Students will be allowed a maximum of 180 attempted credits in which to complete their first bachelor’s degree. Aid will be denied to students who have not completed their degree within the 180 attempted credits.  This is monitored on a term by term basis.

• All terms of enrollment at WSU as well as any transfer credit hours count toward the maximum time frame limit. (i.e. Running Start credits, Advanced Placement (AP), or IB credits.)
• Terms in which no aid is received will count if the student is enrolled after the first day of classes.
• If it is determined that the student has completed the requirements for a degree, regardless of whether the student has applied to receive the degree, the student will no longer be eligible for financial aid for that degree.
• This section does not apply to a student who has finished and graduated with one bachelor degree and is pursuing a second. The requirements for this situation are outlined under the Post-Baccalaureate section below.

The Satisfactory Academic Progress standards for Post-Baccalaureate or Second-Degree seeking students (classified by the University as 5B) and students pursuing their Teaching Certificate (classified by the University as 5C) are similar to that of an undergraduate student but there are some key differences. The following sections will outline the requirements to ensure Post- Baccalaureate students maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress compliance. These policies are explained in detail in the SAP handbook linked below.

Credit Hour Requirements

Post-baccalaureate students have the same minimum credit hour requirements as undergraduate students. However, as post-baccalaureate students typically receive limited types of aid – it rarely represents an issue. If you are receiving financial aid and wish to take less than full-time, you should contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships for more information.

Grade Point Average Deficiencies

Students enrolled for the purpose of earning a second bachelor’s degree (Classification 5B) or a Teaching Certification (Classification 5C) must maintain a cumulative/term Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) of at least 2.0 for all terms of enrollment.

Pace Towards Degree – Credit Completion

• To be eligible for financial aid, you must complete at least 67 percent of your overall attempted credits. 
• If you drop below the cumulative 67 percent completion rate you will be placed on  “warning” status and have one term to bring your completion rate above 67 percent before losing your eligibility for aid.
• If you are still below the cumulative 67 percent completion rate at the end of the warning term your financial aid will be suspended. You may regain your eligibility for aid if you successfully appeal or complete a term on your own and are no longer in suspension status.

Maximum Time Frame

Students who have earned an undergraduate degree and who are pursuing a second undergraduate degree (Classification 5B) or teacher certification (Classification 5C) must complete their degree or certification within 90 attempted credit hours.

The Washington State University’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy monitors the Pace To Degree (PTD) and maximum time frame component. The following section will discuss in detail those requirements that must be met for continued financial aid.

• Please keep in mind that graduate students must be enrolled in at least half-time status (i.e. 5 credits) in order to be eligible for financial aid funding during the academic year.
• During summer sessions, students must enroll in a minimum of 3 credits.

• These are federal guidelines, not a Satisfactory Academic Progress guideline.

Grade Point Average Requirements

The Satisfactory Academic Progress policy for Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) for graduate and professional students follows the Graduate School policies.

Per Graduate Catalog: “Students must earn at least a 3.00 GPA for ALL coursework.  All program courses with grades less than a 3.0 must be repeated.  Any graduate student who fails to maintain a 3.00 cumulative will be dropped.  They may be permitted to re-enroll if the chair makes a special recommendation in concurrence with the Dean of the Graduate School”.

Pace Towards Degree – Credit Completion

To be eligible for financial aid, you must complete at least 67 percent of your overall attempted credits, which includes any additional credits transferred to WSU. 

• If you drop below the cumulative 67 percent completion rate you will be placed on  “warning” status and have one term to bring your completion rate above 67 percent before losing your eligibility for aid.
• If you are still below the cumulative 67 percent completion rate at the end of the warning term your financial aid will be suspended.
• You may regain your eligibility for aid if you successfully appeal or complete a term on your own and are no longer in suspension status.
• Students who complete less than 50% of their attempted credit hours are placed on suspension without a warning notice. (See the SAP Handbook here for examples.)
• Satisfactory Course Completion – Pace To Degree Course Grades

• Satisfactory completion “A”, “B”, “C”, “D”, “Pass”,“S”, or“X” are considered passing for PTD requirements
• Unsatisfactory completion “F”, “I” “W”, Audits or no grade are not considered passing for PTD requirements.

• Audited Courses
  Audited courses do not count towards the release of a student’s financial aid nor in the calculation of completed credit hours for SAP purposes.

Maximum Time Frame

Maximum Time Frame restrictions placed on Professional and Graduate students, as outlined in the SAP Handbook, must be met to continue receiving financial aid.

If you have determined, that you are in violation of one or more of the criteria as set forth within the SAP handbook - you should first determine your current status. You can check your status on zzusis under Finances -> Student Aid -> To-Do list.

If you see a "1R - SAP Report Card" on your Financial Aid To-Do list, you are either in denial for G.P.A., Minimum Hours Passed, Pace To Degree or Maximum Time Frame. This tracking code means that if you are receiving Federal or State aid, you must successfully complete the SAP Appeal Process to continue receiving your aid. You can complete the appeal form online here or download the editable PDF version here. Once OFAS has received your appeal, the committee/committee chair will review the appeal and make their decision (the committee may request information.) If you are unsure as to why you are in denial, please contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.

If you see a "2R - SAP Report Card" on your Financial Aid To-Do list, you are in Financial Aid warning status for G.P.A., Minimum Hours Passed, Pace To Degree or Maximum Time Frame. This warning status is provided as a convenience to inform the student that there may be problems in the future. There is nothing that you'll need to complete for this status. If you are unsure as to why you are in warning status, please contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.

If you see a "3R- SAP Report Card" on your Financial Aid To-Do list, you are in denial for G.P.A. deficiency for the first time. This warning status is provided as a convenience to inform the student that there may be problems in the future. There is nothing that you'll need to complete for this status. If you are unsure as to why you are in warning status, please contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.

You have the right to appeal the denial of financial aid. Appeals will not be reviewed for any student who is not a FAFSA filer and is seeking a loan from a private lender. A list of private lenders who do not monitor academic progress is available on our website (http://www.finaid.wsu.edu). Filing an appeal is not a guarantee of approval of financial aid.

• The appeal must be submitted no later than the end of the eighth week of the term for which you are enrolled or it will not be reviewed and will be denied. Appeals will not be reviewed until all requested information has been received. Deadlines for submitting requested additional information will be set and if not received by the due date the student’s appeal will be denied.
• All infractions must be appealed to the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals Committee. Students who fail to make satisfactory academic progress must file an online written appeal (http://finaid.wsu.edu/sap.html).
• Students who have failed 2 or more academic plans are not eligible to file an appeal until they are in compliance with the SAP policy. Only under extreme circumstances will an appeal be accepted for review. (Examples of these circumstances are: a death of an immediate family member or a medical emergency, such as a surgery or the hospitalization of the student or immediate family member.)  Review of the appeal is not a guarantee of approval and a new academic plan.