SECTION ONE: GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT
Maintaining satisfactory academic progress is one of many federally mandated criteria viewed in determining students’ eligibility for continued receipt of financial aid. To remain eligible, students must meet both a quantitative and qualitative standard. The standards measure students’ performance in the following areas: maximum time frame to complete a course of study, credit hour completion rate, and cumulative grade point average (GPA).
The satisfactory academic progress standards apply to all financial aid programs including Federal Pell grant, Federal Work-Study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity grant (SEOG), National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (SMART), Teacher Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH), Federal Direct loans (Subsidized, Unsubsidized and PLUS), as well as state and institutional grants.
In addition to the satisfactory academic progress standards for financial aid, the schools of the University have different definitions of what constitutes satisfactory academic progress. Students should consult their school’s section in the University’s Undergraduate Record and Graduate Record to determine the definition and possible sanctions appropriate to their school. Students can be “in good standing” with their schools but not be making satisfactory academic progress for financial aid purposes.
Evaluating students’ satisfactory academic progress is required by federal regulation. The outcome of the evaluation and its impact on students’ financial aid eligibility overrides all other University policies or statements regarding a student’s academic standing.
The satisfactory academic progress standards contained in this policy do not apply to students enrolled in the School of Law and School of Medicine.
SECTION TWO: QUANTITATIVE STANDARDS
Maximum Time Frame
Students are required to complete their program of study within a reasonable timeframe based upon the average length of their program. Financial aid eligibility will be suspended for students who fail to complete their program of study within 150% of the average program length. Maximum time frame is measured in two ways.
- Semesters enrolled – semesters included in the semester count for maximum time frame include fall, spring and summer. January term (J-term) is considered to be a part of the Spring term and is therefore excluded from the semester count for maximum time frame.
- Credit hours attempted – with the exception of audited courses, all attempted credits applied to a student’s degree program are counted towards the maximum time frame whether or not financial aid was received.
Credit hours included in the 150% maximum are comprised of all credits applied to a student’s degree program including:
- All transfer credits applied to a student’s degree program
- All test credits applied to a student’s degree program
- All attempted coursework even if no credits were earned due to withdrawal, incompletes, unsatisfactory, no grade, or failing grades
- All courses taken in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS) that are applied to a student’s degree program
- All transfer credits applied to a student’s degree program from domestic and international study abroad programs
- Remedial courses, ESL courses, Credit/No credit courses, Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory courses
- All courses attempted under all courses of study, even if the student changes majors, has multiple majors, minors and/or concentrations
- All repeated coursework
Courses not included in the 150% maximum:
- Audited courses
| ACADEMIC STANDING | AVERAGE NUMBER OF SEMESTERS, AVERAGE NUMBER OF CREDITS | MAXIMUM NUMBER OF SEMESTERS, MAXIMUM NUMBER OF CREDITS |
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate Students | 8 semesters, 120 credits | 12 semesters, 180 credits |
| Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies | 14 semesters, 120 credits | 21 semesters, 180 credits |
| Master’s Degree Candidate | 6 semesters, Credit hour requirement established by individual academic program | 9 semesters, Credit hour requirement established by individual academic program |
| Doctoral Degree Candidate | 14 semesters, Credit hour requirement established by individual academic program | 21 semesters, Credit hour requirement established by individual academic program |
Credit Hour Completion Rate
The credit hour completion rate reflects the pace at which students must progress through their education program to ensure that they are able to complete their program within the maximum time frame. At the end of each term of enrollment, students’ academic progress will be measured by comparing the cumulative number of attempted credit hours against the cumulative number of credit hours earned. For all students, attempted hours are defined as all courses in which they are enrolled after the add/drop period has ended for the term and for which academic credit will be earned. This means that courses from which students withdraw after the add/drop period has ended will be considered attempted hours. All attempted hours will be counted whether or not financial aid was received.
Attempted hours also include the following courses:
- Withdrawals, incompletes, no grades and failing grades
- Failing grades in pass/fail courses
- Grades of U in S/U courses (satisfactory/unsatisfactory)
- Remedial and ESL coursework
- Courses taken as credit/no credit
- School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS) courses that are applied to a student’s degree program
- Repeated coursework
- Transfer credits, including credits from domestic and international study abroad programs
- Test credits
Undergraduate Students
Full-time undergraduate students will be expected to complete 67 percent of cumulative credit hours attempted with a minimum of 12 credits earned per term when enrolled for the fall and/or spring term. Full-time undergraduate students who attend summer term will be expected to complete 67 percent of cumulative credit hours attempted. Undergraduate students will be considered full-time unless their college has granted them an “approved part-time” enrollment status.
Approved part-time students, including Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS) students, will be expected to complete 67 percent of cumulative credit hours attempted during all terms of enrollment, including summer term.
Graduate Students
All graduate students, whether full-time or part-time, are expected to complete 67 percent of cumulative credit hours attempted during all terms of enrollment, including summer term.
SECTION THREE: QUALITATIVE STANDARDS
Please refer to the University’s Undergraduate Record, the Graduate Record, and the academic policies for each school for additional information on the University’s grading system and how grade point averages are impacted by incompletes, withdrawals, repeat courses and transfer credits.
| Grade | Included in GPA |
|---|---|
| Credit or No Credit | No |
| Withdrawal | No |
| Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory | No |
| Audit | No |
| Incomplete | No |
| No grade or invalid grade | No |
| Transfer credits (not from study abroad) | No |
| Transfer credits from transfer credit study abroad program | No |
| Transfer credits from direct credit study abroad program | Yes |
Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA)
Undergraduate Students
All undergraduate students, including BIS students, will be required to maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 for all credit hours attempted.
Graduate Students
Students enrolled in the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration or McIntire’s MS-MIT and MSBA graduate programs will be required to maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.7 for all credit hours attempted.
All other graduate students will be required to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 for all credit hours attempted.
Federal State of Emergency COVID-19 Satisfactory Academic Progress Flexibility:
Policy as of 5/14/2021
For students who are entering first years with an admit term 1208 or Transfer students an admit term of 1202 who do not have a computed GPA due to taking courses Credit/ No credit therefore their cumulative GPA is 0.00 and will be evaluated as follows:
- Students who earn at least one CR will be placed on a Meet status if all courses are taken Credit/ No Credit.
- Students who earn all No Credits will be placed on Not Meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress status.
- Students who take at least one course with a letter grade will follow our standard SAP policy for Credit/No credit courses.
SECTION FOUR: EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC PROGRESS
At the end of each term of enrollment, students will be evaluated for satisfactory academic progress. This will include the summer term for students who choose to enroll in summer session courses. Students who do not meet satisfactory academic progress will be notified of their status by email to their university email address. Please refer to the University’s policy on the use of email for official communication with students regarding the expectation for students to receive and read email communications in a timely fashion.
Financial Aid Warning
Financial aid warning will be offered automatically to students who are not meeting satisfactory academic progress as long as the student was making progress during the previous term of enrollment. The length of financial aid warning will not exceed one term of enrollment, whether or not financial aid is received. Students placed on financial aid warning continue their eligibility for financial aid.
Students who are placed on academic warning by their school will also be placed on financial aid warning. Students placed on financial aid warning as a result of being placed on academic warning by their school are considered not meeting satisfactory academic progress.
Financial Aid Suspension
Students who exceed 150% of credit hours attempted or 150% of terms of enrollment are not eligible for financial aid warning and will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension and immediately ineligible for financial aid. There is no warning period.
Students who fail to make satisfactory academic progress for two consecutive terms of enrollment will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension until they are able to meet the satisfactory academic progress standard. During Financial Aid Suspension, students are not eligible to receive federal, state or institutional financial aid. To re-establish their financial aid eligibility, students must successfully complete one term of enrollment and meet satisfactory academic progress standards.
- Full-time undergraduate students will be expected to complete 67 percent of cumulative credit hours attempted with a minimum of 12 credits earned per term when enrolled for the fall and/or spring term. All undergraduate students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0. Graduate students, BIS students and approved part-time undergraduate students will be required to complete 67 percent of cumulative credit hours attempted and meet the minimum cumulative GPA.
- All students who enroll during the summer term will be required to complete 67 percent of cumulative credit hours attempted and meet the minimum cumulative GPA.
SECTION FIVE: SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE APPEAL PROCESS
Students who are on Financial Aid Suspension due to failure to meet the satisfactory academic progress standards and who have extenuating circumstances affecting their ability to meet the standards may appeal their status. Students may appeal their satisfactory academic progress status one time for each term of enrollment. Extenuating circumstances include: death in the family, serious personal illness or medical issues, emotional stress and other special circumstances. Students who wish to appeal their Financial Aid Suspension must complete and submit the following:
- Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal – available on our website
- Academic Dean Support form (page 2 of the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal)
- Academic plan developed by academic dean/advisor and student that, if followed, will ensure that the student is able to meet the satisfactory academic progress standards by a specific point in time
- If applicable, documentation from third party to support your explanation (i.e. letter from physician or counselor)
Once the completed appeal is received, the information will be reviewed by the Student Financial Services SAP Appeals Committee. Based upon the documentation submitted, the Committee will approve or deny the appeal. Students will be notified of the Committee’s decision by email no later than one month after the completed appeal is received.
Appeal decisions of the Student Financial Services SAP Appeals Committee
- The Student Financial Services SAP Appeals Committee may deny a student’s appeal. A student with a denied appeal will not be eligible for federal, state or institutional financial aid until he/she is able to meet the satisfactory academic progress standards. He/she may elect to apply for a private education loan to cover his/her educational expenses if unable to pay out of pocket.
- The Student Financial Services SAP Appeals Committee may approve a student’s appeal and place the student on financial aid probation. Financial aid probation lasts for one term of enrollment and the student becomes eligible for financial aid for that term. At the end of the term during which a student was placed on financial aid probation, the student must meet the satisfactory academic progress standards to remain eligible for financial aid.
If the student does not meet the satisfactory academic progress standards at the end of the term on which he/she is on financial aid probation, the student is not eligible for financial aid until he/she meets the satisfactory academic progress standards or successfully appeals his/her status. - The Student Financial Services SAP Appeals Committee may approve a student’s appeal based upon the academic plan developed by the academic dean/advisor and the student. In this case, the student will not be required to meet the satisfactory academic progress standards set forth in the policy but must follow the academic plan instead.
Once the student fails to follow the academic plan provided by the academic dean/advisor, the student is not eligible for financial aid until he/she meets the satisfactory academic progress standards or successfully appeal his/her status.
The Student Financial Services SAP Appeals Committee will not limit the number of terms during which students may appeal their satisfactory academic progress status. However, for each term in which a student submits an appeal, the decision of the Student Financial Services SAP Appeals Committee is final and cannot be appealed.
Last updated May 15, 2026