Satisfactory Academic Progress–Undergraduate and Graduate

In order to maintain eligibility for federal and state financial aid, a student must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), which is required by federal law.. For a student to be making SAP, the student must meet the Grade Point Average (GPA), Pace of Completion and Maximum Timeframe criteria outlined below regardless of their enrollment status (e.g., full or part time). Students who change majors will only have their previously completed classes that count as credits toward their new major included in their SAP calculation.

SAP is evaluated at the end of each semester for every student, regardless of whether or not financial aid was received. Students who do not meet the SAP requirements may lose their eligibility for federal, state and institutional aid. Students not meeting SAP standards will be notified in writing. Students can also view their SAP standing on the Financial Aid Self-Service portal. 

Grade Point Average Criteria

• All students must maintain a minimum cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) as outlined in the chart below.
• Cumulative GPA must be calculated on all grades received.

Pace of Completion Criteria

• All students in both Undergraduate and Graduate programs must maintain a minimum pace of completion of 67%,
• The pace of completion is calculated by dividing the number of credit hours that the students has completed with a passing grade by the cumulative number of credit hours that the student has attempted.
• Credit hours attempted are defined as all courses for which a student receives a grade. Please see the Grading Symbols and Grading (Undergraduate and Graduate) sections under Academic Rules, Regulations, and Information.
• Transfer credit hours accepted from another institution towards the student's program will be counted as both attempted and completed hours.

Maximum Timeframe Criteria

A student in any program may attempt no more than 150% of the credit hours required by the program: Students who are not meeting SAP due to exceeding the maximum timeframe criteria may appeal for a semester of probationary aid.

The following conditions also apply when evaluating SAP:

• Repeated coursework will count towards credits attempted. The higher grade will be used in the GPA calculation.
• Grades of I (Incomplete) count towards credits attempted, not completed and are counted in the cumulative GPA calculation.
• Grades of W (Withdrawal) are counted as credits attempted only and are not counted in the cumulative GPA calculation.
• Grades of WF (Withdrawal Failure) are counted as credits attempted only and are counted in the cumulative GPA calculation as an F.
• Students who withdraw from a semester after the add/drop period will be evaluated for SAP at the end of the semester.

Warning Period

Students not meeting SAP criteria will be placed on a Financial Aid Warning for one semester. Students remain eligible for federal, state, and institutional aid during the warning period. If the student does not meet the minimum standards at the end of the warning period semester, the student will be ineligible for financial aid and will be placed in an Unsatisfactory period.

Students who started in an undergraduate degree program prior to July 1, 2019:

Unsatisfactory Period

Students who fail to meet the minimum SAP criteria after the warning period will be placed in a Financial Unsatisfactory Status and will be ineligible for all federal, state, and institutional aid. Students may continue to take courses without financial aid to meet SAP standards, however, payment arrangements must be in place. Students who have not maintained eligibility to receive financial aid due to unsatisfactory academic progress may appeal for one additional semester of probational eligibility.

Appeal Process and Probation Period

If an extenuating circumstance impacted the students’ academic performance to adhere to SAP standards, a student may choose to submit a SAP appeal. The SAP appeal can be completed by filling out the online appeal form, fillable PDF form or using the paper form. The link to the form can be found in the unsatisfactory notice sent to the student or the Student Financial Services portal page under “Documents & Forms.” The appeal must be filled out entirely, with any supporting documentation attached and signed by the student. Appeals submitted via the online form will be automatically submitted to SFRS. Appeals using the PDF or paper form must be submitted via email to SFRS@culinary.edu or in person to the SFRS office. The appeal will be presented to the appeals committee, where a decision will be made. Students will be notified in writing of the appeal committees’ decision.

Extenuating circumstances that would qualify a student for an appeal may be but are not limited to:

Students who wish to appeal for probationary aid for a semester must submit an appeal by the deadlines written below:

Approved Appeals

If the appeal is approved, the student will be placed in a Probation status. Students may receive financial aid while on Probation. The Probation period lasts for one semester, in which the student will be eligible to receive financial aid. After the Probation period has ended, the student must meet the minimum SAP criteria to remain eligible for financial aid. If the student does not meet the minimum criteria for SAP, the student will be placed back in an Unsatisfactory status and will lose financial aid eligibility. Subsequently, the student cannot submit another appeal to be placed back in a probation status.

Denied Appeals

If the appeal is denied, students may file a Secondary Appeal. Students are encouraged to submit additional information that may assist with explaining the circumstance for which you were not able to maintain the requirements for Satisfactory Academic Progress. Students will be notified in writing of the appeal committees’ decision. The decision of the Secondary Appeal is final. 
 

Reinstatement of Aid

If a student on a Warning, Unsatisfactory of Probation period is determined to be meeting SAP criteria after completing a semester, the students aid will be reinstated, provided they meet all other financial aid requirements.