Financial Aid Home » General Information » Satisfactory Academic Progress
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
The Federal Government mandates that students must maintain satisfactory academic progress toward completion of their degrees within a reasonable period of time. The Northwestern State University Satisfactory Academic Progress Standard is published in the Northwestern State University Catalog. If you have any questions about this standard, please contact our office.
All students must make satisfactory academic progress toward completion of their degrees within a reasonable period of time to be eligible for any title IV aid, including grants, work-study, Stafford, PLUS, and Perkins loans.
To continue to be eligible for Title IV financial aid programs, you must maintain satisfactory academic progress. Satisfactory academic progress is defined as passing a required number of hours, achieving a required grade point average (GPA) during any semester or academic year and not exceed 150% of the degree program in attempted hours.
The Minimum Progress Standards Table below outlines basic progress requirements.
All students enrolled will have Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) checked at the end of the academic year even if they have not applied for aid.
Minimum Progress Standards Table:
Minimum Semester Minimum Academic Minimum
Hours Earned Year Earned Hours Cumulative GPA
Students with 1-29 semester hours attempted:
Full Time Student (12 or more hours attempted) 9 18 2.00
3/4 Time Student (9-11 hours attempted) 6 12 2.00
1/2 Time Student (6-8 hours attempted) 3 6 2.00
Less than 1/2 Time Student (1-5 hours attempted) must earn all hours attempted ........................ 2.00
Students with 30-59 semester hours attempted:
Full Time Student (12 or more hours attempted) 9 18 2.00
3/4 Time Student (9-11 hours attempted) 6 12 2.00
1/2 Time Student (6-8 hours attempted) 3 6 2.00
Less than 1/2 Time Student (1-5 hours attempted) must earn all hours attempted ......................... 2.00
Students with 60 or more semester hours attempted:
Full Time Student (12 or more hours attempted) 12 24 2.00
3/4 Time Student (9-11 hours attempted) 9 18 2.00
1/2 Time Student (6-8 hours attempted) 6 12 2.00
Less than 1/2 Time Student (1-5 hours attempted) must earn all hours attempted ......................... 2.00
Graduate Students:
Full Time Student (9 or more hours attempted) 9 18 3.00
Less than Full Time Student (1-8 hours attempted) must earn all hours attempted ......................... 3.00
Federal Student Aid will be provided for a maximum of:
Two years or 90 credit hours - Associate's Degree
Four years or 180 credit hours - Bachelor's Degree *
45 credit hours - Master's Degree **
60 credit hours - Ph.D Program
45 credit hours - Specialist beyond Master's Degree
Other Programs:
45 credit hours - Certification beyond Bachelor's Degree and/or Master's Degree
90 credit hours beyond first Bachelor's - Second Bachelor's Degree
45 credit hours beyond first Associate's - Second Associate's Degree
15 credit hours beyond first Master's - Second Master's Degree
45 credit hours beyond Bachelor's - Associate's Degree past Bachelor's
* Example based on a 120 hour degree program. The maximum limit shall be 180 credit hours attempted or 150 % of the required hours for the degree program, whichever is greater.
** Example based on a 30 hour degree program.
Students may appeal for extended periods of entitlement. "IP" and "I" grades are not considered earned hours, but we do look at them as attempted hours.
Transfer Students
A transfer student must supply the Financial Aid Office with a transcript from the previous institution of attendance. We can accept an unofficial transcript as long as the student's name, social security number, and school name is located on the transcript.
Re-establishing Financial Aid Eligibility
You must enroll and be attending to re-establish your financial aid eligibility. Should you choose to "sit out " a semester, you are still subject to meeting the conditions listed below for the semester in which you re-enroll.
- Attend one semester at your own expense without the benefit of financial aid, attempt and earn at least six (6) semester hours and earn at least a 2.0 semester grade point average for undergraduates or a 3.0 for graduates.
- Attend with an approved appeal, earn at least a 2.0 cumulative grade point average by the spring semester, and earn the minimum hours required as shown in the minimum progress standards table above.
Example 1: Your financial aid appeal has been approved for Fall . Currently, you have attempted 24 hours. For Fall, you attempted and earned 12 semester hours. Your classification falls under "Students with 30-59 semester hours attempted " (24 +12).
Example 2: Your financial aid appeal has been approved for Fall. Currently, you have earned 24 hours attempted. For Fall, you attempted 11 hours but dropped a 3 hour class and only completed 8 hours. Your classification falls under "Students with 30-59 semester hours attempted " (24 +11).
Student Financial Aid Appeal
Students who do not meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards have the right to appeal to the Student Financial Aid Appeals Committee. These appeals are generally based on extenuating circumstances. Examples of extenuating circumstances may be defined as, prolonged illness, accidents that require hospitalization to the student or a close family member, death of an immediate family member, or other types of accidents or incidents.
All appeals should have documentation that corresponds with the type of appeal the student is filing. Appeals that are remitted after the priority deadline will not receive priority consideration, and the student should also make payment arrangements with the Cashier's Office for payment of fees incurred from the registration process.
Fall Appeals Spring Appeals Summer Appeals
Priority deadline: July 15 Priority deadline: January 2 Priority deadline: June 6
Final deadline: September 30 Final deadline: February 28 Final deadline: July 15
If an appeal for Financial Aid is approved by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee, the student regains eligibility for Financial Aid for the award year appealing for. The student must maintain academic progress that award year to continue their financial aid eligibility. If an appeal is denied by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee, the student must enroll and earn at least six (6) semester hours with a 2.0 semester grade point average (GPA) at the student's own expense.
Financial aid appeals do not apply to academic appeals and are in no way related.
The decision made by the Financial Aid Appeal Committee is final.
The committee will review the following when making a decision:
- Why the student did not make progress (grades or hours)
- Supporting documentation the student has attached to the appeal. They also look at the relevance of the documentation.
- Number of times a student has appealed
- Attempted hours, earned hours, and GPA for the past 3 semesters
- Copies of transcripts from other universities if a transfer student
- Student's statement should explain why the student did not make progress
- Student's statement should also include what changes have been made and why the student will be able to currently make progress