Satisfactory Academic Progress
Federal and state regulations require that educational institutions measure students' quantitative and qualitative progress toward a declared educational objective.
Saint Louis University has established the following standards to measure a student's academic progress. These standards will be applied uniformly to all students when determining their eligibility for federal-, state- and University-administered funds and/or other funds regardless of whether the student previously received these funds.
Maximum Attempted Enrollment Credit Hours Time Frame
The maximum attempted enrollment credit hours for which a student may enroll to complete their University program of study must not exceed 180 attempted enrollment credit hours for the completion of a 120-credit-hour degree program. For students who transfer into the University, the 180 attempted enrollment credit hours' maximum includes attempted credit hours at other colleges/universities attended that were accepted by the University as transfer credit.
For academic programs requiring fewer or more than 120 credit hours for degree/certificate completion, the maximum attempted enrollment credit hours for program completion is 150 percent of required credit hours for the program.
Completion Percentage
To maintain measurable progress toward the completion of their degrees, students must successfully complete 67 percent of all credit hours attempted (hours attempted include repeated courses, dropped courses, withdrawals and incomplete courses).
Qualitative Requirement: Cumulative University Grade Point Average (GPA)
Students must also maintain a cumulative University GPA of 2.00 to demonstrate Satisfactory Academic Progress. The University cumulative 2.00 GPA requirement applies to all federal/state student aid programs and for certain University scholarship programs as detailed within each scholarship/award program.
Certain University scholarship/award programs require a higher minimum University cumulative GPA that must be maintained to maintain renewal eligibility in addition to other program requirements. See each scholarship/award program description for the minimum renewal University cumulative GPA requirement, other requirements and maximum duration of award eligibility.
Changing Majors, Repeat and Remedial Coursework, Incompletes, Withdrawals and Second-Degree Coursework
In the case where a student changes degree programs, courses taken that do not contribute to the new degree program do not count toward the 150 percent requirement.
Any remedial coursework (including English as Second Language coursework) does not contribute toward the 150 percent completion time frame, but is counted toward the qualitative 2.00 GPA requirement.
Any non-credit coursework, repeat coursework or coursework for which a grade of incomplete or withdrawn is given counts toward both the quantitative and qualitative measures for calculating SAP.
Any student pursuing a second-degree program is subject to both the 150 percent time frame and the 2.00 cumulative GPA requirements.
Monitoring Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements
Federal Title IV/State Eligibility
Effective July 2011, at the end of each semester, the student's academic record will be reviewed for satisfactory academic progress. If a student exceeds the maximum attempted enrollment hours requirement for federal Title IV/state eligibility, that student will be terminated from receiving federal Title IV/state funds for future enrollment periods.
If a student fails to meet the minimum cumulative GPA requirement or does not earn the minimum number of credit hours for federal Title IV/state eligibility, that student will be on academic progress warning for the succeeding semester. If at the end of the warning semester, the student is still below the minimum University cumulative GPA requirement of 2.00, and/or has not earned sufficient credit hours, the student's eligibility for federal Title IV/state aid will be terminated for future enrollment periods.
University Scholarships and Awards
At the end of each academic year (spring enrollment period), the student's academic record will be reviewed for satisfactory academic progress.
If a student fails to meet the minimum cumulative GPA requirement, that student will be on academic progress provisional status for the succeeding academic year. If at the end of the provisional academic year, the student is still below the GPA requirement, depending on the scholarship/award program's minimum cumulative GPA, the student's eligibility for University scholarships/awards will be terminated for future enrollment periods.
Reestablishing Aid Eligibility
Students cannot reestablish aid eligibility only by remaining out for one or more semesters. Students can reestablish eligibility by enrolling for one or more semesters without the assistance of financial aid funds to meet the minimum standards required by the SAP policy.
Appeal Procedures for Students Terminated from Title IV, State and/or University Scholarship and Award Eligibility
A student terminated from receiving federal Title IV/state and/or University scholarship/award programs due to failure to meet the satisfactory academic progress requirements may appeal this termination in accordance with the following guidelines:
- An Appeal for Termination of Saint Louis University Scholarship form must be submitted to the Office of Student Financial Services and will be reviewed by the appeal committee.
- Appeal forms for federal Title IV aid must be signed by a faculty mentor or academic advisor signifying that a written academic plan is approved and in place.
- Extenuating circumstances include death of a family member, illness or injury, or other circumstances beyond the student's control. Appropriate documentation of the circumstance must be provided.
- The appeal must include a statement as to why the student did not meet SAP and an explanation of what has changed to allow the student to meet SAP standards at the end of the next evaluation period.
- Students who have reached the maximum time frame due to switching majors, second majors or additional degrees will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis through the appeal process.
- Incomplete appeals will not be reviewed.
Students will be contacted via their SLU email account regarding the appeal committee decision. Students whose appeals are approved will be awarded aid conditionally based on their academic plan. The terms and conditions of the appeal approval will be included in the appeal approval email.
Regaining Eligibility For Students Terminated From Title IV Aid
Students cannot reestablish aid eligibility simply by remaining unenrolled for one or more semesters.
Students can reestablish aid eligibility by enrolling for one or more semesters without assistance of financial aid funds while they improve their academic standing to meet minimum standards, which include but are not limited to GPA and pace of program completion, required by the university SAP policy outlined above.
A student can appeal for federal or state aid while making progress towards SAP policy standards by filing an Appeal for Termination of Federal, State and University Scholarship/Financial Aid Eligibility form with student financial services.