Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is an academic standards policy designed to ensure you, as a financial aid recipient, satisfactorily progress toward degree/program completion. The Financial Aid Office is required by law to implement standards that will help you complete your program with a cumulative 2.0 GPA and within the 150% Maximum Credit Limit (less than 180 hours attempted for a 4 year undergraduate degree).

Students who reach 150% of their program length (180 credit hours for undergraduates) are no longer eligible for federal student aid. The 180 credit hour requirement for undergraduates applies to all college credit hours – whether they apply to their degree plan or not.

Each designated term, the Office of Financial Aid will review both your cumulative GPA and your term completion rate. As a financial aid recipient, you must earn a 2.0 GPA/upperclassmen or 1.75 GPA/freshmen each term AND complete 75% of the credits attempted during the term. If you maintain both the GPA and completion rate requirement, you are considered to be in Good Standing.

(You may have a higher GPA requirement for specific program. Failure to meet program standards will result in you being removed from the program. You may still be eligible to receive financial aid for other eligible programs at Schreiner University.)

SAP is reviewed at the end of each long semester and at the end of the summer term (combined sessions).

To remain in good standing, freshmen students (0-24 hours) must maintain a 1.75 Grade Point Average (GPA) and complete 75% of the credit hours in which they are enrolled on Schreiner’s official census date.

After the student has completed their first academic year, (25 hours and above) the cumulative GPA must remain at a 2.0 or better and complete 75% of the credit hours in which they are enrolled on Schreiner’s official census date.

Students who fail to meet the initial and renewal requirements will be placed in the appropriate stage below for immediate intervention:

Level 1= Warning. At the warning stage, a letter will be sent to the student stating the student’s financial aid status based on most recent grade submission for the prior academic term. The letter to the student will clarify the situation and potential consequences. Students are asked to complete and return a form with their email address and commitment to improving their academic progress. This form is mandatory and future aid disbursements will be held up until this form is signed and returned. In addition, students may be required to attend success workshops presented by the Student Success division as part of their progress plan.

Students who fail to meet SAP requirements while on Warning will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension.

Level 2= Suspension. Students and families will be notified of suspension and potential appeal procedures. While on FA Suspension you cannot receive financial aid until your suspension status is resolved. This status cannot be resolved on its own – you must take action.

If an appeal is granted for legitimate reasons, the student will be placed on probation. All appeals will include a written contract. No further appeals will be granted if students do not meet contract requirements.

Appeal Procedure(s):

Students who fail to meet these standards and have lost eligibility for financial aid may appeal this decision. Appeal form and substantiating documentation should be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid within 30 days of the student receiving notice of suspension. Reasons that may be acceptable for the appeal are:

1. serious illness or accident on the part of the student;
2. death, accident or serious illness in the immediate family;
3. change in academic program;
4. other extenuating circumstances.

The reasonableness of the student’s ability for improvement to meet the appropriate standards for the certificate or degree program in which the student is enrolled will be taken into consideration.

Appeals will be reviewed by the Director of Financial Aid and will be either denied or approved for a probationary period not to exceed one semester. The Director may choose to use a faculty committee to aid in this process.

Students will be automatically ineligible for financial aid, regardless of whether they have previously been placed on financial aid warning, beginning with the next semester of attendance when one of the following occurs:
a) student receives grades of “F” in all courses attempted in any semester. In evaluating satisfactory progress, a grade of “I” will be considered an “F”.
b) student is academically dismissed.

Students who pre-register for a subsequent semester before grades are evaluated and who use financial aid to pay tuition and fees may owe a financial aid repayment if they do not maintain satisfactory academic progress and have been disqualified from financial aid once grades are posted and reviewed.

A student who is disqualified from financial aid more than one term consecutively for failure to meet these standards must meet with a financial aid counselor to discuss plans for re-establishing financial aid eligibility. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, a student in this category should expect to enroll for a least 12 semester credits without financial aid and successfully pass all courses with a minimum of a 2.00 GPA to be reconsidered for financial aid.

Suspension from financial aid does not prevent a student from enrolling without financial aid if he or she is otherwise eligible to continue their enrollment. However, the student should be aware that the college’s policies for academic eligibility and financial aid eligibility closely mirror one another, since both are measures of satisfactory academic progress intended to encourage behavior which leads to academic success.

Level 3- Probation. Suspended students who have their appeals approved will be placed on probation. Probation Status means that your appeal to be reinstated is approved. You are eligible to receive grants, work study and loans. However you must complete your probation term in Good Standing to avoid FA Suspension in the subsequent term. An academic contract will be drafted by the Office of Financial Aid or Office of Retention on a case by case basis. Copies of the signed contract will be sent to the Director of Retention, the student, the parent (if applicable) and the Director of Financial Aid. Failure to meet the requirements of the contract place the student on automatic suspension.

Dropping Classes- How will this affect my financial aid?

Before you drop, here are some important things to consider:
• If dropping causes you to go below the 75% completion rate, your future financial aid may be in jeopardy. You will be put on Warning or Suspension.
• If dropping the credits takes you below half-time status, your loan grace period will begin.
• If you are receiving Veteran Education Benefits, you may owe the VA for courses paid on your behalf and not completed.
• Dropping below full time status can affect other areas including veteran’s benefits, state aid, scholarships, and whether or not you can continue to be covered under your parents’ health or car insurance policy. Check into all of these areas before dropping classes.

If you drop or stop attending all of your courses before 60% of the term is over, you will not have earned the full amount of financial aid originally disbursed to you. You may be required to repay to Schreiner University, a portion of the funds you received before registering for any future term.

How do I know what my enrollment level was at the time my financial aid disbursed?
On the 12th Class day for regular terms (3rd class day for summer terms) Financial Aid takes a snapshot of your enrollment. Your financial aid is paid out at this enrollment level. You are required to complete 75% or more of the minimum credits per your enrollment level on that date.

Terms and Explanations:

Withdrawals (W grades) which are recorded on the student’s permanent academic transcript will be included as credit hours attempted and will have an adverse effect on the student’s eligibility to meet the requirements of the credit progression schedule for financial aid. This will affect your 75% completion rate calculation.

Incomplete and Progress grades – Courses that are assigned an incomplete or progress grade are included in the cumulative credits attempted. These cannot be used as credits earned in the progress standard until a successful grade is assigned. This will affect your 75% completion rate calculation.

Repeated Courses – Repeated courses enable the student to achieve a higher cumulative GPA. However, repeating courses adversely effects the student’s ability to meet the requirements of the credit progression schedule. Note: financial aid will pay for one repetition of a class. This will affect your 75% completion rate calculation.

Transfer Students: Only credits officially accepted in transfer and specifically applied toward a student’s certificate or degree will be counted toward the maximum credits allowed. If the student is required to take hours above the maximum number allowable as a result of transfer from another institution, the student may submit a written appeal to the Office of Financial Aid requesting an extension.

Second Degree Students: Only officially accepted credits which are specifically applied toward the student’s current certificate or degree program will be included in the maximum number allowed. Second degree students do not qualify for federal Pell Grant or subsidized loans.

Graduate Students: Graduate students will be expected to meet the same minimum GPA and cumulative hours requirements as undergraduate students. However, graduate students will only be eligible to receive aid for one semester beyond the number of semesters it should be required to complete the program. For example, students in the Masters of Education program who have a 36 credit hours requirement are expected to complete a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester and will not be eligible for aid beyond a 4th semester.

Part-time Students: These standards will be adjusted according to the hours enrolled. For example, half-time students will be eligible for a maximum of 20 semesters while three-quarter time students will be eligible for a maximum of 15 semesters. Cumulative GPA requirements are the same as for full-time students.

Students Admitted on Warning: Students admitted on warning will be eligible for financial aid for one semester. At the end of that semesters the student must have completed enough credit hours and obtained a high enough GPA to be removed from warning status for financial aid to be continued.

Appealing Loss of TEG (Texas State Aid)
Students who have lost eligibility for TEG due to lack of hours completed during the previous academic year and/or cumulative grade point average totals falling below a 2.5, may submit a written appeal (with documentation) to the Director of Financial Aid and the Financial Aid Committee no later than 30 days before the start of the next long semester.

Examples of hardships that could be approved include:

1.) Severe illness of the student
2.) Documented family illness/crises that was the student’s responsibility to manage
3.) For students awarded TEG after September 1, 2005, an appeal may be granted if student can demonstrate that the increased criteria for renewal was an academic hardship.

No hardship appeal will be granted in excess of one academic year.

The Office of Financial Aid at Schreiner University is committed to assisting students in obtaining the best financial aid award possible. However, it is the student’s responsibility to comply with all requirements necessary to complete the financial aid process. In addition, the Office of Financial Aid is not responsible for the student’s financial obligations to Schreiner University. Each student must verify their account balance and make arrangements for any amounts not covered by financial aid.