Standards of Academic Progress

To be eligible for Title IV Financial Aid (FA), a student must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). Mountain State University's SAP policy is the same for students not receiving Title IV aid. The SAP policies used in determining eligibility for Title IV funding are the same as the academic policies that are used in determining academic sanctions.

The Chief Financial Officer, the Director or Financial Aid and the Registrar are responsible for reviewing the SAP policy used to determine both Title IV eligibility and academic sanctions. The policy is reviewed and approved annually.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Standards of SAP measure a student's performance in the following three areas: completion rate, cumulative grade point average (GPA), and maximum time frame. The University is responsible for ensuring that all students who receive federal, state, and institutional financial aid are meeting these standards. Academic progress standards apply to all financial assistance programs.

The following are considered when evaluating a student's Satisfactory Academic Progress:

• Withdrawals, incompletes, and failures are considered attempted but not earned hours.
• Passing credits for pass/fail courses are considered attempted and earned hours; failing grades in pass/fail courses are considered attempted but not earned.
• Repeated courses are included in the calculation of both attempted and earned hours.
• Audited courses and those taken in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program are not considered credits attempted or earned.
• Only transfer work of a "C" or better that apply to the program of study will be accepted as a pass credit at MSU as both attempted and earned. Any transfer credits of W, F, or D on a student's transcript do not count in the calculation of either attempted or earned hours.
• Credits taken during a consortium agreement with another institution will not be considered as attempted unless transferred into MSU. Any student taking consortium credits at MSU from another institution will be considered in Satisfactory Academic Progress standards.
• Course work not receiving a grade at the end of the course will be given a WIP (work in process). Registration will automatically turn WIP's into grades of F if grades aren't posted within 30 days after the last day of the course.
• Credits that are forgiven as part of the academic forgiveness options will remain as part of the GPA and attempted/earned calculations for SAP purposes. Thus note that a student will have a different GPA in determining financial aid eligibility.

Definitions:

• Financial Aid Warning - status assigned to a student who fails to make satisfactory academic progress at the end of a payment period. Students placed on Financial Aid Warning will be able to receive financial aid for one semester subsequent to the semester they were given the status of Financial Aid Warning. At the end of the warning period the student will:
  1. Be removed from warning status because both cumulative GPA and cumulative completion rate standards are met.
     
  2. Be placed on Financial Aid Probation status and become ineligible from receiving Financial Aid assistance. Students will receive a Financial Aid Probation letter.
• Financial Aid Probation - status assigned to a student who was previously placed on Financial Aid Warning and did not meet the standards of academic progress. Students placed on Financial Aid Probation are not eligible to receive financial aid; however, they may file an appeal. If the appeal is granted and a personal academic plan is developed funds can be disbursed for the semester the student was placed on Financial Aid Probation. For the payment period subsequent to the Financial Aid Probation semester, financial aid funds will be disbursed only if the student is meeting Standards of Academic Progress or their personal academic plan developed by an MSU advisor.

Additional definitions and examples can be found in the Financial Aid and Bursar section of the MSU Student Handbook.