Students’ Rights Series: Satisfactory Academic Progress

According to the Department of Education, undergraduate college students must maintain a GPA of 2.0, complete at least 70 percent of their credit hours, and obtain their degree within 150 percent of the normal time frame to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) guidelines. But what happens if a student fails to meet these requirements?

According to Sandra Oerly-Bennett, director of the financial aid office, students lose their financial aid when they fail to meet their SAP at the end of each year. However, those students do have the option to appeal.

Students are notified that they have not met one or more of the three SAP requirements by letter at the end of each spring semester. Students must be satisfactory quantitatively, qualitatively, and meet the maximum time frame. This assessment is also available on Rail. Students then have until the first week of fall classes to appeal to the Financial Aid Office.

Oerly-Bennett said that many students don’t appeal because they don’t know that their situation is applicable. Students who fail to meet requirements due to extenuating circumstances are allowed to appeal; that doesn’t mean if they slept in too many times. Examples of extenuating circumstances are available in a document on the SAP section of the Financial Aid website, but they include personal injury or illness, death or illness of a close family member, and divorce. If unsure whether or not their situation is appealable, Oerly-Bennett encourages students to visit her office and discuss the issue.

The appeal process has two levels. All SAP appeal forms are available on the Financial Aid website. For the first level appeal, students must write a statement of why they failed to comply with the SAP policy and indicate any steps they have taken to correct it. They must also meet with their advisor and create a plan to get back on track. They must provide supporting documents, such as a doctor’s note or death certificate, to confirm their circumstances.

After the level one forms are complete, the Financial Aid Office reviews the SAP appeal. Oerly-Bennett indicated that more often than not, the office approves appeal requests and students get their financial aid back. When that happens, students are held accountable to the plan they created with their advisor. They are measured at the end of every semester to make sure they continued as intended.

If a level one appeal is denied, students can then complete the level two appeal. This is simply a request to have their documents reviewed by the Scholarship and Financial Aid Committee. If that is denied, students cannot get their financial aid back.

Oerly-Bennett also stated that the SAP standard is set by the Department of Education, not Shepherd University. She and the school want to help students as much as they can to continue going to school. She said that it is best to provide as much information as possible about students’ circumstances in order to get their appeal approved.

According to Oerly-Bennett, the SAP appeal form has been revised many times in the years it has been in use. On occasion, student requests even lead to a revision, so students are greatly encouraged to voice their opinions on this issue and others.

Several students were questioned about the SAP process, but none had yet fallen under any circumstances which require the filing of the form.

If you have any comments or would like more information, please tweet the picket @SUPicket.

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