Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Undergraduates

• Undergraduate students are required to maintain a cumulative program grade-point average (GPA) of 2.0 or maintain the GPA required to be in good standing with your program of study, whichever is higher. The GPA calculation excludes transfer coursework (except those courses taken at another IU campus), because Indiana University Southeast does not assign a GPA to these course types.

Graduates

• Graduate students are required to maintain a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or maintain the GPA required to be in good standing with your program of study, whichever is higher. The GPA calculation excludes transfer coursework (except those courses taken at another IU campus) because Indiana University Southeast does not assign a GPA to these course types.

• Incompletes (I) and withdrawals (W) are not included when calculating cumulative GPA.

• For repeated courses, the highest grade is used when calculating SAP cumulative GPA.

• For grade changes, the SAP cumulative GPA will be recalculated at the next SAP evaluation based upon the new grade.

• Remedial coursework counts towards the SAP cumulative GPA calculation.

• Students must complete at least 67% of total attempted coursework. All for-credit courses taken at Indiana University Southeast (or at another IU campus) and transfer hours from other institutions are included in this calculation.
• Grades of W, F, FN, FNN, FX, NC, and I (Incomplete) are not considered successful completion of a course and are included in the calculation.
• Repeated courses and remedial coursework are also included in the completion rate calculation. Financial assistance for repeated coursework is limited.

• All transfer credit hours that appear on a student’s academic transcript will be counted toward the duration of eligibility/credit hours attempted.
• Repeated, incomplete courses, and remedial coursework are also included in the total hours attempted calculation. Financial assistance for repeated coursework is limited.
• Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards include all previous academic history, including transfer work, even if the student did not receive financial aid for those courses.
• Associate's degree students must complete their programs in no more than 90 credit hours attempted.
• Bachelor’s degree students must complete their programs in no more than 180 credit hours attempted.
• Certificate students (including Post-Baccalaureate) must complete their programs within 27 credit hours or within 150% of the credit hours required for that program. For example, if your program requires 18 credit hours, you must complete your program within 27 credit hours (18 x 150% = 27).
• Graduate students enrolled in master’s degree programs must complete their degrees in no more than 45 credit hours of graduate enrollment not including research credits.
• Students in any program that has been determined cannot mathematically complete their primary academic program before exceeding their 150% total credit hours attempted will lose financial aid eligibility.

Students who fail to meet the standards and had extenuating circumstances beyond their control may appeal to the Office of Financial Aid by completing the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal form.

Conditions for Appeal:

• Death of an immediate family member or guardian
• Major medical issue experienced by the student or immediate family member or guardian
• Victim of domestic violence
• Other extreme circumstances to be determined by the Office of Financial Aid on a case-by-case basis

Appeals will NOT be accepted for the following circumstances:

• Encountering a situation that could have been anticipated, such as the need to have transportation, the need to pay for ordinary living expenses, the need for childcare, etc.
• Participation in extracurricular activities or academic overload
• Dissatisfaction with instructor, instructional method, course material, or class intensity
• Lack of motivation, change of major, or change in academic interests
• Working too many hours

Students must have the current FAFSA on file with the IU Southeast Financial Aid Office before an appeal will be accepted. If a student does not have a FAFSA on file, they will receive an email noting the rejection.

When completing an appeal for GPA or Completion Rate, students are required to include all of the following:

1. A detailed description of the extenuating circumstances beyond the student’s control which led to the student not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress standards
   1. An explanation of how these circumstances impacted the student's academic performance
   2. Confirmation and explanation that these circumstances have been resolved
   3. An explanation of the measures which are being taken to ensure future academic success
2. Supporting third party documentation of the extenuating circumstances outlined by the student
   *If one or more of these are not provided the appeal will be denied.
3. It is also recommended students meet with their academic advisor to discuss and plan their future academic endeavors, if they have not done so already.

When completing an appeal for Maximum Time Frame (Too Many Hours), students are required to include the following:

1. A detailed description of the extenuating circumstances beyond the student’s control which led to the student not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress standards
   1. If the student is seeking a second degree, please outline the reasons for the second degree (unemployment in previous field of work, inability to move up within current workplace without the additional degree, etc.). The student must explain this rationale for the pursuit of a second degree. 
   2. Students seeking multiple majors must explain the rationale for the pursuit of multiple majors if this causes them to exceed the maximum time frame. 
   3. Because the guidelines allow for 150% of the hours required to receive a degree, changing majors alone will not constitute an appeal approval. 
2. Supporting third party documentation of the extenuating circumstances outlined by the student
3. An academic plan submitted by the student’s academic advisor
   *If one or more of these are not provided the appeal will be denied.

All appeals must be submitted in electronic form. The online form can be found on our webpage under the Financial Aid Appeals page. Paper SAP appeals will NOT be accepted. If assistance with the online SAP appeal is required, please contact Student Central.

Priority Dates are provided to allow students an opportunity to have appeal decisions prior to the last day to drop courses with a 100% tuition refund:

• Fall: 30 days prior to the beginning of the semester
• Spring: 45 days prior to the beginning of the semester

Deadlines for appeals and submission of additional information requested by the SAP Committee are as follows: 

• Fall: 30 days prior to the end of the semester or enrollment period
• Spring: 30 days prior to the end of the semester or enrollment period
• Summer 1 & 2: 15 days prior to the end of the semester or enrollment period

Appeals submitted later than the deadlines listed above may not be processed.

Appeals should only be submitted for semesters in which you are enrolled or intend to enroll.

If a student does not respond to an academic plan agreement or a request for additional information before the deadline listed in the communication, aid will NOT be processed.

Submission of a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal is not a guarantee of approval.

Our SAP Appeal Committee reviews each appeal to determine student eligibility for continued financial aid. For appeals that are approved, a student should see any financial aid for which they are eligible approximately three to five weeks from the initial submission of their appeal. Please note the processing length will also depend on timely submission of any additional information requested by the committee. Processing may take longer during peak times (July through early September).

No deferments of IU Southeast charges will be granted during or due to the review time frame. Final decisions regarding appeals should be monitored by the student through their IU Southeast email. When a student fails to meet SAP and has an appeal denied, they can regain eligibility by meeting the criteria established above, but they cannot regain eligibility simply by being out of school for a set amount of time or by paying for a set number of classes out-of-pocket.

The SAP Appeal Committee reserves the right to require an Academic Plan which may span the current semester, the current year, or the duration of the student’s program. Academic Plans may specify the student’s remaining planned coursework, required GPA, required Completion, suggested activities to increase GPA, or courses of action as determined by the student’s academic advisor. The Financial Aid Office reserves the right to add additional stipulations to the academic plan.

Completion - This is a calculation based on the total number of successfully completed hours (A, B, C, D, S) divided by the total number of attempted hours, including those not successfully completed (W, F, FN, FNN, FX, NC, and Incomplete). Successful Hours ÷ Total Hours (Successful Hours + Unsuccessful Hours) = Completion Rate.

Financial Aid Probation - Students with approved appeals are placed on Financial Aid Probation and are eligible to receive financial aid while on Financial Aid Probation. Students must either meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements or the terms of their SAP Academic Plan to remain eligible for financial aid.

Fresh Start - Provides undergraduate students returning to Indiana University Southeast a comparable GPA platform as transfer students, whereby prior work may count towards degree requirements, but is not included in calculation of the cumulative program GPA. Under the policy, all grades, credits, and courses remain visible on the transcript, but an adjustment is applied to the academic record to remove the GPA points/values from the cumulative Program GPA for all prior IU coursework.

Credit for any prior IU coursework completed with grades of C or better, including credit taken as a nondegree student, will continue to count towards degree and/or program requirements. Thus, students will begin their post-Fresh Start academic record with a Program GPA of 0.0.

GPA - Grade Point Average: Your Program GPA is used to determine whether or not you meet the minimum GPA standard for SAP. This GPA can be found at the bottom of your Unofficial Transcript and is titled “Student Undergraduate Program Summary” or “Student Graduate Program Summary.” To calculate your GPA with estimated grades, use your current AAR or Unofficial Transcript and IU's GPA calculator.

Too Many Hours - This is a calculation that includes all transfer hours, Successful Hours, and Unsuccessful hours at IU Southeast.

Not Meeting SAP - A student with this status is not eligible to receive financial aid. A student will be classified as Not Meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress if they meet one or more of the following:

• Do not meet the GPA or completion rate requirement and/or exceed the maximum time frame allowed for their program, or
• Fail to meet the requirements of a previously assigned Financial Aid SAP Academic Plan