SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS POLICY
Federal regulations require that all students make satisfactory academic progress in a program of study to maintain eligibility for federal, state, and institutional financial aid programs including, but not limited to: Pell grants, SEOG, Colorado Student Grant, Perkins loan, federal and state work study; Stafford loan; PLUS loan; and institutional need-based grants.
Students may be impacted by other academic progress policies, including institutional and departmental academic standards, as well as academic progress policies for other types of aid, including, but not limited to: institutional merit scholarships; athletic aid; and veterans benefits.
Students must take responsibility to clarify the academic progress policies that impact them.
Components of Satisfactory Academic Progress
The following standards will be monitored to determine eligibility for financial aid:
- Qualitative Standard
- Quantitative Standard
Grade Point Average (GPA)
To remain eligible to receive financial aid, students must meet minimum GPA requirements. Term GPA must be higher than 0.00 when evaluated at the end of the Fall, Winter, and Summer payment periods. Cumulative GPA must be at least 2.00 when evaluated at the end of the Winter and Summer payment periods. Students who do not meet term or cumulative GPA standards will be placed on financial aid suspension.
Grades on remedial courses do not count in the calculation of term or cumulative GPA. The impact of grades of A, B, C, D, F, S, NC, P, F, I, W, NG, and In Progress in college-level courses is specified in the Catalog of Courses. The impact of grades for repeated courses is also specified in the Catalog.
Maximum Time Frame
To remain eligible to receive financial aid, students must not have attempted more than 150% of the credits required for their academic program as published in the Catalog of Courses. Students who exceed maximum time frame will be placed on financial aid suspension.
The program length for most Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees is 120 credits. Therefore, for most students, the maximum time frame is 180 attempted credits. Teacher preparation and engineering programs are authorized to require additional credits. For students in those programs, maximum time frame is adjusted to 150% of the credits required. The length of each program is specified in the Catalog. Students pursuing a second bachelor’s degree are allowed up to 180 attempted credits. Students in the post-baccalaureate Teacher Licensing Program who received their baccalaureate degrees from Fort Lewis College are allowed up to 234 attempted credits. Students in the post-baccalaureate Teacher Licensing Program who received their baccalaureate degrees elsewhere are allowed up to 54 attempted credits.
All credits attempted – anywhere, ever, whether or not the credits apply to the current degree program – are considered in determining compliance with this standard.
Pace
To remain eligible to receive financial aid, students must meet the term and cumulative pace standard. Term pace is defined as the completion of at least 1 college-level credit in the Fall, Winter, and Summer payment periods. The minimum standard for cumulative pace is 67%. Cumulative pace is calculated by dividing the cumulative number of credits completed by the cumulative number of credits attempted. Students who do not meet term or cumulative pace standards will be placed on financial aid suspension.
Completion of a course for purposes of term pace requires a grade of D- or higher, S or P at Fort Lewis College.
Attempted credits for purposes of calculating cumulative pace include all credits – anywhere, ever, whether or not the credits apply to the current degree program. Completed credits for purposes of calculating cumulative pace require a grade of D- or higher, S, P or X at Fort Lewis College and all courses taken at other institutions accepted for transfer by the Registrar’s Office
REVIEW OF SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS
Students will be reviewed for term GPA, maximum hours, and term pace standards after each Fall, Winter, and Summer payment period. Students will be reviewed for cumulative GPA and cumulative pace standards after the Winter and Summer payment periods.
Financial Aid Status
After each evaluation period, students will be assigned a status of Good Standing or Suspension. Students reinstated from Suspension will be assigned the status of Probation.
Good Standing
A student is in good standing and eligible to receive additional financial aid if each of the following standards has been met:
- Student had a term GPA higher than 0.00 in the last payment period;
- Student has a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or higher;
- Student earned at least 1 college-level credit in the last payment period;
- Student has a cumulative pace of 67% or higher; and
- Student has not attempted more than 150% of the required number of credits for the declared academic program.
Suspension
A student is suspended from financial aid if he or she did not meet any of the standards listed above. Students on financial aid suspension are not eligible to receive aid unless they are reinstated from suspension through the appeals process or re-establish eligibility by achieving the standards attending the college without benefit of aid.
Probation
A student is on probation only if they were reinstated from suspension. Students on probation are eligible to receive aid so long as they meet the requirements of their probation as specified by the Scholarship & Financial Aid Appeals Committee.
APPEAL PROCEDURES
A student unable to meet term or cumulative GPA standards or term or cumulative pace standards for compelling and unforeseen reasons may appeal for reinstatement by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee. Students who have exceeded maximum time frame may also appeal for reinstatement.
Students make the appeal by submitting required documents to the Office of Financial Aid. The deadlines to submit these documents are published on the Office of Financial Aid website.
The required documents for students who were unable to meet term or cumulative GPA or term or cumulative pace standards due to compelling and unforeseen circumstances are:
- Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals form and;
- Personal statement explaining why the student was unable to meet standards and why he or she will be able to do so in the next payment period and;
- Documentation – supporting the claims in the personal statement, such as health provider statement, obituary/death certificate, police report, insurance claim, or social services agency statement.
The required documents for students who have exceeded maximum time frame are:
- Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals form;
- Personal statement explaining why the student has exceeded maximum time frame and their plan to complete their degree and;
- Semester-by-semester degree plan signed by an academic advisor showing the student’s plan to graduate.
The Financial Aid Appeals Committee will consider appeals on a case-by-case basis. The appeals package submitted by the student and the educational records of the student, including the disciplinary record, will be reviewed by the committee. The committee may seek input from faculty and professional staff in other relevant campus offices. Additionally, the committee will consider the student’s appeals history.
Students will be notified of the committee’s decision by email to the Fort Lewis College account within 48 hours of the committee’s decision.
Students whose appeals are denied must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress standards by attending the college without benefit of financial aid. It is the responsibility of the student to notify the Office of Financial Aid in writing when the deficiencies have been addressed by completing the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals form and submitting an unofficial transcript.