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Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships

Maintaining Eligibility

SAP Components To Meet

To maintain financial aid eligibility students meet the requirements of ALL four SAP components.

  1. GPA
  2. Pace of Progression
  3. Maximum Unit Limitation
  4. Other Provisions

GPA

A cumulative GPA is used for Undergraduate students to determine continued financial aid eligibility. Both term and cumulative GPA’s are used for Post-Baccalaureate students.  Based on career type, students must meet the minimum GPA required in order to successfully meet the GPA component.

The minimum required GPA components are:

  • Undergraduate - 2.00
  • Credential -  2.50
  • Graduate – 3.00

PACE OF PROGRESSION

Fresno State's Financial Aid Office assesses the acceptable pace of progression as a ratio of all Fresno State attempted units and all Fresno State earned units.

  • Undergraduates must complete 70% of all attempted units.
  • Post-Baccalaureates must complete 80% of all attempted units.

Grades of A, B, C, D, or CR are counted toward earned units and grades of F, NC, I, W, RD, RP, AU or WU, will count toward attempted units, but not earned units. Pace is calculated by taking your Fresno State attempted units and dividing them by your Fresno State earned units. Since attempted units include grade substitutions and courses with grades of F, NC, I, W, RD, RP, AU or WU the total units attempted and earned may not match the units reported on your transcripts.

MAXIMUM UNIT LIMITATION

Per Federal regulations, students are expected to complete their program/degrees within an allotted time frame. The Maximum Unit Limit is set for a student to complete their program/degree within a percentage of the published unit requirements. Maximum Unit Limits are based on one program/degree per career. Multiple programs/degrees in the same career will need to go through the SAP appeal process.

Students are limited to 150% of the published required units attempted for their program. Once students get to the maximum units allowed, they will be placed on warning for one term to complete their program. Student are expected to complete all their majors and minor within the allotted time frames. Completing a second major or minor is not a sufficient reason to not complete a program within the allotted time frame. Students that change majors, or pursue a second program, may find themselves reaching their unit and time limit maximums. Students in this situation will need to submit an appeal and their case will be reviewed on an individual basis for continued funding consideration.

 

OTHERS PROVISIONS

  • Students with an academic history showing patterns of enrollment inability or unwillingness to progress, such as several Satisfactory Academic Progress appeals, withdrawals, repeats, incompletes, or enrollment inconsistent with the student's educational objective, may be regarded as ineligible for future financial aid. Units for which the student withdrew (official or unofficial) are subject to all the provisions of this policy.
  • Transfer units that are accepted towards the students educational program will count as both attempted and earned units when calculating GPA and Maximum Unit Limit for SAP.
  • Students who complete all undergraduate or post-baccalaureate program/degree course requirements, but do not graduate (for ANY reason) are not eligible for additional funding. Reasons not acceptable for further funding include, but are not limited to: Raising GPA to meet graduation requirements, needing to pass the Writing Proficiency Exam, wanting to complete a minor or a second major (double majors).
  • Academic progress can be reevaluated at any time throughout the year, as identified by a member of the Financial Aid office. 

WARNING STATUS

The first term that student fails to meet the GPA and/or pace of progression standards will be placed on warning status. Student on a one semester/term warning period are not required to appeal to receive aid in 2016-2017. Students with a warning status will be able to receive financial aid. However, student must meet SAP standards by the end of the warning period/term to continue receiving financial aid. Student that do not meet SAP standards by the end of the warning period/term, will be disqualified and may be eligible to file a SAP appeal for the following term.

Maximum Unit Limit Warning

All students who have attempted the maximum allowable units for their program/degree will be placed on warning. Student with a warning status will be able to receive financial aid. Students on warning status are strongly encouraged to meet with their academic advisor to ensure completion of their program/degree.

PROBATION

If a SAP appeal is approved for one term, a student will be placed on probation.  A student must show improvement in their academic performance during this probation period. If at the end of the probation period, the student does not meet all SAP requirements, financial aid will not be extended. Students who are approved for a final term SAP appeal, will be placed on probation status.

SAP PLANS

If it is determined that a student needs more than one probationary period to regain and meet all four SAP requirements, the student may be placed on an SAP plan.  SAP plans will have specific stipulations for successful SAP progress during subsequent semester/term(s) within a specific time frame.  SAP plans may require student to complete specific coursework, certain GPA/grade standards, and/or successful completion of a specific number of units.

Students with a SAP plan, must not deviate from the SAP plan unless they have prior approval from the Financial Aid Office.  Deviation without prior approval may result in immediate cancellation of financial aid awards. All SAP plans must be monitored up to a specific point in time and the plan must include the student completing the program within the maximum unit limit for their program/degree. Failure to meet the SAP plan requirements may result in loss of financial aid eligibility, until the student is able to re-establish SAP eligibility on their own.

RE-ESTABLISHING ELIGIBILITY

If an appeal is denied or a student was not eligible to file an appeal, a student may have their financial aid reinstated.  Students who successfully complete future sufficient units and meet GPA requirements, in coursework relevant to their degree objective, without the benefit of receiving financial aid may re-establish their eligibility for financial aid.  It will be the student's responsibility to present documentation of completed units to the Financial Aid Office with a written request for their SAP to be recalculated.

SAP REVISION AND RECALCULATIONS

A student is required to submit a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Revision (Form #86) to report any late changes that may affect their SAP status, after the end-of-semester/term SAP has been calculated.  Examples include: late grade change, a change in units earned, changing grades from an incomplete to complete, and/or completing units without receiving financial aid. 

NOTE: Some grade changes and/or unit changes may not result in a change to a student’s SAP status.