Satisfactory Academic Progress

Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA)

Students receiving financial aid must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 after four attempted semesters. Credits subject to the GPA evaluation includes WSU and accepted transfer work; incomplete course-work; course withdraws and course repetitions. Financial aid will be denied until students bring their cumulative GPA above a 2.0.

Regaining Eligibility

Students denied financial aid for low GPA may:

• Attend school at their own expense until a 2.0 cumulative GPA has been reached.
• Submit a Financial Aid & Scholarships petition. However, submitting an petition does not guarantee financial aid will be reinstated. If the petition is not approved, students must attend school at their own expense until a 2.0 cumulative GPA has been reached.

Completion Rate (Pace)

Each semester students are expected to complete all attempted credit hours. Successful completion of credit hours for financial aid eligibility means earning a passing letter grade. Unacceptable letter grades include Incompletes (I), Temporary Grades (T), Withdraw (W), Unofficial Withdraw (UW), No Credit (NC), Fail (E) or Audit (AU). Repeated course-work and accepted transfer credits are also considered when evaluating this measure.

If students have a semester in which they complete 66.7% or more of the credit hours for which they were paid financial aid, they will be Good Standing.  Students must maintain an overall completion rate of 66.7% to continuing to receive financial aid.  Dropping below will cause a student to be in a Denial Status.

Regaining Eligibility

Students denied financial aid for low Completion Rate may:

• Attend school at their own expense until 100% of deficit credit hours have been made up.
• Submit a Financial Aid & Scholarships petition. However, submitting an petition does not guarantee financial aid will be reinstated. If the petition is not approved, students must attend school at their own expense until 100% of deficit credit hours have been made up

Maximum Time Frame

Students may receive financial aid for a maximum of 150% of the published length of the educational program.

WSU students have 189 attempted credit hours in which to complete a bachelor’s degree, 94 attempted credit hours in which to complete an associate degree, and 45 credit hours in which to complete an institutional certificate. Students exceeding the maximum time frame will be denied financial aid unless they regain eligibility.

Students who pursue a double major or who have completed all the requirements for a degree but continue to take classes, such students may be denied financial aid and asked to prove reason for continued eligibility.

Regaining Eligibility

Students denied financial aid for reaching max hours may:

• Attend school at their own expense until reaching graduation.
• If students have military credits or AP credits that are not being used toward their degree, they may contact the Financial Aid & Scholarships office for a review of their credit hours.
• Submit a Financial Aid & Scholarships petition. However, submitting an petition does not guarantee financial aid will be reinstated.

Good Status

Students that maintain a cumulative 2.0 GPA, complete 66.7% or more of the credit hours for which they are paid, and have not exceeded the maximum time frame allotted for their programs are in good financial aid status.

Warning Status

Students whose cumulative GPA is below a 2.0 during their first four semesters will be placed on financial aid warning status.

Students who have a semester in which they complete 50.0% or more but less than 66.7% of the credit hours for which they were paid financial aid will be placed on financial aid warning status. 

Students cannot have consecutive semesters on warning status.  If a student earns less than a 2.0 GPA or completes less than 66.7 % of their credit hours while on warning, the student will be placed in a Denial Status.

Denial Status

Students whose cumulative GPA is below a 2.0 after the end of their fourth semester will be denied financial aid denied until they regain eligibility.

Students who complete less than 50.0% of their credit hours during a semester will be denied financial aid until they regain eligibility. Students who were on warning and then complete less than 66.7% of their credit hours during the subsequent semester will be denied financial aid until they regain eligibility.

Students must maintain an overall completion rate of 66.7% to continuing to receive financial aid.

Students who have exceeded the maximum time frame will be denied financial aid unless they regain eligibility.

Petition

Students who fail to meet SAP standards may petition for an exception from SAP requirements due to extenuating circumstances, such as death of a close relative, injury or illness of the student, injury or illness of the student’s dependent or spouse, and other circumstances outside students’ control (e.g. jury duty, official military duty, etc.) Circumstances relating to employment are rarely granted as exceptions to SAP policy.

The petition is a one-time exception to the SAP requirements. Petitions are reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis. A personal statement, supporting documentation, and academic plan are required with every petition. On a case-by-case basis, the Financial Aid & Scholarships committee will consider the SAP standard(s) the students failed to meet, the type and degree of circumstances affecting the failure, the extent to which these circumstances have been resolved, and students’ Financial Aid & Scholarships history.  Petitions that are denied by the Financial Aid and Scholarship office will have the University Financial Aid and Scholarships petitions reviewed.

WSU Financial Aid & Scholarships petition instructions.

Probation Status

Students whose petitions have been approved will be moved to probation status for one semester. During this semester, students are expected to complete 100% of their credit hours, maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or bring their cumulative GPA up to a 2.0, or otherwise follow the academic plan established by the WSU Financial Aid & Scholarships department.

Students who successfully complete their semester of probation will be returned to good financial aid standing. Students who are unsuccessful in completing their semester of probation will be denied financial aid. They will then be required to attend school at their own expense until SAP standards have been satisfied.