Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid Recipients
Wilmington University’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy for Financial Aid Recipients is comprised of two components: a qualitative and a quantitative component. The qualitative component is measured by the student’s GPA, whereas the quantitative component is measured by the successful completion of credits. Both components are described in detail below.
Graduate students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. GPA review occurs at the end of every semester. Students who do not meet the required minimum will be placed on financial aid warning and must sign a Financial Aid Warning Letter, which indicates students are aware they are not making satisfactory academic progress on cumulative GPA, understand that they are on financial aid warning and understand the consequence of not improving their GPA. Graduate students who do not attain the required 3.0 minimum cumulative GPA by the end of the next term of attendance will immediately become ineligible for financial aid.
In addition to GPA standards, students must maintain a minimum 67% pace of completion. This also includes all withdraws and repeated classes; each one counts once. (Example: ENG 121 is taken and student withdraws, student takes the class again and fails; then the student takes the class and passes, for federal financial aid purposes, this equals attempted 9 credits and passed 3 credits). That is, on a cumulative basis, students must successfully complete 67% of the credits attempted. Successful completion is defined as earning an “A”, “B”, or “C” in a course.
Pace of completion review occurs at the end of every semester. Students who do not meet the minimum pace of completion are placed on financial aid SAP Warning and are given one semester to improve his/her pace of completion. In addition, the student must sign a SAP Warning Letter, which students acknowledges that they are not making satisfactory academic progress based on pace of completion, understand that they are on SAP warning and understand the consequences of not improving their pace of completion.
In addition to pace of completion standards, students are restricted to the maximum number of credits for which they can receive financial aid. All students are expected to complete degree requirements within 150% of the number of credits required by the program. For example, if a graduate program requires 36 credits, students must complete it within 54 credits (36 x 150% = 54).
Please note, any student’s receiving VA education benefits should refer to the section “Veterans Educational Benefits” regarding their specific Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.