How Progress is measured | Treatment of Grades | Duration of Eligibility | Financial Aid Probation | Financial Aid Appeals Process |Re-establishing Financial Aid Eligibility

Federal guidelines require that institutions administering federal student aid have a written policy on how they will ensure that recipients of federal (Title IV) student aid funds are making satisfactory progress toward their educational objective.

Federal aid recipients are considered to be making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) if they have completed at least 67% of all hours attempted with at least a 2.00 cumulative GPA if enrolled as an undergraduate, or with at least a 3.00 cumulative GPA if enrolled as a graduate.  The SAP status is established after the first term of enrollment.  If at that time this criteria is not met, the recipient would be placed on probation.  Future eligibility would be contingent upon meeting probationary requirements detailed in the "Financial Aid Probation" segment of this policy.    

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How Progress is measured

The Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy measures a student’s progress both quantitatively and qualitatively.  The policy sets forth eligibility standards necessary for federal financial aid students to establish and retain.  Even though all institutions administering federal aid must have such a policy, requirements may differ from one institution to another. The requirements for maintaining eligibility for federal aid and the requirements to maintain eligibility to enroll at UCO might also differ.  You should refer to the school catalog for the requirements to maintain eligibility to enroll.

In a review of academic progress, all attempted coursework is considered.  This includes 1) coursework attempted from all schools previously attended (whether or not the coursework was completed) and 2) without regard to whether or not federal aid was received for those courses).

Satisfactory academic progress is reviewed at the end of each academic semester once grades have been posted.

To establish eligibility the financial aid student must have successfully completed at least 67% of all hours attempted and have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00 as an undergraduate student, or a cumulative GPA of 3.00 as a graduate student.  However, if only one of the above criteria is met, the financial aid student will be placed on a financial aid probation status.  If the student does not meet either of the above criteria, he/she is not making satisfactory academic progress and is considered ineligible for federal financial aid assistance.  Students transferring to UCO with a poor academic history may also be ineligible to receive federal financial aid.

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Treatment of Grades

For financial aid purposes passing grades are A, B, C, D, S, and P.  Grades of F, I, U, X, T or W indicate the course was not passed or not completed, however these grades do count as credit hours attempted.  Repeated coursework is also counted in the credit hours attempted.

 Courses dropped before the end of the "refund" period each semester, Regular courses changed to audit, and grades of AW (Administrative Withdrawal) will not be counted in the credit hours attempted and have no bearing on a student's satisfactory academic progress status, since they do not appear on the student's transcript.  However, if federal funds issued or credited on behalf of the student were based on an enrollment that included courses that were later dropped as “no record”, or were changed to audit or Administrative Withdrawal, repayment of a portion (or all) of those funds may be required.

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Duration of Eligibility

Federal financial aid students must complete their degree or certificate program at UCO within a total number of attempted credit hours that is no longer than 150 percent of the published length of the program.  This total includes all attempted credit coursework at UCO and all other schools attended, regardless of any change in program, and whether or not the student received federal financial aid during part or all of his/her coursework.  For example, students enrolled in a 124 credit hour undergraduate degree program are granted financial aid consideration through 186 credit hours of attempted study.  Students enrolled in a 32 credit hour masters degree program are granted financial aid consideration through 48 credit hours of attempted study.  This time may be reduced for students working on their 2nd Bachelors or 2nd Masters degree.  Students who reach these maximums without completing the degree program will be considered to have an excessive hours status and will be denied further financial aid consideration, until the degree requirements have been satisfied.  Students denied federal aid due to excessive hours may submit an Financial Aid Appeal Request Form with the required documentation for excessive hours.

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Financial Aid Probation

During the probationary term, financial aid students are eligible to receive aid but are required to achieve a higher term GPA and/or completion ratio than the minimum standard. 

Students with satisfactory academic progress deficiencies may be placed on one of three different types of probation:

1)  Financial aid students with a cumulative GPA deficiency ONLY must 1) successfully complete all hours attempted during the probationary term, AND 2) earn at least a 2.25 term GPA for undergraduate students (3.25 or higher term GPA for graduate students).

2)  Financial aid students with a cumulative completion hour deficiency ONLY must 1) successfully complete all hours attempted during the probationary term, AND 2)  maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 for undergraduate students (3.00 for graduate students). 

3) Financial aid students who have BOTH a cumulative GPA AND a completion hour deficiency must 1) successfully complete all hours attempted in the probationary term AND 2) earn at least a 2.25 cumulative GPA for undergraduate students (3.25 or higher cumulative GPA for graduate students).  Students who have been granted an academic appeal for failure to maintain probationary requirements are required to meet the conditions of this third probationary status.

Financial aid probationary students will remain on probation as long as they meet  term requirements and until such time they reach a 67% completion hour ratio and attain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00 as undergraduate students (3.00 as graduate students).  Probationary students not meeting required probationary standards are denied for the next term. 

Important:  Any drop in enrollment hours made after the published drop date each semester will result in a probationary student being ineligible to receive federal financial aid funding for the following semester.  For example, a probationary student who drops from 15 to 12 hours after the drop date will be ineligible to receive federal financial aid funding during his/her following semester.

All notifications of financial aid probation or denial are sent ONLY to the student's UCO e-mail account.

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Financial Aid Appeals Process

Students who have been denied federal financial aid by not meeting satisfactory academic progress standards and believe they have mitigating circumstances that prevented their success may request reconsideration through the appeals process. The Financial Aid Appeal Request Form is available on the General Forms section of the UCO Student Financial Service's website and must be accompanied by the appropriate documentation to substantiate the basis of the appeal.  All appeals must contain a written statement by the student indicating why he/she was not able to meet satisfactory academic progress standards.  Appeals for excessive hours must contain a written statement by the student as stated above as well as a copy of his/her degree check (obtained through the Academic Advisement Office) for undergraduates, or a copy of the student's Plan of Study from the Graduate Office for graduate students. 

 The appeal deadline is the 2nd Friday of each month.  Semester deadlines for appeal submissions are as follows:  Spring: 2nd Friday of April; Summer: 2nd Friday of July; Fall: 2nd Friday of November.  There will be no review of appeals during the months of May and December.

An Appeals Committee composed of UCO faculty/staff will review all properly documented appeal requests following the appeal deadline each month.  Students will receive an e-mail notification of the appeal decision (sent to the student's UCO e-mail account) within 7 working days after the appeal submission deadline.  (Students granted an appeal for excessive hours will receive a letter sent to their current mailing address within 7 working days after the appeal submission deadline). The decision of the appeal committee is final.  Appeal requests previously denied cannot be appealed again.

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Re-Establishing Financial Aid Eligibility

Financial aid students who are denied aid due to not meeting satisfactory academic progress requirements will remain denied unless granted reinstatement of aid through an academic appeal OR until they successfully complete at their own expense all hours attempted (minimum of 6 hours for undergraduate students / 5 hours for graduate students) with a 2.25 GPA (undergraduate students) or a 3.25 GPA (graduate students).   

Once the financial aid student has met the term requirements, the student should submit a written request to the Office of Student Financial Services to review his/her academic progress.  If the request is granted, the financial aid student will be placed on a probation status until the minimum overall satisfactory academic progress requirements are met.  Probationary students may continue receiving federal financial aid as long as the term requirements for the probationary status are met.   

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Rev. 07/08