Make a SAP Appeal

How to Reestablish Your Financial Aid Eligibility

General Information

Students who do not meet Satisfactory Academic progress (SAP) standards are not eligible to receive financial aid. In order to be considered for full financial aid eligibility, a student must submit a petition, using our Dynamic Form, by the given deadline. Incomplete petitions will not be reviewed and will be rejected back to the student. The SAP Committee will meet weekly to consider SAP petitions. After the SAP Committee has rendered a decision, students will be officially notified by e-mail. If the committee approves the SAP appeal, the student must follow a well-constructed Academic Plan. The Academic Plan is designed to lead the student back to SAP standards. The student must commit to the academic plan by signing off on the requirements listed on the plan. The Academic Plan will be reviewed at the end of each term for completion.

Process

Students who fail to meet any of the SAP standards have the right to appeal. Decisions to approve or deny petitions will be based on:

The SAP appeal form, which asks students to explain what led to failing the SAP standards and the steps they will take to correct the issue.
Sufficient documentation to correlate with the reason for failing SAP standards.
Recommendation(s) letters, including, but not limited, to the Counseling Center (0203 James Hall) / SEEK (2208 Boylan Hall) / Learning Center (1300 Boylan Hall) / Center for Student Disability Services (138 Roosevelt Hall) or Center for Academic Advisement and Student Success (CAASS) (3207 Boylan Hall).

Procedure*

1. An e-mail from the SAP appeal committee is sent to you indicating the SAP standards that you have not met.

Make sure to check the e-mail you used when completing your FAFSA (this is where the SAP e-mail is sent).
The e-mail will also include a link to our SAP appeal form that you will complete and submit electronically.

2. Prepare a detailed typed personal statement by:

explaining the extenuating circumstance(s),
describing how you propose to resolve the deficiency that contributed to your unsatisfactory academic progress, and
uploading related supporting documents in one single file.

3. If the SAP standards you are failing are either Pace of Progression, Maximum Timeframe (maximum attempted credits), or a combination of both, then the link to your SAP appeal will include an academic plan. You should carefully review the plan and make sure to include any requested information. The Academic Plan must be signed and you must submit the form electronically by clicking the submit button after signing off on the plan. If you are failing the GPA standard, refer to step 4.

4. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS: If you are an undergraduate student failing the cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) standard, after your SAP appeal has been submitted it will be sent to either CAASS or SEEK (if you are a SEEK student) so that an academic advisor can create an Academic Plan for you to review and sign. It is important to regularly check your email as this is how you will be notified when your Academic Plan is available for you to review and sign.

You will not need to reach out to a CAASS or SEEK advisor regarding your academic plan as completing your SAP appeal will have the appeal sent to them so they can create your Academic Plan for you. Contact links to both departments is listed below but you would not want to contact them to obtain your Academic Plan.

GRADUATE STUDENTS: If you are a graduate student failing the GPA standard you will need to obtain an academic plan from your academic department and upload it within your SAP appeal on the Academic Plan page.

5. After you have signed and submitted your Academic Plan your SAP appeal will be sent back to financial aid so that the SAP Committee can review your completed appeal. After a decision has been made you will be notified via email whether your SAP appeal has been approved or denied. Your submission will be reviewed for completeness.

Submissions without these required documents will not be accepted:

Completed, typed, and signed SAP appeal
Relevant Supporting documents
Your Signed Academic Plan

6.You will be notified of the SAP committee's decision by e-mail one to two weeks after the appeal has been submitted.

7. Your academic plan will be reviewed at the end of each term to ensure that each requirement of the plan has been met so that you ultimately attain SAP standards

*IMPORTANT NOTE: The submission of a SAP appeal does not guarantee approval of federal aid. Therefore, students not meeting SAP should seek other arrangements to cover their tuition charges and not delay in receiving the final determination of the appeal to make such arrangements. In the event that an appeal is denied, students will be fully responsible for making tuition payments with the Bursar's Office.