Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid
Academic Progress Policy
The Academic Progress for Financial Aid Policy conforms to Federal and State regulations that govern financial aid programs and require all financial aid recipients to: (1) be in good academic standing; and to (2) be making satisfactory academic progress toward a degree in a reasonable amount of time (pace). Academic Progress will be monitored at the end of each Fall, Spring, and Summer term. Students must meet both of the following components for Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP):
Academic Standing-Qualitative Component
| Undergraduate Students: |
GPA > 2.0 |
| Graduate Students: |
GPA > 3.0 |
Academic Progression (Pace)-Quantitative Component:
A student must complete at least 66.67 percent of attempted credits. (AP and transfer credits are included.)
In addition to the qualitative and quantitative components, a student’s total attempted credit hours cannot exceed 150% of the credits needed to complete their program of study. For example: if a program requires 124 credits for degree completion, then a student ‘s attempted credits cannot exceed 186 to maintain aid eligibility.
Students with learning or other disabilities should immediately contact the Office of Counseling and Disability Services, so that appropriate accommodations can be made. A student with a documented disability and functional limitations is held to the same academic expectations as other students. If the student is registered with the Office of Counseling and Disability Services and receiving appropriate accommodations, s/he should be able to maintain satisfactory academic progress for financial aid purposes.
Treatment of Specific Courses
Developmental and Supplemental University Instruction courses are used to establish eligibility for financial aid based on full-time or part-time enrollment only. Credits are assigned to developmental and supplemental courses, but these credits do not count toward degree requirements or Satisfactory Academic Progress. For students receiving financial aid, Federal regulations stipulate that the maximum number of attempted credits for developmental instruction is 30. ESL courses do not count against this limit.
When counting developmental credits for SAP, the credits for an unsatisfactory (U) grade, count as attempted but not earned. However, in the Registrar’s system, the “U” is neither attempted nor earned.
Incomplete courses will count toward the calculation of credit hours attempted. Once incomplete courses are completed and a passing grade is received, the credits will then be applied to the student’s completion rate.
Repeated courses are taken to improve a student’s grade point average, and the course counts only once toward degree requirements. Consequently, when a student repeats a course(s), this will count toward time enrolled without a corresponding incremental increase in credit accumulation. (SAP counts repeat credits as attempted but not earned. However, the Registrar does not count repeated grades as attempted or earned.)
Transfer credits are counted as attempted credits (used to determine credits earned in their program of study) and are in the calculation of a student’s GPA.
Withdrawal grades (W) are counted as attempted credit(s) but not earned in determining SAP.
PROCEDURES
Students deemed not to be making satisfactory academic progress will be notified via Kean email and may file an appeal with the Office of Financial Aid. A standing University Committee will review the appeal and make a decision, which is final and cannot be reversed.
Each aid recipient’s record will be evaluated at the end of each semester to determine that the student is meeting the aforementioned standards Students that have reached the maximum number of credits without earning a degree are excluded from further participation in Federal and State financial aid programs.
Federal regulations require that these standards apply to all students, even to first-time aid applicants who have previously enrolled at Kean, or to those who have not been formally placed on probation.
Students deemed not to be making Satisfactory Academic Progress will be notified by Kean email from SAPQUEST and may file an appeal with the Office of Financial Aid. Students receiving a “Warning” status email need not file an appeal as no action is necessary on their part. A standing University Committee will review the appeal and make a final decision. Students will also be notified by Kean email from SAPQUEST as to the outcome of their SAP appeal. Students who have questions about Satisfactory Academic Progress may send an email to sapquest@kean.edu.
RIGHT TO APPEAL
Students have the right to appeal a decision of ineligibility to continue to receive financial assistance. Appeals must be filed within ten days of notification that aid eligibility has been lost. The form that must be used to file your appeal can be found on the Office of Financial Aid webpage. The appeal may NOT be based upon need for the assistance OR lack of knowledge that the assistance was in jeopardy. An appeal would normally be based upon some unusual situation or condition which prevented the student from passing courses, or which necessitated withdrawing from classes. The situation/condition must have taken place within the semester. Examples of possible situations include documented serious illness, severe injury, or death of a family member.
STATUS DEFINITIONS
FINANCIAL AID “WARNING”
If this is the first documented time that the student has experienced academic difficulty, s/he will receive a financial aid “warning” notice. Students will be eligible to receive aid during this semester. These students will be notified that their SAP will be reviewed at the end of the semester and that further action may be taken if there is not significant improvement during the current semester. Students are only allowed one “warning” status per academic year.
FINANCIAL AID “PROBATION”
Students not making significant improvement during their “warning” semester, and/or who fail to maintain SAP standards may appeal and will be allowed only one probationary semester during an academic year. If a student on financial aid probation meets the SAP requirements by term’s end, s/he will be eligible for aid in the subsequent semester. Students placed on probation shall be considered to be making satisfactory academic progress for the purposes of financial aid for that semester.
APPEAL “APPROVAL”
Appeals can only be approved if the SAP Committee determines that the student will be able to meet the University’s satisfactory academic progress after the next payment period
APPEAL (Approved) with “ACADEMIC PLAN” CONDITIONS
Appeals can also be approved if the SAP Committee determines that the student has agreed to follow an academic plan that, if followed, will ensure that s/he can meet the University’s satisfactory academic progress guidelines.
Students whose appeals are approved with an academic plan will receive aid on a conditional basis for one semester. The conditions will be outlined in a notice sent to the student. Those who fail to meet the conditions outlined in their individual academic plan(s) during their conditional semester will not be able to submit a subsequent appeal and will be ineligible for subsequent federal and state aid.
APPEAL “DENIED”
The “denied” decision is usually rendered when the SAP Committee has deemed that it is “mathematically impossible” for the student to meet the quantitative/qualitative component(s) in a reasonable amount of time, the student failed to follow their “academic plan”, or the students statement is undocumented. The student is ineligible to receive federal and state funding in subsequent semesters and must use alternative means to pay for their educational expenses.
REGAINING ELIGIBILITY
A student who has lost eligibility to participate in State and Federal student aid programs for reasons of academic progress, can regain that eligibility by enrolling at Kean using alternative means of payment and demonstrating that s/he is capable of completing a semester without any failures, incompletes or withdrawals, and showing the ability to complete degree requirements in a timely fashion. The mere passage of time will not ordinarily restore eligibility to a student who has lost eligibility for failure to make satisfactory academic progress.
Students who have been academically dismissed from the university but who are subsequently given permission to re-enroll are not automatically eligible to continue to participate in Federal and State aid programs. Admissions/ Academic decisions are independent of funding decisions.
Students who have questions about satisfactory academic progress may send an email to sapquest@kean.edu.
Help is available every step of the way in the aid process. Please contact the Office of Financial Aid with any questions by calling 908-737-3190, e-mailing finaid@kean.edu, or visiting the website: http://www.kean.edu/offices/financial-aid .
Kean Ocean students can access services and see representatives from the Office of Financial Aid in the Kean Ocean Administrative Office, Gateway 103, or by calling 732-255-0356.