Satisfactory Academic Progress

Satisfactory Academic Progress, or SAP, is a federal regulation requiring the Office of Financial Aid to monitor the progress of each student who is receiving financial aid as they move toward completing their degree.

Students who fall behind in their coursework, fail to achieve minimum standards for grade point average, or fail to complete classes in a maximum time frame may lose eligibility for all types of federal, university, and state aid administered by our office.

Requirements for Maintaining SAP

Qualitative Requirements (GPA)

Undergraduate Students

Frostburg State requires students to have a 2.0 cumulative grade point average to graduate and maintain SAP.

Undergraduate students could be required to appeal to both the Provost’s Office to remain in school and to the Financial Aid Office to maintain financial aid eligibility.

Graduate Students

The SAP standards for graduate students mirror the graduation requirements. Graduate students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade point average in order to continue to receive financial aid, as well as graduate.

Graduate students could be required to appeal to their program coordinator to remain enrolled at Frostburg State and to the Financial Aid Office to maintain financial aid eligibility.

Quantitative Standards

Minimum Passing Requirement

Students must complete 67% of all courses attempted including courses transferred to FSU in order to meet SAP regulations. To determine the completed average, a student needs to add all attempted hours (including credits transferred to Frostburg State) then add all the hours of completed courses(including credits transferred to FSU) then divide the completed credit hours by the attempted credit hours.

6 completed credit hours / 12 attempted credit hours = 50% completion rate

Maximum time to completion

Undergraduate students cannot attempt more than 180 credits for a first bachelor’s degree and no more than 240 for a second bachelor’s degree.

Graduate students cannot attempt above 150% of the total number of credits needed to earn a degree. Due to graduate programs requiring a different number of credits per program, students will need to calculate this rule based on their program of study.

Attempted credits include the following grades A, B, C, D, F, P, N, FX, W, WF, NC, NR, CS, I, AP, CE, CL, IB, PT and all transfer credits.

Completed credits include the following grades A, B, C, D, P, AP, CE, CL, IB, PT and all transfer credits.

All students will be evaluated at the end of each semester (summer, fall, intersession and spring). Students will need to review the progress rules and their transcript when making enrollment decisions.

Frostburg will now be required to evaluate and measure students by standards established in the federal law. Each student will have one of four statuses:

1. Meets all components of the SAP standards (eligible to receive financial aid)
2. SAP Warning
3. SAP Probation
4. Does not Meet SAP Standards (not eligible to receive financial aid)

SAP Warning

Students who do not meet SAP standards for the first time in their academic career will be placed on SAP warning. A warning is assigned to a student who fails to meet SAP but is allowed to continue to receive Title IV aid for one additional payment period (semester).  The student will receive a "letter" notification within their student portal.  Additional communications via the FSU student email and academic advisors may also be utilized to alert and guide students through the SAP appeal process.

SAP Probation

Students who do not meet SAP standards after one payment period on SAP Warning will be denied financial aid. However, students will then have the right to appeal. If the appeal is granted, the student will be placed on SAP probation and continue to receive Title IV aid for one additional payment period.

Appeals will be granted for the following circumstances:

1. Students who demonstrate the following extenuating circumstances: death of a relative, injury or illness of the student, or other special circumstances;
2. The school has determined that the student will be able to meet SAP standards after the subsequent payment period or;
3. An academic plan had been established by the student and/or his or her advisor to meet graduation requirements and the student continues to follow the academic plan.

Students will not be allowed to appeal each semester if they do not meet SAP standards. Once a student is on SAP probation he or she must meet SAP standards the next semester or meet the requirements of the previously developed academic plan to regain financial aid eligibility. The only exception to this rule is if a different extenuating circumstance occurs. Please contact the Financial Aid Office if you feel the exception applies to your situation.

The Financial Aid Office will evaluate each student individually to see if meeting SAP standards is ever a possibility. If a student will never be able to meet one of the standards listed above, the student will be denied financial aid indefinitely at Frostburg State.

Repeated Courses and Withdrawal

Repeated Courses

Students can only repeat previously passed courses one additional time and still have the course credits for that class count towards their enrollment for financial aid purposes. Students may repeat courses they fail to pass until the courses are passed. Failed credits are only those courses for which the student receives an F. If you must re-take a class that you have passed more than once (passed credits include A, B, C, D, CS, NC, P, and W), you must have at least 12 other credits in addition to that class in order to be considered full-time for financial aid purposes.

DVMT Classes

The Financial Aid Office can no longer pay for DVMT classes a second time. If you must re-take a DVMT class you must have at least 12 other credits in addition to that class in order to be considered full-time for financial aid purposes.

Withdrawals

Unofficial withdraws are determined at the end of the semester once grades are posted. Students who cease to attend classes receive a FX as a final grade. Any student who receives a FX grade will be evaluated to see if the last date of an academic activity reported by the instructor is before the 60% point.

Any student who receives all FX grades for a semester, or all FX grades and Ws, will be considered unofficially withdrawn from the university. If the date of unofficial withdrawal is recorded before 60% of the enrollment period has passed, the Financial Aid Office is required by law to perform the Return of Title IV Funds calculation and return a portion of the student's financial aid to the federal programs.

Any student who receives all FX grades for a semester, or all FX grades and Ws, will be ineligible to receive financial aid for the next semester or term. As with any unsatisfactory academic progress, the student has the right to appeal the loss of financial aid. A student wishing to appeal must send a detailed letter along with any relevant supporting documentation to the Financial Aid Office.