Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students receiving financial aid must maintain good academic standing with the university in order to qualify for continued financial aid awards. This policy applies to all students enrolled in all programs. To maintain eligibility for Federal Title IV and/or other university-administered financial aid assistance, the following conditions must be met. Students must meet both the quantitative and qualitative progress standards, including maximum time frame; the policy for students receiving Federal Title IV aid is at least as strict as the policy for students receiving any other assistance.

Qualitative Progress Standards

The student must maintain satisfactory academic grades, which is a 2.0 cumulative grade point average, in order to maintain eligibility for Title IV and other financial aid. 

Quantitative Progress Standards

Students must earn at least 67% of credits attempted. This is determined by dividing the cumulative number of hours earned by the cumulative number of hours attempted.

Maximum Time Frame

Students must complete their program within 150% of the published program length. At the point where the student has reached the maximum time frame and not yet completed his or her degree, the student will not be eligible for Title IV or other financial aid. In addition, if, at any time, it is determined to be mathematically impossible for the student to complete his or her program within 150% of the published program length, the student will no longer be eligible for Title IV or other financial aid.

Second Undergraduate Degree

Any courses completed during a student’s first degree program that apply towards his or her second undergraduate degree will be counted in the SAP calculation as both attempted and earned hours. For course(s) that are transferred in from another institution, the grade of the course(s) will not be included in the GPA calculation. For course(s) taken at Bethel, the grade of the course(s) will be included in the GPA calculation.

Graduate Programs

Graduate programs vary in length, and students must complete their program within the maximum time frame of 150% of the program length established by their specific program. If any previously completed courses are applied to the completion requirements for the student’s program, those courses will be counted in the SAP calculation as both attempted and earned hours. For course(s) that are transferred in from another institution, the grade of the course(s) will not be included in the GPA calculation. For course(s) taken at Bethel, the grade of the course(s) will be included in the GPA calculation.

Periods of Enrollment

The periods included in the review include all payment periods in which the student was enrolled, even those during which the student did not receive Title IV aid; the review will occur at the end of each payment period for which the student is enrolled. If the student is enrolled for the summer session, SAP will be reviewed at the completion of the summer session. If a late notification of grade change is received for the previous payment period, SAP must be rechecked using the new information.

Credits

As the purpose of the SAP policy is to determine whether or not a student is progressing in order to complete his or her degree program within the maximum time frame, only those credits applicable to the degree program in which the student is enrolled is considered in the SAP review. Any credits, taken at the school or accepted as transfer credits, which are not applicable to the degree program are not considered in the SAP evaluation.

Incompletes: Students who enroll in a course and are given an incomplete grade must complete the course requirements no later than the time grades are due the following semester. When the final grade is recorded, the qualitative review will be checked based on the updated information. If the course is not completed, it is counted as hours attempted but not passed (attempted & unearned) for the quantitative progress standard.

Remedial Courses: Remedial courses will not count towards the quantitative standards of SAP. If a student is required to enroll in a remedial course, the grading method for the course will determine its impact on the student’s GPA. If the student receives a letter grade (A, B, C, D, F) upon completion of the course, the grade will be used to calculate the student’s GPA. If the student receives a pass/ no pass indicator upon completion of the course, the course will not be calculated in the student’s GPA.

Repeated Courses: When an “F” is received for a course, that course may be repeated. Courses that are repeated will count in the calculation of hours attempted and completed hours earned, regardless of the final grade of the repeated course. Only repeated courses taken at Bethel University will affect the grade point average (GPA) and will include the new grade on the transcript. If a course is repeated at another institution, only the actual credit(s) earned will transfer.   If a student chooses to repeat a course in order to improve upon a passing grade, they may do so once while being eligible for federal financial aid; any additional repeated attempts will not be covered by federal financial aid. For a course that is repeated to improve upon a passing grade, the most recent grade will be used to calculate the student’s GPA.

Withdrawals: Classes that a student enrolls in and withdraws from, receiving an authorized grade of “W,” are counted as hours attempted and unearned for the quantitative progress standard; however, a grade of “W” will not impact the qualitative calculation. After the last date to withdraw has passed, the student may not withdraw from classes, regardless of when they last attended. The student will receive the grade earned; if a grade of A, B, C, D, or F is recorded, it will be calculated in the qualitative review and the hours will be counted as attempted and unearned in the quantitative review.

SAP Status

A student who fails to meet SAP standards will be placed on SAP Warning automatically. He or she will have one payment period of warning, during which the student can regain the ability to meet the SAP Standards. During this payment period, the student will be eligible for both Title IV and other financial aid.

If the student does not meet the SAP standards at the end of the period of SAP Warning, he or she will be placed on SAP Probation. The student will not be eligible for Title IV and other financial aid unless an appeal is submitted to the financial aid office. If the appeal is approved, the student will be eligible to receive Title IV and other financial aid during the period of SAP Probation.

If the student is unable to meet the SAP standards at the end of the period of SAP Probation, he or she will have an opportunity to submit a second and final appeal. If approved, the student will be eligible to receive Title IV and other financial aid during the second period of SAP Probation. 

If the student is unable to meet the SAP standards at the end of a second period of SAP Probation, they will lose all eligibility for Title IV and other financial aid. They will be required to meet the qualitative and quantitative measures of SAP to regain eligibility for Title IV and other financial aid.

Submitting an Appeal for Failure to meet SAP Standards

A student who fails to meet SAP standards after a payment period on SAP Warning will lose eligibility for Title IV and other financial aid for the next payment period. In order to receive Title IV and other financial aid for the payment period, the student must submit an SAP Appeal to the financial aid office. Students have the opportunity to submit an SAP Appeal twice over the course of their program. Appeals must be presented in writing and contain the following information:

• Mitigating circumstances that prevented the student from meeting the SAP Standards (e.g. student illness or injury, a death in the family, traumatic event, or other personal circumstances). Mitigating circumstances do not include withdrawing from classes, pursuing second major or degree, etc.
• Steps the student has taken to ensure academic success
• Changes made to the student’s situation that will ensure the student’s ability to meet the SAP standards in the future
• If unable to meet the SAP standards after one period of probation, the student must meet with his or her academic advisor to develop an academic plan (see below). This plan must be agreed upon by both student and advisor and submitted in writing along with the SAP Appeal.

The financial aid committee will review the completed SAP Appeal and notify the student of a decision within 2 weeks of the receipt of the appeal. Students will be notified by an email sent to their university email address and a letter sent to their current address.

Academic Plans

If a student is not able to meet the SAP standards at the end of a probationary period, he or she must meet with an academic advisor to develop an academic plan. This plan must be submitted in writing along with the SAP Appeal to the financial aid office and must include the following:

• Complete list of specific courses the student will be enrolled in during probationary period
• Expected minimum grade required for each course
• Semester in which student will be able to meet SAP standards, if academic plan is followed. If the student will not be able to meet the SAP standard after one semester, the academic plan must include plans for future semesters, to be updated at the start of each payment period.
• Signature of both student and advisor, agreeing that plan is legitimate and attainable

At the end of the payment period, the academic plan will be reviewed to determine if the student made satisfactory academic progress as agreed upon. If the student meets the terms of the academic plan, he or she will have met the SAP requirements and will receive additional evaluations as normal. If the student fails to meet the terms of the academic plan, he or she will not have made satisfactory academic progress and will be subject to the appeal process for the upcoming payment period.

Reestablishing Aid Eligibility

If a student fails to meet the SAP standards after a period of SAP Warning, the student will not be eligible for Title IV or other financial aid. In order to regain eligibility, the student must complete one or more of the following:

• Meet SAP standards
• Submit an SAP Appeal to the financial aid office (maximum two appeals allowed); appeal must be approved by the financial aid committee
• Submit an academic plan, if SAP standards cannot be met after one probationary period; an academic plan must accompany an appeal approved by the financial aid committee

If a student submits an appeal which is denied, fails to submit an appeal, fails to meet the academic plan or fails to meet the SAP standards after submitting two approved appeals, he or she will not be eligible for Title IV or other financial aid until the SAP standards have been met.