SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS (SAP) CRITERIA 2009-10

The University of Texas at El Paso is mandated to establish minimum Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards for student receiving financial assistance. Our SAP policy encourages a student to progress in a successful and timely manner toward completion of the program of study for which the student is receiving federal financial aid. At the University of Texas at El Paso, SAP is comprised of both quantitative and qualitative standards and it applies to the student’s entire academic history whether financial aid was received or not and to all types of aid: grants, loans and work-study.

IT IS THE STUDENTS’ RESPONSIBILITY TO READ THE INFORMATION BELOW:

I. Qualitative Standard: Grade Point Average

Grade point average (GPA) is the quantitative cumulative measurement used for academic work at this university to track the quality of the student’s performance. For Financial aid purposes, a student must maintain at least a 2.00 as an undergraduate, 2.5 for certification, and 3.00 as a graduate. Undergraduate exceptions: Recipients of Texas Grant Renewal funds (those with 30 credits or more) need a 2.5 GPA while Academic Competitiveness Grant and SMART grant recipients need a 3.00 GPA.

II. Quantitative Standard: Two criteria under Measurable Progress

The quantitative standard tracks the amount of coursework attempted and it includes “Maximum Timeframe” and a student’s “Progression toward the degree or certificate.”

a. Maximum timeframe: undergraduate and graduate students receiving financial aid cannot exceed 150% of the published length of the degree program in “attempted hours”.

Example:

Academic program (degree plan) length is 120 credit hours

Maximum Timeframe= 150% of 120 credit hours; or

1.5 x 120=180 total attempted credit hours.

Thus, the office will request degree plans from undergraduate students when they reach 138 total attempted hours and from graduate students when they reach 45 total attempted hours to determine when and if their eligibility will end.

ATTEMPTED HOURS include transferred hours and all hours attempted at UTEP. Students are responsible for determining what courses they should enroll for in order to comply with this requirement by following their degree plan.

b. Progression toward the degree or certificate. We call this “Measurable Progress” and is it measured by the cumulative completion of at least 75% of attempted hours. The 75 percentile has been calculated in the chart below:

75% of Attempted Hours	Required Hours	75% of Attempted Hours	Required Hours	75% of Attempted Hours	Required Hours
3-5	3	54-56	54	105-107	105
6-8	6	57-59	57	108-110	108
9-11	9	60-62	60	111-113	111
12-14	12	63-65	63	114-116	117
15-17	15	66-68	66	117-119	117
18-20	18	69-71	69	120-122	120
21-23	21	72-74	72	123-125	123
24-26	24	75-77	75	126-128	126
27-29	27	78-80	78	129-131	129
30-32	30	81-83	81	132-134	132
33-35	33	84-86	84	135-137	135
36-38	36	87-89	87	138-140	138
39-41	39	90-92	90	141-143	141
42-44	42	93-95	93	144-146	144
45-47	45	96-98	96	147-149	147
48-50	48	99-101	99	150-152	150
51-53	51	102-104	102

Students who repeat courses to improve their GPA are cautioned that previously earned hours will remain on their record but are not counted towards total hours earned and therefore could affect their measurable progress (with the exception of Modular Math courses). In addition, the following are not considered credit hours completed: F-Failure N-No grade P/F-Pass/Fail I-Incomplete P-In Progress W-Withdrawal

U-Unsatisfactory

SAP will be evaluated at the end of the fall and spring semesters after grades have been posted. Students who have reached the maximum timeframe and those students, whose appeal stipulations are not met, will receive a termination notice. SAP will also be evaluated in July after summer registration ends and at the end of the summer session after grades are posted. Students who do not meet the qualitative and/or quantitative standards will receive a termination notice.

Probation

Beginning summer 2009, students who for the first time fail to meet either the qualitative and/or the qualitative standard and have 90 attempted hours or less, will be placed in probation until the following summer with financial aid assistance. (Students who were found ineligible for aid any time prior to summer 2009 will not be considered for the probation period.)

Students on probation are expected to:

1. Meet all SAP requirements by the following summer in order to continue receiving Financial Aid; otherwise they will not be eligible.
2. Provide Proof of tutoring
3. Proof of attendance to at least one of the Financial Aid information Sessions the first semester after being placed on probation.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

1. Non-Degree Seeking Students are not eligible for financial aid: To be considered for financial aid, a student must be enrolled in a degree granting program.
2. Certification: A student enrolled in a program required by a state for teacher certification or re-certification at the elementary or secondary level may apply for a Stafford Loan.
3. Second degree seeking: A student who is enrolled in a program which leads to a second undergraduate or graduate degree is eligible to apply for financial aid and subject to all satisfactory progress requirements.
4. Transfer Students: Students, who begin their academic career at another school, then transfer to UTEP, must have their transcript evaluated by this institution’s Evaluation Office. For these students, financial aid eligibility is identical to that of UTEP students with comparable credit hours and all accepted transfer hours will be added to UTEP hours whether or not they are used in the student’s degree plan. However, students who have earned an Associate’s Degree at another institution will be asked to bring a copy of that degree plan and official grade transcript from the previous institution to account for the number of credits that transferred under that degree; those hours will not count against the students total attempted hours limit.
5. Option II/Academic Fresh Start will not be eligible for financial aid: Students, who take one of these options, should be cautioned that up to 60 credit hours will continue to count against their total attempted hour limit and therefore, will affect their measurable progress and therefore will not be eligible for financial aid. However, they may re-establish eligibility as all the other students.

How to re-establish eligibility

A student may regain federal student aid eligibility after:

1. The student improves their academic performance to meet the school’s SAP standards, or

2. The student successfully appeals the determination when he or she is not making SAP.

APPEAL PROCESS

An appeal process is available to any student who is ineligible for financial aid but has extenuating circumstances that that prevented him or her from making satisfactory progress. All extenuating circumstances must be documented and resolved by the time the appeal is requested. If there are grounds for an appeal, this office will require the following documentation:

1. The appeal application (signed by you and your academic advisor)
2. Supporting documentation relevant the semesters in question,
3. A degree for students who have completed at least 60 hours or more, and
4. A typed explanation of the circumstances which brought about the ineligibility and what has been done to remedy the situation, are submitted to this office.

Appeals are available twice every semester. However, an appeal is not available if the student has already attempted or will be reaching 150% of the total amount hours required by their degree. Therefore, undergraduate and graduate students must graduate within 150% of their degree plan in order to be considered for an appeal.

All items are to be presented at the Office of Student Financial Aid to be reviewed by the Financial Aid Internal Review (FAIR) committee. The committee meets twice every semester and makes its recommendations to the Associate Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid who will make the final decision. Any student anticipating the necessity of making an appeal should be prepared to pay his or her own registration fees in the event the appeal is not approved or is approved after the deadline for paying registration fees. Results are available and distributed within 2-3 weeks after each deadline.