Federal regulations require that IU Northwest establish a policy to monitor the academic progress of students who apply for financial assistance. The Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards listed below apply to all Title IV financial aid recipients at IU Northwest whether financial aid was received for prior coursework or not. This policy applies to full-time, part-time, undergraduate, and graduates of all degree programs.
SAP is measured annually at the end of the spring term for all Title IV recipients enrolled in any AA, AS, BA, BS, MA, or MS program and is monitored each enrolled term, including summer for those students who are on probation. SAP is monitored each term for all certificate programs.
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards
In order to be eligible for financial aid, students must meet all three of the requirements listed below. If you do not meet all the requirements listed, you will be notified via your IU email account, and an item will appear on your one.iu.edu Student Center To Do List. You will see multiple items on your To Do List if there are multiple SAP requirements that you do not meet.
1. Cumulative Program Grade Point Average (GPA)
- Undergraduate students must maintain a minimum 2.0 or 2.5 cumulative GPA based on the requirements of your program for all students.
- Graduate students must maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative Program GPA.
- Incompletes (I) and withdrawals (W) are not included when calculating cumulative GPA, but those courses are included in attempted credits and excluded from completed credits when calculating the completion rate.
2. Completion Rate
You must complete a minimum of 67% or higher of your attempted GPA hours. To calculate your completion rate, divide the total number of IU Hours that you successfully completed by the total number of IU Hours attempted.
Hours successfully completed include those with grades of A, B, C, D, P, R, and S. Unsuccessful completion (included in Total Hours Attempted in the formula above) includes grades of F, FX, I, and W. Transfer hours are counted as both attempted and completed.
While students are allowed to repeat courses to improve their cumulative GPA, all enrolled courses are counted as attempted, even those repeated courses.
3. Maximum Degree Completion Time Frame of 150%
You must complete your degree requirements within 150% of the published semester-hour length of your program, as follows:
Certificate programs
- Nonprofit Management - maximum 23 hours
- Race-Ethnic Studies, Public Health, Community Development/Urban Studies, and Women's & Gender Studies - maximum 27 hours
- Coding Technology - maximum 36 hours
- Public Affairs, Public Safety - maximum 41 hours
- Accounting, Computer Information Systems, Data Processing and Information Systems, General Studies, and Labor Studies - maximum 45 hours
- Certificate in Dental Assisting – maximum 54 hours
Associate degree
Maximum 90 hours
Bachelor's degree
Maximum 180 hours
Graduate Certificate programs
Maximum 23 hours
Master’s degree
- Liberal Studies, Education, and Clinical Counseling - maximum 54 credit hours
- Public Administration and Business Administration - maximum 77 credit hours
- Social Work - maximum 90 credit hours
Reinstatement of Financial Aid Eligibility
You may reinstate your financial aid eligibility in two ways:
- Successfully complete coursework that improves your Program GPA and/or completion rate to meet the SAP standards as noted earlier. SAP is evaluated on an annual basis. However, you may request a SAP review at the end of any semester of enrollment. Note: Students who are at or near the maximum timeframe cannot improve their status by continuing to take classes.
- Submit an appeal to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. Once you submit your FAFSA, if you do not meet the satisfactory academic progress standards, you will receive an email message. The message will contain information on how to submit an appeal. You will need to set up an appointment with your academic advisor to develop an academic plan for the upcoming academic year that will enable you to meet the SAP standards.
In addition to completing the appeal form, you are required to provide the following documents:
- A typed personal statement explaining:
- Any extenuating circumstances beyond your control that led to your not meeting the academic progress standards, AND
- What concrete actions you are taking to ensure future academic success.
- Examples of documentation to support any extenuating circumstances AND to ensure that the challenges are behind you and will not impair your future success include (but are not limited to):
- Physician’s note confirming that any prior medical condition is under control and will no longer impair academic success
- Death certificate of a family member
- Evidence of military service
No appeals for aid for any semester will be accepted more than 30 days prior to the last day of classes for that semester (14 days for summer session).
Appeal reviews
Appeals are reviewed by committee weekly during the summer and as needed during the academic year. Appeals must be received at least 5 business days prior to any committee meeting to be reviewed at that meeting. Appeals received 4 days or fewer before a meeting may be held until the next meeting. You will be notified of the outcome of your appeal via your IU email account.
You are responsible for any tuition and fees (including late fees) that are charged to your account while awaiting the outcome of your appeal.
If your appeal is approved, you are notified via email of your approval for one term. You are then on financial aid probation. You will be given conditions by which you can continue to qualify for financial aid. Your progress will then be monitored each term until you are meeting SAP standard.
If at the end of your probationary period, you fail to meet SAP standards or the conditions of an approved appeal, you will lose financial aid eligibility.
A student whose appeal is denied by committee who believes they have properly documented that they meet the guidelines for reinstatement of financial aid may request review by the Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships. The Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships’ decision is the final opportunity for review.
