Satisfactory Progress Policy
Federal regulations require that an institution develop and enforce a policy for standards of satisfactory progress for students who receive financial aid. These standards must be the same or stricter than the standards the institution has for students not receiving aid. This policy is to be applied to students receiving federal and institutional assistance at Ashland University who are enrolled in an undergraduate program. It should be noted that this policy is separate from the academic policy administered by the Academic Standards and Graduation Committee. Students may be allowed to enroll at AU but may not be eligible to receive financial aid due to academic deficiencies.Interpretation and Enforcement
The Director of Financial Aid will have primary responsibility for the interpretation and enforcement of this policy. Unusual issues related to this policy may be directed to the Financial Aid Committee for consultation.
Definitions of Terms
1. Academic Year: the fall and spring terms of a given year.
2. The status of an undergraduate student according to the credit hours taken in a regular term is as follow:
| Credit Hours | Status |
| 12 or more | full-time |
| 9 - 11 | three-quarter time |
| 6-8 | half - time |
| 1 - 5 | less - than - half - time |
3. Satisfactory Course Completion (for financial aid purposes) is a final grade of "D-" or higher, "S" (Satisfactory) or "CR" (Credit). All others are unsatisfactory.
4. A Repeated Course is one taken again which could affect a student's cumulative grade point average. Repeated courses will count towards the minimum number of credit hours to be completed per term, but will not affect the cumulative credit hours completed.
5. A Non-credit Remedial Course will not count towards the minimum number of credit hours to be completed per term, but will not affect the cumulative hours required per academic year.
6. A student on Financial Aid Probation is receiving financial aid, but at the end of the term must show satisfactory academic progress by some qualitative or quantitative standard.
7. Transfer Hours which are creditable to an Ashland University degree will be rounded down to the nearest multiple of 16 to determine the corresponding terms the student has already used in financial aid eligibility at the previous school.
Standards of Measurement of Satisfactory Academic Progress
Qualitative Requirements:
Students must achieve the required GPA standards noted below. Terms completed refers to any terms completed at any college.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The student who has not attained the required GPA but has attended fewer than the stated terms shall be placed on Financial Aid probation. The student with a GPA less than the stated requirement immediately loses eligibility for federal and institutional financial aid. Reinstatement of financial aid eligibility will occur after the student attains the required cumulative GPA at AU subject to Ashland University packaging policies. Students who receive a grade of "F", "WF", "WP", "W", "IP", or "I" in all courses during any term will immediately lose eligibility for financial aid.
Students who have less than a 2.0 cumulative GPA in high school or after the spring semester in college will only be offered an AU grant (if otherwise eligible) for the fall term. The spring portion of the grant will be received if the student has attained a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher by the end of the fall term.
Quantitative Requirements:
Students have ten terms of full-time attendance to complete their degree requirements. Students must earn the required hours based on the following:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Enrollment Status |
|
| full-time (12 or more hours) |
|
| three-quarter time (9 - 11 hours) |
|
| half-time (6-8 hours) |
|
| less-than-half-time |
|
The student who completes less than the "Minimum Credits to be Completed"
in a term will be placed on Financial Aid Probation. The student who completes
less than the "Minimum Credits to be Completed" for any two terms will be
ineligible for federal and institutional aid until the credits are made up at
the student's expense.
Merit-Based Financial Assistance
Students who are eligible to receive certain scholarships have
additional requirements to maintain in order to retain those scholarships.
Recipients of the Presidential or Transfer Scholarships must maintain
a cumulative GPA of 3.0 to continue to receive the award. Students
who have less then a 3.0 cumulative GPA will lose the Presidential
or Transfer Scholarship. Recipients of the Director's must maintain
a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher to continue to receive the award.
Appeals
A student who is ineligible for financial aid due to
not meeting the requirements of this policy may submit a written letter of
appeal to the Financial Aid Committee via the Director of Financial Aid. The
committee will review the student's appeal and make a final determination as to
whether the student will be offered financial aid for another term considering
any unusual or extenuating circumstances which may include, but are not limited
to, the following:
A. Illness
B. Injury
C. Severe mental or emotional stress
D. Physical or mental hardship
In the event of
unusual and/or extenuating circumstances, the Financial Aid Committee may place
the student on Financial Aid Probation for another loan term. During this term,
the student will be eligible to receive financial aid. The student's academic
status will be reevaluated at the end of the term to determine if the student
has met the required standards.
Financial aid policies and programs are subject to change under the
direction of the Board of Trustees.