Axe ’Em, Jacks!
Once you’ve accepted your financial aid package, you’ll need to make sure you meet certain requirements and criteria in order to maintain your aid throughout your academic career.
Academic progress requirements
To maintain aid you must meet all of three requirements of satisfactory academic progress.
GPA requirements
GPA requirements differ depending on whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student. Undergraduate students must maintain a 2.0 GPA; graduate students must maintain a 3.0. If your GPA drops below the required minimum, you could receive a warning, be put on probation or possibly lose your financial aid package.
Pace of completion requirements
Students who receive financial aid are required to demonstrate satisfactory progress toward their degree. To maintain your financial aid, you’ll need to successfully complete 67% of all credit hours attempted at SFA, including accepted transferred hours.
Maximum hours allowed
Students are also required to complete their degree within the maximum hours allowed. (Maximum hours allowed is 1.5 times the minimum hours required to complete the program).
Your total hours attempted and completed includes all of your college credits (including any credits you transferred to SFA from another school). You should also keep in mind that your total attempted and completed hours doesn’t “reset” if you change majors – so if you’re considering a change, it’s important to make sure that you won’t end up going over your maximum hours.
Appeals
If you fail to meet the SAP requirements, you lose financial aid eligibility. You may file an appeal if you want to be reconsidered for aid. You have 30 days from the first day of class to file an appeal. Visit the Satisfactory Academic Progress page for more information.
Enrollment and withdrawal requirements
If you drop a class before 60% of the semester is over, you may be responsible for paying back a portion of your financial aid.
You also may be responsible for paying back some of your financial aid if your enrollment status changes from full-time to part-time.
Review SFA’s Enrollment, Attendance and Withdrawal policy for a full understanding of how to properly maintain your financial aid package.
Enrollment requirement by hours
Full-time
| Classification | Fall | Spring | Summer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Graduate | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Half-time
| Classification | Fall | Spring | Summer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Graduate | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Attendance requirements
To maintain financial aid, students are expected to attend all classes, whether those classes are held in traditional classrooms or online. Students also are expected to complete coursework and take all exams.
If you don’t attend class, you will be administratively dropped from the class, and your financial aid package will be adjusted. You’ll receive an email notification from SFA if you are required to pay back any of your financial aid.
Review SFA’s Enrollment, Attendance and Withdrawal policy for a full understanding of how to properly maintain your financial aid package.
Rights and responsibilities of aid recipients
Students receiving federal student aid have certain legal rights.