Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

About 2 to 4 weeks after you complete an academic year of college you will get a notification letting you know if you are making “Satisfactory Academic Progress.” This letter is sent out by your school’s financial aid office after they review your grades and it has a major impact on your eligibility for financial aid.
One of two things happens. Either you are making satisfactory progress, or you are not. You should have a good idea where you stand before you get this letter if you have been monitoring your own progress during the semester. If you have been having a hard time in school, then your grades might be low. But how low can they go before you start losing funding? This SAP letter is your notification.

The policies and procedures may vary from school to school but the basis they use for determining your status is the GPA and total credits completed. Standard GPA minimum is about a 2.0, and a full time student should be completing about 12 credits a semester. Part time students need about 6 credits a semester. Confirm your requirement with your school’s financial aid office.
So if you get this letter and it tells you that you are making satisfactory progress then congratulations you have maintained eligibility to continue most federal and state funding. If the letter says you are not making progress then you have lost your eligibility to receive any financial aid; even federal loans are off limits.

If you lose your funding, then the next step is to write an SAP Appeal. It will be your last shot to salvage your academic career at your school unless you are willing to continue by paying with cash.

Ken’s Tip – Just because you are making satisfactory academic progress does not mean you have met your requirement to maintain certain merit based scholarships. Scholarships have a substantially higher GPA requirement than need based funding. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that all your funding is fine if you get a letter saying you are making satisfactory academic progress. You should confirm the scholarship GPA requirement during the school year and make sure you meet the minimum at the end of every semester. Maintain the academic standard and do not allow yourself to lose any of your scholarship funding.