Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
Federal regulations require the Financial Aid Office to monitor your academic progress toward the completion of your degree. Your entire academic history at LSSU (including transfer or consortium agreement credits, and periods during which no federal aid was received) is reviewed to ensure timely progression towards graduation. This monitoring process is called Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). Academic progress is evaluated each semester of enrollment (including summer).
Financial aid programs affected by this policy include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Perkins Loan
- Federal Work Study
- Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant
- Federal Direct Loans
- Federal PLUS Loans
- Michigan Scholarships & Grants
- Institutional Scholarships & Grants
- Loan & Work Programs
- LSSU Rebates and Tuition Waivers
The three standard measures for retaining aid eligibility are:
- GPA Requirement – Minimum 2.0 LSSU cumulative GPA after EACH semester.
- Completion Rate – Earn 67% of all credits attempted at LSSU..
- Time Limit – Complete degree within 150% time frame.
Students must meet all three requirements. Students are reviewed at the end of EACH SEMESTER (Fall, Spring, Summer). Students who fail to meet satisfactory academic progress after a semester will receive one subsequent semester of aid while in a Financial Aid Warning status. As long as all eligibility requirements are met, student can still receive Federal, State, and Institutional aid while in warning status. At the end of the warning semester, a student that has still not met the standards will move to a Financial Aid Suspended status and lose all eligibility for Federal, State, and Institutional aid.
GPA Requirement
- Maintain a 2.00 cumulative LSSU grade point average.
- Students who fail to meet this requirement will be placed on financial aid warning for one semester. Failure to meet this requirement after the warning semester will result in suspended status, which the student will lose all federal, state, and institutional eligibility.
Completion Rate
- Earn 67% of credits attempted at LSSU throughout your academic career.
- Attempted credits are courses you are enrolled in after the end of the add/drop period, which is after the first 6 days of the start of the semester.
- Example: 48 (earned credits) / 56 (attempted credits) = 85% completion rate
- Students who fail to meet this requirement will be placed on financial aid warning for one semester. Failure to meet this requirement after the warning period will result in suspended status, which the student will lose all federal, state, and institutional eligibility.
Time Limit
- Complete the highest degree being sought within 150% of the published length of the program. For example, students working on a baccalaureate program of 124 credits may receive aid for 186 attempted credits, including transfer credits.
| Degree | Average Credits Needed | Maximum Time Frame |
| Paramedic Certificate | 40 | Within 60 attempted credits |
| LPN Certificate | 47 | Within 70 attempted credits |
| Pre-Nursing BSN | 56 | Within 84 attempted credits |
| Associate | 62 | Within 93 attempted credits |
| Bachelor | 124 | Within 186 attempted credits |
| Teaching Certificate | 136 | Within 204 attempted credits |
| Master’s (none currently offered) | 36 | Within 54 attempted credits |
WARNING Semester
If a student does not meet the Financial Aid SAP at the end of any semester (fall, spring, summer), the student will be given one warning semester. Students may receive aid during the warning semester. Students not meeting these Satisfactory Academic Progress standards will receive communication via U. S. Postal Service to your permanent address and direction via email to review SAP on their Anchor Access account. It is highly recommended that students plan ahead and work with an advisor to correct deficiencies during a warning semester.
SUSPENSION
If a student fails to meet the standard for the second consecutive semester enrolled, the financial aid will be suspended. No aid will be granted once a student’s eligibility is suspended, including but not limited to federal, state and institutional aid. Students not meeting these Satisfactory Academic Progress standards will receive communication via U. S. Postal Service to your permanent address and direction via email to review SAP on their Anchor Access account.
Treatment of Grades for SAP
Incomplete Courses and Course Withdrawals
Incomplete grades (I grade) and dropped courses (W or N grades) after the refund period will not be counted as courses completed, but will count as an attempted course toward your completion rate (67%).
Remedial Courses
Each semester the total number of credits attempted and earned will be evaluated, including remedial coursework. All prior LSSU credits will be used to determine if the student has earned at least 67% of their total attempted credits.
Repeat Course Policy for Financial Aid
Students may use financial aid to repeat coursework that has been previously failed. Students may also use financial aid one time when repeating coursework to improve an earned letter grade of D- or higher.
- For example, a student taking a course for the first time who received an F grade could have financial aid to repeat the course. If the student received a D grade for the repeated course, the student could have financial aid one more time to repeat the course to raise the grade. Students advised to retake passed courses more than once to improve their GPA may do so at their own expense, provided the repeats are allowed by the department.
Types of Courses
TYPES OF COURSES (hours indicated represent the minimum requirements):
Clinical – courses that require observation, participation, client/pupil studies, etc. Specific programmatic accreditation requirements, or applicable state regulations may set higher standards, but shall not be lower than the base of 1 credit hour awarded for each three (3) hours of clinical experience per week for a total of 45 hours in a 15-week semester.
Individualized/Directed Study – courses that are based on consultation and guidance from an instructor with meeting times established as TBA. One credit hour shall be awarded for each three (3) hours of student work per week for a total of 45 hours in a 15-week semester.
Laboratory – courses where the instructor provides direct supervision of student creative or investigational work, whether individually or in small groups, in a controlled experiential learning environment requiring specialized equipment and/or facilities. Laboratory hours are determined by the amount of time the student would spend to conduct specific faculty directed activities, including the development of written laboratory reports. Travel to and from distant experiential learning locations is not part of laboratory time. One credit hour shall be awarded for each three (3) hours of student work per week for a total of 45 hours in a 15-week semester.
Lecture – courses focused primarily on one-way communication (irrespective of modality) from instructor to students, but may be combined with elements of in-class discussion or other individual or group learning activities. One credit hour shall be awarded for each one (1) hour of lecture combined with two (2) hours of out-of-class work per week for a total of 45 hours in a 15-week semester. The course syllabus should identify the out-of-class work required to meet the credit hour standard.
Lecture/Laboratory – courses which have both lecture and laboratory component have credit awarded as though each were considered separately. A course with a designation of SCIN100 Science (1,2) 2 cr would require for each of the 15 weeks, one (1) hour of lecture instruction per week, two (2) hours of student work outside of class per week for the lecture, two (2) hours per week of supervised laboratory instruction, and one (1) hour per week of student work outside of lab – for a total of 45 hours for lecture and 45 hours for lab – 90 hours total.
Recitation – an optional component of a course where the instructor provides guided study to reinforce and apply course content in problem solving and other activities similar to the assignments in the course. One credit hour shall be awarded for each one (1) hour of Recitation combined with two (2) hours of out-of-class work per week for a total of 45 hours in a 15-week semester. The course syllabus should identify the out-of-class work required to meet the credit hour standard.
Practicum/Internship – courses where the title or course description define the course as a practicum or internship, including cooperative education courses. Students receive credit for practical, degree-related experiences gained outside the classroom or laboratory. One credit hour shall be awarded for each three (3) hours of student work per week for a total of 45 hours in a 15-week semester. Additional departmental requirements may also be denoted in the course description.
For more information, go to https://www.lssu.edu/catalog/
Transfer Credit
Transfer credits accepted by LSSU will count toward the maximum time limit requirement and earned credit. Transfer credits are not calculated as part of the completion rate. Transfer courses are not used in the calculation of cumulative LSSU GPA. Students must submit a written appeal that includes a signed degree audit with their anticipated graduation date before their attempted credits exceed the maximum allowed for the highest degree they are seeking at LSSU. Although there are no automatic resets, appeals are typically granted to reset the time allowed to complete the LSSU degree.
Changes in Majors or Degrees
Students who change their academic program will still be subject to the time limit requirement to complete their highest degree. All previously attempted credits will be included toward the time limit requirement, the limit does not reset. Students may appeal to receive aid to complete new academic program.
Pursuit of Second Bachelor’s Degree
If a student has completed their first bachelor’s degree and has been admitted to a second BS/BA degree program, he or she may be eligible for financial aid consideration (for federal loans only) as a second undergraduate degree student.
Student is still subject to the time limit requirement on all previous attempted credits. Students may appeal to receive aid to pursue second degree.
Completion Requirement
Students may be ineligible for federal, state, and LSSU financial aid if they have met all the requirements for their first degree, even if the student has not yet applied for graduation (conferral of the degree.)
The US Department of Education has established regulations which allow students to receive aid while completing requirements for their degree. Once a student has completed all coursework required to graduate with a satisfactory GPA, the student is no longer eligible for aid for that degree. This is true whether or not the student has applied for graduation. Financial aid does not pay for coursework for a second major, a minor, or a specialization that is in addition to the requirements for the basic degree.
Students who have completed four years of coursework but do not graduate must demonstrate that they are still working on their first bachelor’s degree by submitting a degree audit to the Financial Aid Office with an anticipated completion date.
Right to Appeal
A student whose aid is suspended may request reinstatement through the Financial Aid Appeals Committee. The student must effectively demonstrate that the failure to meet SAP was due to an unusual or extenuating circumstance, and explain what has changed. Download the Financial Aid Appeal Packet for the directions and information regarding appeals.
Financial Aid Appeals Committee
The committee meets throughout each semester to review SAP appeals. Students under Time Limit warning (150% rule limitation) are encouraged to appeal early. Students who have been suspended must submit their completed Financial Aid Appeal Packet prior to the announced due date to be considered for the next semester. The semester appeal deadline is announced each semester. Written appeals are reviewed by the committee and students are notified promptly of the outcome by the Dean of Student Life and Retention.
Self-Reinstatement
When financial aid is suspended, both the cumulative GPA and completion rate must be met in subsequent semesters of at least six credits before reinstatement of aid is possible.
Students who successfully complete a minimum of six credits at LSSU while not receiving financial aid must contact the Financial Aid Office to request a review for reinstatement.
If completion of “I” grades or other record changes warrant a reinstatement, a copy of the transcript must be submitted to the Financial Aid Office with a written request for a review.
