Undergraduate Students

A student must meet all of the following requirements in order to be making satisfactory academic progress for Title IV aid.

Qualitative Standard: Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)

• Qualitative Standard looks at the minimum CGPA that is considered to be in good academic standing. The required to maintain a CGPA is 2.0. Cumulative GPA will be measured every term.

Quantitative Standard:

The quantitative standard is determined by the percentage of total attempted credits that were successfully earned (PACE).

• Students must successfully earn a minimum of 66.67% of the attempted credits.
• PACE is calculated by dividing the cumulative credit hours earned by the total credits attempted.

Maximum Time Frame:

• Undergraduate students are limited to a total of 180 attempted credits towards their first undergraduate degree for financial purposes. Students will not be eligible for financial aid warning or financial aid probation once they have reached their maximum time frame.

Students who fail to meet either the cumulative CGPA or the PACE satisfactory academic progress requirements will be placed on financial aid warning. Students who are placed on financial aid warning are required to eliminate their deficiency by the end of that warning semester/term by either raising their GPA to at least a 2.0 and/or achieving the established PACE standard. Financial aid warning lasts for one semester/term only, during which the student may continue to receive federal financial aid. After the warning period, students who fail to meet the GPA and the PACE requirements will lose their federal aid eligibility unless they successfully appeal. Students who have reached the maximum time frame are no longer eligible for federal aid; they are not eligible for financial aid warning or financial aid probation.

Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Categories

Financial Aid Warning:

• As stated earlier, a student failing to meet SAP standards at the time of review will be placed on financial aid warning for one payment period (semester/term). The student will be eligible for federal aid during the financial aid warning period.
• A student that meets SAP standards at the end of the financial aid warning term is eligible for continued federal aid. A student that does not meet SAP standards at the end of the financial aid warning term will not be eligible for federal aid in subsequent semesters until they meet SAP standards or successfully appeal and are placed on financial aid probation.

Financial Aid Appeal Process/ Financial Aid Probation:

• If, at the end of the financial aid warning term, a student is still not meeting SAP requirements, the student may submit an appeal based on extenuating circumstances only. Examples of extenuating circumstances are personal illness or injury, a death of a close relative, or other special circumstances. The written appeal can be completed on the myESU portal and must outline the reasons that satisfactory progress was not met, what has changed that will allow the minimum standards to be met and how the student plans to improve his/her academic progress (i.e. academic plan).
• If the appeal is approved by the Office of Student Financial Aid, the student will be placed on financial aid probation, with an academic plan, and will be eligible for federal financial aid during the probationary period.
• If it is determined the student will require more than one payment period to achieve SAP standards, the student will continue to be on financial aid probation with an academic plan. The academic plan will be developed collaboratively with the student, the Academic Adviser or DAEL Adviser, and the Office of Student Financial Aid. The student’s progress will be monitored at the end of each subsequent payment period by all offices to determine if the student is meeting the requirements of the academic plan. If the student is meeting the requirements of the academic plan, the student will be eligible to receive federal aid as long as the student continues to meet the requirements and is reviewed according to the requirements specified in the plan.
  
• If the appeal is denied, the student will not be eligible for federal financial aid until s/he is meeting satisfactory academic progress standards.
  

All academic coursework taken by a student in attendance at East Stroudsburg University must be included in determining federal SAP. This federal SAP policy is exclusive of any East Stroudsburg University academic policy related to re-admission and GPA calculation.

Transfer Credits
Transfer credits accepted toward the student’s current program (including consortium agreements and Study Abroad courses) are counted in both cumulative credits attempted and cumulative credits completed. Grades earned in transfer credits are not included in cumulative GPA.