Satisfactory Academic Progress

Federal and state regulations require that students are making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to be eligible to receive financial aid including student loans and federal campus work-study. There are three standards of SAP that are measured at the end of each semester to establish eligibility for aid for the next semester the student will attend. The standards reviewed are cumulative GPA, rate of completion (Pace), and maximum timeframe. This policy can be found in both paper and digital copies and is applied to all students regardless of financial aid status.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Standards

The current standards are listed below. SAP standards are different for undergraduate, graduate, and law students. Future eligibility criteria for GPA, pace, and/or maximum timeframe may change based on changes in federal regulation or guidance, NIU academic policy or practice, changes to program criteria and length or other factors. Any change will generally coincide with the evaluation at the end of the fall semester. As progress is evaluated at the end of a semester, the resulting status is the status effective for the next semester you attend, even if you take time off and return in a future semester.

Cumulative GPA

1.60 or higher for students who have attended three or fewer semesters and have earned fewer than 45 credit hours
2.00 or higher – all other undergraduates
All students who are candidates for academic dismissal due to a semester or cumulative GPA have failed to meet the GPA standard of SAP even if you are reinstated.

Restart GPA: Although your cumulative GPA may restart (reset), the satisfactory academic progress policy does not include grade amnesty. The cumulative GPA used to determine satisfactory academic progress includes all courses taken at NIU since originally enrolled for your current degree. Satisfactory academic progress cumulative GPA only restarts when a degree is earned, and you begin work toward a new degree.

Incompletes and Grade Changes: A grade of I (incomplete) is assigned at the discretion of the instructor if you are still active in a course, have the potential and opportunity to successfully pass the course and have been granted a course extension based on University policy. See course catalog.

A course earning a grade of I (incomplete) has been attempted but not completed and will be treated as such when pace is calculated (e.g. as hours attempted but not earned). A course with a grade of I is an active and ongoing course with a valid status; therefore, the grade of I is not used in university GPA calculations (term, cumulative, SAP) until the incomplete grade is finalized. When an incomplete grade is finalized, it will be factored in your cumulative GPA satisfactory academic progress calculation at the time of the next evaluation.

A grade that is assigned in error and later corrected or changed based on appeal will retroactively change your GPA, and your satisfactory academic progress status for the respective and subsequent semester(s) will be retroactively reevaluated.

Pace

Earned hours must equal or exceed 67% of all attempted hours since beginning degree. 66.6 percent will be rounded up.
Credit hours for courses that are withdrawn, incomplete (grade of I) or have grades of F and U are counted as attempted hours but are not counted as earned hours.
Repeat courses will count in attempted hours each time the course is taken. If a course is passed more than once, the associated hours will only count in earned hours once.
- In general, you may not repeat a course taken at NIU in which a grade of C or better was earned, unless otherwise stated in the catalog description of the course.
Audit courses are not counted in attempted or earned hours.

Maximum Timeframe

First baccalaureate degree - 180 attempted hours including transfer hours
Subsequent baccalaureate degree – If you have previously been awarded a bachelor's degree and are admitted as an undergraduate student for the purpose of earning a subsequent bachelor's degree, you will be classified at NIU as a post-baccalaureate student and will have a maximum timeframe of 150% of the hours required to earn the subsequent bachelor's degree at the point you begin the new degree program.

NIU does not offer non-credit remedial courses.

Cumulative GPA

3.00 or higher

A course earning a grade of I (incomplete) has been attempted but not completed and will be treated as such when pace is calculated (e.g. as hours attempted but not earned). A course earning a grade of IP (in progress) has been attempted but requires completion over multiple semesters. A course with a grade of I or IP is an active and ongoing course with a valid status; therefore, the grade of I is not used in University GPA calculations (term, cumulative, SAP) until the incomplete grade is finalized. When an incomplete grade is finalized, it will be factored in your cumulative GPA satisfactory academic progress calculation at the time of the next evaluation.

Pace

Earned hours must equal or exceed 67% of all attempted hours since beginning degree. 66.6% will be rounded up.
Credit hours for courses with a grade of C-, D, F, U, WP, WF, I, IN, NR and NG are not considered successfully completed and are counted as attempted hours but are not counted as earned hours.
Courses with grades of A, B, C, P, S or IP have been successfully completed and are used to determine earned hours.
Repeat courses will count in attempted hours each time the course is taken. If a course is passed more than once, the associated hours will only count in earned hours once.
Audit courses are not counted in attempted or earned hours.

Maximum Timeframe

Degree Program	Maximum Hours Attempted
Master's degree unless otherwise published in the Graduate Catalog or at www.niu.edu/financial-aid	58
Combined Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics and Internship Program	100
Master of Arts in Communicative Disorders with a specialization in Rehabilitation Counseling	80
Master of Arts in Psychology	72
Master of Arts in Teaching with a specialization in Elementary Education	70
Master of Fine Arts in Art	108
Master of Physical Therapy	80
Master of Public Administration	75
Master of Public Health	70
Master of Science in Applied Family and Child Studies	80
Master of Science in Education in Counseling	90
Master of Science in Education in Special Education	80
Master of Science in Nursing with a specialization in Nursing Education	72
Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling	84
Doctoral degree unless otherwise published in the Graduate Catalog or at www.niu.edu/financial-aid	150
Doctor of Audiology	180
Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education and Supervision	203
Doctor of Philosophy and Psychology	192

All graduate course work, including SAL and master's credit hours, will be included when determining maximum time frame for Ph. D. students.

Graduate Change of Program: In the appeal process one change of graduate program will be considered. No appeal will be considered for additional graduate program changes.
Graduate Additional Degree: In the appeal process pursuit of a second master's degree will be considered. No appeal will be considered for additional master's degrees.

No appeal will be considered for more than one Ph.D.

Cumulative GPA

2.20 or higher

A course earning a grade of I (incomplete) has been attempted but not completed and will be treated as such when pace is calculated (e.g. as hours attempted but not earned). A course with a grade of I is an active and ongoing course with a valid status; therefore, the grade of I is not used in University GPA calculations (term, cumulative, SAP) until the incomplete grade is finalized. When an incomplete grade is finalized, it will be factored in your cumulative GPA satisfactory academic progress calculation at the time of the next evaluation.

Pace

Earned hours must equal or exceed 67% of all attempted hours since beginning degree. 66.6% will be rounded up.

Credit hours for courses that are withdrawn, incomplete (grade of I or IN) or have grades of F and U are counted as attempted hours but are not counted as earned hours.
Courses in which grades of A, B, C, D, P, S or IP have been successfully completed and are used to determine earned hours.
Repeat courses will count in attempted hours each time the course is taken. If a course is passed more than once, the associated hours will only count in earned hours once.
Audit courses are not counted in attempted or earned hours.

Maximum Timeframe

135 attempted hours

Frequently Asked Questions about SAP

Search:

What are the SAP statuses and what do they mean?

Meet

SAP status for students meeting all standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress.

Warning

If you begin a semester meeting all standards but fall below the cumulative GPA and/or Pace standards at the end of the semester, you will be placed on Financial Aid Warning. Students on Warning can continue to receive financial aid. A status of Warning is only valid for one semester. At the conclusion of the semester the status will change to Meet or Not Meet.

If you begin a semester on Warning and achieve both the cumulative GPA and Pace standards by the end of the semester and you are within maximum timeframe you will return to good standing. Your SAP status will change to Meet.

Not Meet.

If you do not meet all standards of SAP at the conclusion of a semester of warning your SAP status will be “Not Meet.” Students with a status of Not Meet are not eligible for financial aid.

If you complete a semester on Warning and do not meet all standards at the end of the semester, you are ineligible for state and federal financial aid. The SAP status will change to Not Meet. A letter and email will be sent to you.

If you exceed maximum timeframe, you will have a SAP status of Not Meet. NIU notifies undergraduate and graduate students when they are approaching maximum timeframe. However, federal regulations do not provide for a warning semester. Once you exceed maximum timeframe, you are no longer financial aid eligible.

Plan

You may be eligible to submit an appeal when you are Not Meet(ing) SAP standards if your academic performance was impacted by a special circumstance. Part of the appeal and approval process includes a plan to return to Meet(ing) the standards. If the appeal is approved, you will have a SAP status of Plan. Students with a status of Plan are eligible for aid.

If you complete a semester on Plan and meet all the SAP standards at the end of the semester you will return to a status of Meet.

If you complete a semester on Plan and do not achieve all the standards of SAP, but you do meet the criteria established in the Plan, you will continue to have a status of Plan.

If you begin a semester on Plan and do not meet all the SAP standards and do not meet or exceed the criteria of the Plan, you will lose eligibility for aid and your status will change to Not Meet.

How and when is SAP evaluated?

SAP is evaluated at the end of each semester/payment period (including summer) for all students who enrolled for that semester/payment period regardless of whether you applied for or received financial aid. The result of that evaluation determines your SAP status and financial aid eligibility for the immediately following semester/payment period that you attend.

How can I reestablish eligibility for financial aid?

If you lose financial aid eligibility and have a SAP status of Not Meet, you can attend classes, if otherwise allowed by NIU Academic and Student Conduct policy, without receiving financial aid. However, you will be responsible for paying all of your student account charges through other means, such as personal payments. Once you meet all SAP standards, you will reestablish eligibility and have a status of Meet for the next semester you attend.
Or you may file an appeal based on special circumstances. As part of the appeal process, you meet with an academic advisor to develop an academic plan to help you succeed. This plan will help inform how many semesters it will take for you to meet all SAP standards, during which time your SAP status will be “Plan.”

What kinds of circumstances qualify for an appeal?

SAP appeals must be based on extenuating circumstances that could not have been anticipated and impacted your ability to perform academically. Extenuating circumstances include but are not limited to the death of a relative or close friend; an injury or illness of yourself or a family member; personal or family crisis. Generally, poor academic performance due to a lack of effort or difficulty of courses during the semester is not an extenuating circumstance. However, other academic related circumstances such as time management difficulties, poor study skills, or lack of academic preparedness during the first undergraduate year of NIU attendance MAY be considered.

If your SAP appeal is approved, it is important to understand that the approval is based on the premise that the extenuating circumstance that prevented satisfactory progress has been resolved or the academic plan has been designed to accommodate the circumstance. For this reason, future appeals based on the same extenuating circumstance will generally not be considered.

Can I appeal for maximum timeframe?

You should plan coursework to complete within the maximum timeframe. You have a generous but reasonable and finite number of attempted hours to complete your degree before losing financial aid eligibility.

For example, the maximum timeframe for undergraduate students is 150% of the hours required for a bachelor’s degree. The additional 60 credit hours, equivalent to two full academic years, can accommodate limited disruption in enrollment and/ or retaking classes as well as double majors and minors. The federal intent of maximum timeframe is to prevent students from continuing to add majors or change programs to delay degree completion and prolong receipt of financial aid. As students approach maximum timeframe, they are advised to determine the courses needed to complete all requirements for one major and only take courses for an additional major or a minor if maximum timeframe allows.

Undergraduate students may appeal maximum timeframe if a second major or a minor is required for the degree. One change in major for undergraduates or program for graduates may be considered a special circumstance. Changes of major or program that occur after an undergraduate student has attempted 120 hours or a graduate student has attempted 20 hours will only be allowed if recommended by an academic advisor and it is unlikely the student will be able to complete the current major. Undergraduate students who transfer to NIU and have transfer hours that do not apply to outstanding NIU degree requirements may also appeal maximum timeframe. For both change of major and transfer hours it is the responsibility of the student to document which courses do not apply to the current program.

Graduate students cannot appeal maximum timeframe based on taking extra courses to maintain enrollment eligibility for assistantships or fellowships or taking coursework beyond the master’s level without being admitted to a post master’s program. Federal financial aid is for courses taken to meet degree requirements, not courses taken for other enrollment purposes.

The maximum timeframe established for doctoral programs includes all hours attempted at the graduate level, including those while enrolled as a student-at-large (SAL) or a master’s degree student. Many students take courses as a SAL or master level student that later meet the doctoral requirements. If, as a doctoral student, you have exceeded the maximum time frame and have not exceeded 135 hours based on a combination of hours completed prior to acceptance into the doctoral program that meet doctoral requirements and hours attempted since admission to the program, you can provide this information through the appeal process. Additionally, if the combination of courses attempted after completing a master's degree, including graduate student-at-large and doctoral courses, and the courses completed as a master's student that apply to the doctoral program is less than 150, or the maximum timeframe for the program, the student may appeal. The appeal will be approved, and the plan will establish the new maximum time frame for the student.

Are there limits to the number of times I can submit a SAP appeal?

Generally, the same special circumstance cannot be used in more than one SAP appeal. If you have an ongoing circumstance that prevents success, you will be advised to adjust enrollment and/or seek academic, medical and other support services. For example, if a full-time student has a chronic medical condition that results in withdrawing from one or more courses over multiple semesters and the student is, therefore, not meeting the completion rate/pace requirement, the student may need to register for a reduced course load for future semesters. Similarly, if work or family commitments cause a student to not successfully complete all courses for more than one semester, the student is advised to carefully evaluate the number of courses they can successfully complete based on other commitments before registering for future semesters.

Based on the circumstances of an appeal, your academic record and the number of times you have appealed, you may be granted a terminal approval and plan. A terminal approval means that no further appeals will be considered for your current degree level. You will be notified in writing of this status via email. If, at any future term you do not meet the criteria of the plan or achieve the cumulative GPA and pace standards prior to exceeding maximum timeframe, you will lose aid eligibility.

What do I need to include in my SAP appeal?

Personal statement
Documentation
Dean/Academic advisor meeting and course plan

What do I need to include in my personal statement?

A SAP appeal should include all the details that the committee will need to know to fully understand your circumstances.

Explain the special circumstances (problem/incident) that led to your not meeting satisfactory academic progress. It is important that you outline the semesters, dates and time period If you had multiple situations, explain all of them in detail.
Fully explain how your special circumstances impacted your academic performance.
Explain why future academic success will not be impaired by your special circumstance. Detail all corrective measures you have or will put in place to assure that you will return to and maintain satisfactory academic progress. Fully explain and document where possible, all tools and resources you will be utilizing.

What are acceptable forms of documentation?

Documentation may include, but is not limited to:

Death certificate, obituary
Divorce decree
Written statements on company letterhead from doctors, counselor, advisors etc. that reference your name, the diagnosis, dates of treatment and length that situation has or was occurring. If a family member’s health issue is part of your appeal provide similar documentation.
Reports of incidents such as police reports, insurance damage, and/or bills for services related to an emergency.

All third-party documentation will be verified for accuracy and authenticity. Identification of falsified documents will be reported to Student Conduct.

When and how will I be notified of the appeal decision?

The SAP Appeals Committee meets regularly to review appeals. You should plan for 2-3 weeks from the time you submit all required documents to hear the results of your appeal. It is important that you monitor your NIU student email and MyNIU as the appeal committee may request additional documentation. Appeal decision notifications are sent to your NIU student email.l.

When is the last date to submit a SAP appeal?

The priority deadline to submit a SAP appeal is 2 weeks prior to the end of the term, for students enrolled in regular session courses. Contact the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office for the deadline if you are enrolled in module, dynamic, early summer or study abroad courses.

What happens to my SAP status if I transfer to another school?

The SAP GPA requirement is based on your GPA at the school you're attending. This means that you may be able to get federal financial aid at a different college or university, if you can't receive financial aid at NIU.

You'll need to add the new school's code to your FAFSA. You should also see how much financial aid you're still eligible for by creating an account on the Federal Student Aid website.

However, if you come back to NIU after attending another school, your SAP GPA will not restart automatically (even if you qualify for an academic GPA restart). You'll need to submit a SAP appeal. Your letter should reflect the time you spent at NIU and the circumstances that led to you leaving NIU. You can write about how you improved academically while at the other school.