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Satisfactory Academic Progress

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Requirements

  • Students must declare an academic program other than "undecided" and must be taking courses that apply to that degree or certificate.
  • Student's failure to meet SAP will result in ineligibility for aid. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) determines whether you qualify for financial aid.
  • SAP will be measured on the three metrics required by federal regulations. Your SAP status is determined when you apply for financial aid and is based on all previous academic history.
  • Once you receive aid, your academic progress is evaluated at the end of every semester.
  • Lone Star College's (LSC) policy is designed to encourage students to achieve their academic goals and graduate.
  • Download the Standards of Academic Progress (SAP) Policy PDF 

SAP Components

There are three components to SAP. Failure to comply with any component may result in a loss of aid eligibility. The three components are as follows:

Minimum Grade Point Average (GPA)

Completion Rate (Deficit Hours)

While students must be enrolled to be eligible for financial aid, each student must also successfully complete at least a minimum percentage of all credit hours attempted. This percentage includes all institutional and transfer credit hours, regardless of whether or not financial aid was received. Grades of W, F, I, N, NP, and NR are not considered to be adequate grades for completion.

  • 67%  Completion Rate

Maximum Hours (Excessive Hours)

Students are expected to complete their degree pursuits within a maximum timeframe, including transfer hours earned as well as institutional attempted hours. Students may not receive financial assistance beyond the following:

  • 150% of the number of credit hours required to complete your academic program.  For example, if you are in an associate degree program that requires 60 credit hours, you must complete the program within 90 credit hours (60x150%).  Students lose eligibility when it becomes mathematically impossible to complete the program within the 150% maximum timeframe. Credit hours are cumulative; thus, students working towards obtaining more than one degree in the same degree type (e.g. undergraduate) may reach this maximum timeframe before completing their course of study. Students  may  submit an appeal if they lose eligibility.

SAP Warnings and Not Meeting SAP

After one semester of not meeting the SAP standards, students will be issued a warning and will be permitted to receive financial aid for the next semester. However, after the one semester of warning, students who fail to meet any one or a combination of the SAP components will be ineligible for financial assistance. Students may appeal ineligibility by providing information on extenuating circumstances, indicating what has changed to allow successful academic progress. If an appeal is granted, students will be asked to follow an academic plan that will lead to meeting minimum SAP requirements in the near future. If students do not meet the terms of the aid plan, eligibility for financial aid will cease and all remaining aid will be cancelled.

Subsequent appeals of the same nature are not permitted. Once a student falls from his/her academic plan and loses eligibility, the only way to regain eligibility for financial aid is to meet the SAP requirements.

SAP Notifications

Students who fail to meet minimum SAP standards are not eligible to receive financial aid. Students will be notified of the reason(s) for the loss of eligibility through the University student email account as well as via the Financial Aid Portal.

Students may appeal their ineligibility by providing information on extenuating circumstances, indicating what has changed to allow successful academic progress. However, the submission of an appeal is only a request and does not guarantee that scholarship or financial aid eligibility will be reinstated. The appeal must be submitted online through the Financial Aid Portal. The student should provide evidence of the extenuating circumstances that occurred.

Changes to recorded grades that take place after SAP evaluation has occurred may prompt a recalculation of SAP. This will include all grades in academic history as well as grades already entered on the current semester. Students' eligibility for financial aid may change after this calculation.

Completion Calculator

Completed Hours: Percentage Complete:

%

Attempted Hours: Satisfactory Academic Progress:
   

Appeal Submission Deadlines

A student who is ineligible for financial aid for failure to meet the SAP requirements may file a SAP appeal. If approved, the student will be placed on "Appeal Approved (Probation)" and is aid eligible. All appeals must be submitted to the Financial Aid Office by the following deadlines:

Semester Appeal Appeal Committee
(Second Appeal)
Academic Plan
Fall Semester October 1 October 15 November 15
Spring Semester February 15 March 1 April 1
Summer Semester June 15 July 1 July 15

Verification Steps

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