Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

The primary purpose of financial aid programs is to help students successfully complete their degree or certificate programs in a timely manner. To receive aid, students are required to meet satisfactory academic progress requirements while completing their degree or certificate programs. Financial aid programs include grants, tuition and fee waivers, work study employment, need-based and non-need-based loans, private student loans (loans through private lenders), and scholarship programs. Specific scholarship programs may have specialized academic progress requirements that exceed the general policy requirements outlined below.

Questions about the academic progress requirements of individual scholarship programs should be directed to the Scholarship Center.

The academic progress of all students is measured on a quarterly basis. Financial aid recipients who fail to meet academic progress requirements for aid programs will be among the first to receive word that their academic goals are at risk. Students placed on financial aid warning or suspension under the satisfactory academic progress policy will be notified immediately following the quarter in which the warning or suspension occurs. Notification will be delivered via e-mail to the student's official WWU e-mail address. Financial Aid staff will inform students in this situation of a number of specific, on-campus resources to help them meet satisfactory academic progress requirements.

Failure to meet satisfactory academic progress requirements will result in financial aid warning or suspension.

Students whose aid is suspended may appeal for aid reinstatement. Students whose appeals are approved will be placed on financial aid probation.

Academic Progress Requirements

Maintain the required grade point average (GPA)

Students must meet the scholarship standards of the University to remain eligible for financial aid. University scholarship standards include maintaining at least a 2.00 cumulative GPA for undergraduate students and 3.0 for graduate students (or higher depending on their program). The GPA requirement is monitored quarterly for financial aid purposes for students who have junior level class standing or have completed 6 or more quarters at WWU. Scholarship standards allow for a limited number of quarters during which a student may improve their cumulative GPA to the minimum requirement. Students dismissed from the University for not meeting the scholarship standard will also have their financial aid eligibility placed in suspended status. There is no financial aid warning period after university dismissal. Scholastic standards for undergraduate and graduate students are fully described in the University Catalog.

Students readmitted to WWU after 5 years or more away under the university’s “Fresh Start” program are not exempt from GPA monitoring for SAP purposes.  Federal regulations require the use of your cumulative university GPA.

Successfully complete the minimum number of credits associated with the enrollment status as of the quarterly lock date

The Financial Aid Department reviews academic progress at the end of each quarter for all students. To establish and maintain financial aid eligibility, all students must successfully complete the minimum number of credits associated with their enrollment level at lock, plus any credits added after lock (see Changes in Enrollment). The following grades do not indicate successful completion of academic credit: F, Z, U, NP, K, W, I, X, NX, SW, audited classes, or absence of a grade.

If a student's coursework does not meet minimum requirements, the student will be placed on financial aid warning or suspension, depending upon the extent of the deficiency.

Students with a corrected grade must first confirm that the Registrar's Office has made the grade change and then notify the Financial Aid Department of the change in writing. Incomplete grades of "K" that are updated to a passing grade are not considered a grade correction. Satisfactory Academic Progress will not be re-calculated until the next evaluation period. Correspondence courses must be completed within the term for which they were registered to count toward completed credits. Credits earned for repeated coursework may count toward current quarter academic progress requirements in some cases. Contact the Financial Aid Department if you plan to repeat a course. In general, you may receive aid for repeating a previously passed course once and receive aid for repeating a failed course that fulfills degree requirements until it has been passed.

Students who fail to meet the minimum credit requirement for a given quarter will be placed on financial aid warning or suspension for the next quarter, depending on the extent of the deficiency. Students whose appeals for financial aid reinstatement have been approved will be placed on aid probation.

Full Time Undergraduate Credit Completion Requirements
Attempted (Enrolled at Lock) Successfully Completed Resulting SAP Status
12 11 Warning
12 10 Warning
12 9 Warning
12 8 Warning
12 7 Warning
12 6 Warning
12 5 Suspended
Three Quarter Time Undergraduate Credit Completion Requirements
Attempted (Enrolled at Lock) Successfully Completed Resulting SAP Status
11 10 OK
11 9 OK
11 8 Warning
11 7 Warning
11 6 Warning
11 5 Warning
11 4 Suspended
10 9 OK
10 8 Warning
10 7 Warning
10 6 Warning
10 5 Warning
10 4 Suspended
9 8 Warning
9 7 Warning
9 6 Warning
9 5 Warning
9 4 Suspended
Half Time Undergraduate Credit Completion Requirements
Attempted (Enrolled at Lock) Successfully Completed Resulting SAP Status
8 7 OK
8 6 OK
8 5 Warning
8 4 Warning
8 3 Warning
8 2 Suspended
7 6 OK
7 5 Warning
7 4 Warning
7 3 Warning
7 2 Suspended
6 5 Warning
6 4 Warning
6 3 Warning
6 2 Suspended
Less Than Half Time Undergraduate Credit Completion Requirements
Attempted (Enrolled at Lock) Successfully Completed Resulting SAP Status
5 4 Warning
5 3 Warning
5 2 Suspended
4 3 Warning
4 2 Warning
4 1 Suspended
3 2 Warning
3 1 Suspended
2 1 Warning
2 0 Suspended
1 0 Suspended
Full Time Graduate Credit Completion Requirements
Attempted (Enrolled at Lock) Successfully Completed Resulting SAP Status
8 7 Warning
8 6 Warning
8 5 Warning
8 4 Warning
8 3 Suspended
8 2 Suspended
8 1 Suspended
Three Quarter Time Graduate Credit Completion Requirements
Attempted (Enrolled at Lock) Successfully Completed Resulting SAP Status
7 6 OK
7 5 Warning
7 4 Warning
7 3 Warning
7 2 Suspended
7 1 Suspended
6 5 Warning
6 4 Warning
6 3 Warning
6 2 Suspended
6 1 Suspended
Half Time Graduate Credit Completion Requirements
Attempted (Enrolled at Lock) Successfully Completed Resulting SAP Status
5 4 OK
5 3 Warning
5 2 Warning
5 1 Suspended
4 3 Warning
4 2 Warning
4 1 Suspended
Less Than Half Time Graduate Credit Completion Requirements
Attempted (Enrolled at Lock) Successfully Completed Resulting SAP Status
3 2 Warning
3 1 Suspended
2 1 Warning
1 0 Suspended

Maintain Pace: successfully complete at least 80% of cumulative, attempted credits

For financial aid eligibility, you must complete 80% of your cumulative attempted credits.  All students are monitored for pace at the end of each quarter. If the pace percentage drops below 80%, the student will be placed on Financial Aid warning for one quarter. If the pace percentage remains below 80% after a subsequent warning quarter, the student will be placed on Financial Aid suspension and will have an opportunity to appeal to regain eligibility if they have experience unusual or extenuating circumstances that prevented them from being successful.

Completed transfer credits count towards total attempted and completed credits.  

Students who appeal for reinstatement and have a pace issue will need to submit a Pace Plan along with their appeal and if the appeal is approved, are expected to follow this plan until completion of their pace of 80% or better.

Complete your degree or certificate within the maximum allowable attempted credits

Students receiving aid are allowed to attempt a specified number of credits in order to complete their degree or certificate program. As soon as it is clear that a student will not graduate within this period, the student becomes ineligible for aid. Western determines whether students have reached or exceeded their maximum attempted credits limit by totaling the number of credits they have attempted. Attempted credits are defined as all credits that appear on the academic history record. These credits include repeated, failed, incomplete, withdrawals, and accepted transfer credits. If the Financial Aid Department learns that graduation is imminent, aid eligibility must be calculated and limited solely to enrollment in courses required for graduation. Students are expected to notify the Financial Aid Department when they have completed all the coursework required for their degree or certificate program. Failure to do so may result in the student having to repay all or a portion of the aid they received. Second majors and elective minors are not eligible to be funded with financial aid unless they are included in the official university registration record at the point of appealing.

Changes to approved Maximum Attempted Credits appeals due to the addition of additional majors, minors, or certificate programs are discouraged as such revised appeals are generally denied.

Appeals for Reinstatement of Aid Eligibility

Students placed on financial aid suspension may appeal for aid reinstatement if unusual circumstances prevented them from meeting satisfactory academic progress requirements. Reinstatement is not guaranteed and appeal approvals do not reinstate aid retroactively.

Appeals must:

  • Explain why the student was unable to meet satisfactory academic progress requirements;
  • Describe what has changed that will allow the student to meet satisfactory academic progress requirements at the next evaluation
  • Provide an academic plan for each deficiency indicated in the Notice of Suspension; and
  • Provide a Degree Evaluation and indicate the number of remaining credits required to complete the degree or certificate if the suspension resulted from exceeding the maximum attempted credits.
  • Be submitted by the student no later than the Quarterly Reinstatement Due Date. Students who submit appeals after the quarterly deadlines are not eligible for aid reinstatement for the current quarter. In addition, students whose appeals are submitted after the Quarterly Cancel Aid Date may have their annual financial aid offers canceled. Refer to the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal form for the quarterly deadlines.

Final Deadlines for Reinstatement

  • Friday November 10, 2023 - Fall Quarter 2023 reinstatement
  • Friday February 23, 2024 - Winter Quarter 2024 reinstatement
  • Friday May 17, 2024 - Spring Quarter 2024 reinstatement

If a student's appeal is denied, the student may re-appeal after having successfully completed one of the following:

  1. A full-time quarter, without receiving financial aid (a plan is required)
  2. One year period of non-attendance at Western

Alternatively, students in a suspended status who are able to attend without financial aid, and again meet all SAP requirements, regain their eligibility without having to appeal. Such reinstatement begins with the next quarter of attendance.

Withdrawals

Aid recipients withdrawing from all coursework (full school withdraw) may be required to repay all or a portion of the financial aid they have received. Students are considered as having unofficially withdrawn from the University if they have received a combination of the following grades for a given quarter: F, IP, K, Z, U, NP, W, X, and received no passing grades. Aid recipients who fail to complete a course covering the entire period for which aid was provided may be required to repay all or a portion of their financial aid for the applicable quarter. For more information about aid repayment when official and unofficial school withdrawal, see Withdrawing from WWU.

Specific Requirements for Private Student Loans Recipients

Private student loans recipients who fail to meet all satisfactory academic progress requirements for three consecutive quarters may be required to address the failure with the Financial Aid Department.

Specific Requirements for Alaska Loan Recipients

Satisfactory academic progress requirements for continued receipt of Alaska Student and Alaska Family Education loans differ from those associated with Federal and Washington State aid programs:

  • Full-time attendance is required for most Alaska Loan programs. The Alaska Supplemental Education Loan may allow for less than full-time attendance.
  • Students considering less-than full-time enrollment are urged to consult the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, as state residency and future loan eligibility may be jeopardized by such enrollment.