Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

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).

Grades of EP, K, NP, NX, P, S, SW, U, X, XM and W are not included in GPA calculations. Review the WWU Registrar's records and grading page for additional information about GPA. 

Students who do not complete a quarter above the cumulative GPA requirement will be placed on a warning for one quarter.  If the GPA is again below the cumulative GPA for a second subsequent warning quarter, the student will be placed on suspension and will have an opportunity to appeal to regain eligibility if they have experienced unusual or extenuating circumstances that prevented them from being successful.

Students who appeal for reinstatement and are required to address GPA will need to submit a GPA Plan using the financial aid GPA Calculator along with their appeal.  If the appeal is approved, the student must follow their plan until they achieve a GPA of 2.0 or better.  Students appealing for GPA should pay careful attention to the information to the GPA Plan Important Information on the GPA Calculator when creating their plan.

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 the cumulative university GPA.

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 the student was registered.

Credits earned for repeated coursework may count toward current quarter academic progress requirements in some cases. Contact the Financial Aid Department with any questions about repeat coursework. In general, a student 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 must successfully complete 67% of the cumulative attempted credits.  If the pace percentage drops below 67%, the student will be placed on warning for one quarter. If the pace percentage remains below 67% after a subsequent warning quarter, the student will be placed on 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.

Transfer credits are included in the attempted and completed credits for pace calculations.  

Remedial coursework (Math 099) counts towards the attempted credits and is considered as part of the pace calculation.

At WWU, all credits attempted, including those from a previously declared program or programs will be included in the pace calculation.

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.

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. 

For Fairhaven students, credits attempted but not completed will be recorded in the student’s Academic History with an NX.  The college does not assign a K grade (incomplete) to Fairhaven students, but instead does not award credit until a class is completed. Courses assigned an NX that are updated to a passing grade are not considered a grade correction.

Credits earned for repeated coursework may count toward current quarter academic progress requirements in some cases. Students may contact the Financial Aid Department if they plan to repeat a course for guidance. Students 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.

Grades that do not indicate successful completion will be considered attempted but not completed with regards to the pace calculation.  Repeat credits for a previously passed the course will be considered attempted but not completed in accordance with the Registrar’s Repeat Course Policy.

Students who appeal for reinstatement and are required to address pace will need to submit a Pace Plan using the financial aid pace calculator along with their appeal.  If the appeal is approved, the student must follow their plan until they achieve a pace of 67% or better.

Students appealing for pace should pay careful attention to the information to the Special Considerations about Appealing for Pace on the pace calculator.

Students receiving aid are allowed to attempt up to 150% of the credits required in order to complete their declared degree or certificate program. As soon as the financial aid department determines that a student will not complete their program within this number of attempted credits, the student becomes ineligible for financial aid.

Attempted credits are defined as all credits that appear on the academic history record which include repeat, incomplete or failed courses, withdrawals, and accepted transfer credits. 

Financial aid monitors students who are nearing Maximum Attempted Credits to determine remaining eligibility based on official university records.  Students should be familiar with the Information for Graduating Students regarding fundable enrollment, loan proration and second bachelor’s degree programs, etc. 

Some aid programs are further limited by cumulative maximums for the lifetime of the student. It is important for students to try and complete their degree program before they reach the cumulative aggregate maximums for federal loans, the lifetime limit of the Federal Pell Grant, and the 18 fulltime quarters/12 semesters/or the equivalent for Washington College Grant, College Bound Scholarship (CBS) and Passport to Careers (PTC) programs.

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 approved appeal do not reinstate aid retroactively for previous quarters that have already ended.

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 state or federal financial aid
2. One year period of non-attendance at Western

• Explain why the student was unable to meet SAP requirements
• Describe what has changed or demonstrate a plan for success that will allow the student to meet SAP requirements at the next evaluation or with an approvable GPA or pace plan
• Include an Official Degree Evaluation and indicate the number of remaining credits required to complete the degree or certificate program if the suspension is related to Maximum Attempted Credits (MAC).
• 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.

A student whose financial aid status is suspended but is able to meet the SAP requirements at the end of a subsequent quarter or quarters, will reinstate themselves without having to appeal. This reinstatement begins with the next quarter of attendance and does not grant retroactive financial aid eligibility.

Private student loans have SAP standards set forth by each individual lender. The WWU Financial Aid Department maintains expectations for certifying these private loans when evaluating a student’s eligibility for private student loans.

Additionally, private student loan recipients who fail to meet SAP requirements for three consecutive quarters may be required to submit a SAP appeal to the WWU Financial Aid Department for consideration if they experienced unusual or extenuating circumstances that prevented them from being successful.

Students receiving the Alaska Family Education Loan or Alaska Supplemental Education Loan must be meeting the minimum SAP requirements to receive disbursements.  For enrollment requirements please refer to your lender for additional information.