Satisfactory Academic Progress

Policy

Overview

As a financial aid recipient, you must maintain the following minimum standards to continue receiving financial aid:

• Graduate students must maintain a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.00.
• JD law students must maintain a CGPA of 2.3 (2.70 for all other law students, including master's, certificate, LLM and Grad Tax).
• All students must complete and pass a minimum of 66.6% of all courses attempted. This is known as the cumulative completion rate (CCR).
• All students must complete their degree within 150% of the minimum credits required to graduate. This is known as the maximum time frame (MTF) limit.

PDF of SAP Policy

 
Notification Process

Students who are not making Satisfactory Academic Progress are notified via email, which will come from the Office of Financial Aid via DocuSign with the subject line, "IMPORTANT: Financial Aid Hold - Action Required." These emails link to a document that is pre-filled with the student's name, ID, and the reason they are not making SAP. Students who wish to appeal the SAP decision (as outlined below) must complete and submit the rest of the form. If you didn't receive this email but believe you should have, please email us at finaid@du.edu.

 
Requirements

• Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)
  • Policy: You must maintain a minimum CGPA of at least 3.00 (2.70 for Graduate Tax students) to remain eligible for financial aid.
  • Calculation: According to the policy of the Registrar, GPA is determined by multiplying the credit points (for example, B+ = 3.3 credit points) by the number of credit hours for each course. CGPA is calculated by dividing total credit points by total credit hours attempted.
  • Unfinished Coursework: Grades of I, NR and W earned at DU are not included in the grade point average and therefore do not immediately impact a student's CGPA. However, incompletes earned while attending DU that are not completed within one year are then calculated as "F" in the CGPA. This conversion of incomplete grades to “F” can reduce your CGPA figure, which may increase the possibility that you will be placed on financial aid probation or suspension.
  • Transfer Credits: Grades associated with accepted transfer credits are not recorded by DU and therefore can neither increase nor reduce your calculated CGPA.
  • Repeat Coursework: All grades for repeated courses are included in determining the CGPA and therefore impact its calculation.
  • Remedial Coursework: Credits earned from completed remedial coursework are not accepted by DU and therefore can neither increase nor reduce your calculated CGPA.
• Cumulative Completion Rate (CCR)
  • Policy: You must complete and pass a minimum of 66.6% of all courses attempted to remain eligible for financial aid.
  • Calculation: CCR is calculated by dividing your total earned credits by your total attempted credits.
  • Course Completion: Grades that signify the successful completion of a graduate course of study can vary among academic unit policies. Grades of W, NC, NP, WF, F, Audit or Incomplete do not constitute successful completion of a course and therefore reduce your CCR, which will position you closer to financial aid probation or suspension.
  • Transfer Credits: All accepted transfer credits are counted as both attempted and earned credits when calculating your CCR (with the exception of transfer credits completed while you are not meeting DU SAP requirements).
  • Repeat Coursework: Credits associated with repeated DU courses count only as attempted credits until a passing grade is earned. This may reduce your calculated CCR. Passing grades assigned to repeated DU courses are counted as both attempted and earned credits. This may improve your calculated CCR.
  • Remedial Coursework: Credits earned from completed remedial coursework are not accepted by DU and therefore can neither increase nor reduce your calculated CCR.
• Maximum Time Frame (MTF) Limit
  • Policy: You must complete your degree requirements within 150% of the minimum credits required to graduate. Once you have reached the MTF limit, you are no longer eligible for federal, state or institutional aid.
  • Calculation: Your MTF limit is calculated by multiplying the minimal number of credits necessary to confer your degree by your program’s MTF allowance. For example, the MTF allowance for all graduate students is 150%; therefore, you may attempt a maximum of 135 credits to complete a degree that requires 90 credits.
  • Repeat Coursework: All credits associated with repeated DU coursework are counted as attempted credits when calculating your MTF status.
  • Transfer Credits: Accepted transfer credits earned through enrollment in programs outside of DU count as attempted credits in the calculation of your MTF status if those credits are satisfying graduation requirements set by your current degree program (with the exception of transfer credits completed while you are not meeting DU SAP requirements).
  • Remedial Coursework: Credits earned from completed remedial coursework are not accepted by DU and therefore can neither improve nor harm your calculated MTF status.
• Additional Considerations
  • Changing Major or Degree Program While Attending DU:
    If you choose to change your major while attending DU before you complete your original course of study, you can appeal to only include those previously attempted credits that satisfy graduation requirements set by your most recent choice of major when calculating your SAP status. If you have, over your course of enrollment at DU, changed your major and are flagged by the Office of Financial Aid for an SAP violation, you should submit an appeal and, if approved, meet with a financial aid representative to validate your SAP status based on a major conversion.
  • Simultaneously Pursuing Different Degrees at DU:
    If you choose to pursue concurrent degrees simultaneously while attending DU, it is possible that the total number of credit hours you attempt during your pursuit will cause you to violate SAP rules based on an overall calculation of your credit history. If you are in this situation, you should be aware of potential SAP complications and prepare to file an appeal with the financial aid office should your account be flagged.
  • Pursuing a Subsequent Degree at DU:
    If you choose to earn a degree at DU after finishing a different degree program, previously attempted credits that are allowed to satisfy graduation requirements set by your newest degree program will be used to calculate your CGPA, CCR and MTF status.
  • Completion of Degree:
    If you completed all the coursework for your degree or certificate but have not yet received the degree or certificate, you cannot receive further financial aid for that program.
  • Enrollment in the Summer Term:
    Credits attempted during summer terms that satisfy your degree requirements will be included in the calculation of your CCR and MTF status. The grade associated with credits earned during a summer term will count toward the calculation of your CGPA.
• Certificate Students

  Certificate students are reviewed for SAP after the end of each quarter, including summer. These students will be sent an email after each quarter's grades are posted if they fail to meet either the CGPA, CCR or MTF requirements. Students will receive a financial aid warning for the first quarter after they are flagged for SAP and must complete an SAP Warning Contract in order to receive a disbursement of federal, state or institutional financial aid. Students are required to contact the Financial Aid Office to obtain the contract and they have one term to complete it.

  If certificate students do not regain compliance with the SAP requirements after their one quarter of warning, students are placed on financial aid suspension and will not receive a disbursement of federal, state or institutional financial aid until they either regain compliance with SAP requirements or complete, submit and have approved an SAP Appeal.

• Financial Aid Probation & Suspension

  All students, with the exception of certificate students, are monitored for SAP compliance annually, and will be sent an email after spring grades are posted if they fail to meet either the CGPA, CCR or MTF requirements. Students are placed on financial aid suspension and will not receive a disbursement of federal, state or institutional financial aid until they regain compliance with SAP requirements or a Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal is completed, submitted to and approved by the Office of Financial Aid Appeals Committee, as detailed below.

• Appeal Process

  All students who aren't meeting satisfactory academic progress must appeal the decision to continue receiving financial aid.

  Examples of a possible appeal include:

  • a student who exceeds his or her MTF limit due to a change in their degree program
  • a student with extenuating personal/medical circumstances that have since been resolved

   
  To appeal a financial aid suspension:
  You should've received an email from the Office of Financial Aid via DocuSign with the subject line, "IMPORTANT: Financial Aid Hold - Action Required." That email links to a document that is pre-filled with your name, ID, and the reason you are not making SAP, and also serves as the official appeal form. If you wish to appeal the SAP decision, you must complete and submit the rest of the form, and attach supporting documentation as appropriate. If you didn't receive this form and believe you should have, please email us at finaid@du.edu.

  Appeal Submissions:
  Appeal decisions will be emailed to students within three to five weeks of submission. Students are encouraged to submit appeals as promptly as possible to facilitate on-time disbursement of aid if the appeal is approved. For the fall quarter, students are encouraged to submit their appeal by mid-August. If the Financial Aid Appeals Committee needs more information regarding the appeal to make a decision, a staff member will coordinate this effort and the time frame will be delayed. All appeal decisions are final. Appeals must be submitted before the end of the academic year following SAP notification for any aid to be disbursed within that academic year.

  Approved Appeals:
  If the student's appeal is approved by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee, the student may be able to receive federal, institutional, or state aid for the following term. All other federal financial aid rules apply. The Office of Financial Aid will monitor the student's progress against the degree completion plan after each subsequent term to determine if the student is making progress congruent with the academic plan.

  Denied Appeals:
  Students must make progress congruent with the academic plan to continue to receive federal, state, and institutional financial aid. If the student has not regained compliance with SAP requirements or met the conditions of their academic plan when checked by the Office of Financial Aid, students will be required to submit another appeal citing different reasons for noncompliance than the previous appeal(s). If an appeal is denied, the student is no longer eligible for federal, state, or institutional financial aid until SAP compliance is regained.

  Students will be suspended from financial aid once they reach the MTF limit unless an appeal is submitted and approved.

  If a student's appeal is denied or a student elects not to appeal an SAP determination and continues enrollment at the University of Denver, students are responsible for paying all bills and charges without federal, state, or institutional financial aid until they regain compliance with SAP minimum requirements on their own.

  Recalculating SAP Standing:
  At any time during the year, if a student believes they are back in compliance with SAP requirements, it is the student's responsibility to contact the Office of Financial Aid to recalculate their SAP standing and determine if the student is eligible for financial aid for upcoming terms.

• Spring 2020 Pass+/Pass/No Pass Grading Option Information

  Given the circumstances that have arisen during the spring 2020 term as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19, the University of Denver will allow graduate students (except law where other standards apply) to elect to convert letter course grades for the spring 2020 term to Pass+/Pass/No Pass grades. Courses that were already graded on other systems such as P/F or P/NP are not eligible. Students will have up to 3 business days after grades are available for viewing to opt into the Pass+/Pass/No Pass grading mode.

  If you opt into the Pass+/Pass/No Pass grading option, those courses will not count toward the cumulative GPA (CGPA) or course completion rate requirement (CCR) for spring 2020 SAP calculations.