SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS and
MAINTAINING FINANCIAL AID ELIGIBILITY
The American Academy McAllister Institute (AAMI) monitors the academic progress of all federal student aid recipients after each semester to ensure continued eligibility for all federal aid programs. Students are ineligible for the following federal student aid programs if they do not meet the academic progress standards outlined in this policy.
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Direct Loans (subsidized and unsubsidized)
- Federal Direct PLUS Loan
ACADEMIC STANDARDS
The following three academic progress requirements are evaluated for federal aid recipients at the end of each semester. All measurements are at least as strict as the academic progress requirements for non-financial aid recipients.
- Grade Point Average (GPA) – Qualitative Measure
Students must maintain a specific cumulative GPA for all semesters of attendance at AAMI based on the number of credits a student has attempted.
GPA to Maintain
| Credits Attempted | Cumulative GPA Required |
|---|---|
| 0 – 17 | 1.70 or higher |
| 18 – 35 | 1.80 or higher |
| 36 – 53 | 1.90 or higher |
| 54 or more | 2.00 or higher |
- Pace of Completion (Pace) – Quantitative Measure
Students must earn a grade of ‘D’ or better in 66.67% of credits attempted. Pace is determined by dividing the number of earned credit hours by the number of attempted credit hours. A grade of ‘D’ or better includes grades of ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’, ‘NCP’, ‘-R’, and ‘P’. A full listing of grades are included in the Catalog.
- Maximum Timeframe (MTF) – Quantitative Measure
Students may attempt up to 103.5 credit hours to complete their program, which is 150% of the published program credit hours of 69 credit hours.
THE ACADEMIC POLICY vs. THE FINANCIAL AID POLICY
As described below, the Financial Aid SAP Policy measures a student’s GPA, Pace of Completion, and their progress towards 150% Maximum Time Frame. The Academic Policy only monitors a student’s GPA.
| Measurement | Academic Policy | Financial Aid SAP Policy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPA | Attempted Credits | Cumulative GPA Required | Same as the Academic Policy |
| 0 – 17 | 1.70 or higher | ||
| 18 – 35 | 1.80 or higher | ||
| 36 – 53 | 1.90 or higher | ||
| 54 or more | 2.00 or higher | ||
| Pace of Completion | Monitored for Warning & Probation if cumulatively 66.67% of total credit hours attempted has been not met. | Cumulatively complete 66.67% of total credits hours attempted | |
| Maximum Time Frame | No Requirement | Complete program within 103.5 attempted credit hours (150% of published program length) | |
Grades, Incompletes, Withdrawals, Repetitions, and Transfer Credits
The following chart outlines how each grade impacts the standards of the SAP Policy.
| Grades | GPA | Pace/MTF The MTF calculation includes attempted credit hours only, and does not consider completed credits. |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Attempted | Completed | ||
| A, B, C, D, NCP, -R, P | Y | Y | Y |
| F, F*, NCF, I, WP | Y | Y | N |
| W, WP | N | Y | N |
| TR | N | Y | Y |
| IP, AU | N | N | N |
Additional notes regarding grades:
Incomplete coursework (grades of ‘I’) is considered an ‘F’ grade for each requirement of the SAP calculation. If the incomplete grade changes to a passing grade after the SAP evaluation, AAMI can reevaluate a student’s academic progress to include the passing grade. Students must notify the Financial Aid Office for this reevaluation to occur.
Withdrawn courses after the 100% refund period (grades of ‘W’ and ‘WP’) are not included in the GPA, but are considered attempted credit hours in the Pace and MTF calculations.
Each repeated course in which a grade of “D” or better was received is included in attempted and completed credit hours for Pace and attempted credits only for MTF. All other grades are included in attempted credit hours for pace and MTF but only the most recent grade received is included in the GPA calculation.
All transfer credit accepted by AAMI are included in the attempted and completed credit hour calculations for Pace (attempted and completed) and MTF (attempted only). Transfer credit is not included in the GPA calculation.
RESULTS of the SAP CALCULATION
At the end of each semester, SAP is calculated against the student’s academic transcript to determine the student’s future federal aid eligibility. Results of this calculation that are not Satisfactory will be emailed to the student at their personal email address within seven to ten business days of the end of the term.
Students will be assigned one of the following statuses:
- Satisfactory
Student meets all SAP standards and may continue to receive federal aid.
- Financial Aid Warning
Students failing the SAP standards may receive federal aid for one semester without an appeal if the student met GPA and Pace standards in the prior semester of enrollment or were in the first payment period of their program. Warning status is not available to students failing to meet the MTF requirement.
- Financial Aid Suspension
If a student does not meet the SAP standards after the warning semester, federal aid is suspended for future semesters unless the student successfully appeals or meets the SAP standards.
- Financial Aid Probation – Approved Appeals Only
Students that have an approved SAP appeal may continue on Financial Aid Probation if they are meeting the requirements of their established Academic Plan.
REPEAT COURSEWORK POLICY for FEDERAL FINANCIAL AID
Students may receive federal financial aid funding for one (1) repetition of a course successfully completed. The repeated class may be counted towards a student’s enrollment status and the student may be awarded Title IV aid for the enrollment status based on the inclusion of the class.
- Grades of A, B, C, D, NCP, -R and P are considered course credit hours successfully completed.
- Grades of F, F*, NCF, I, WP, and W are considered course credit hours not successfully completed, and can be repeated with federal financial aid pending the student meets all other financial aid requirements.
Students should be aware that for Satisfactory Academic Progress, all coursework attempted counts toward GPA, Pace of Completion and Maximum Timeframe hours used to determine eligibility for federal financial aid. To see the Satisfactory Academic Policy Statement, see the first section of these policy changes.