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Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress

FINANCIAL AID SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS

To be eligible for federal financial aid, you must maintain academic achievement in accordance with the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy, known as SAP. Fuller’s SAP policy is designed to meet federal regulations and in some cases may be more strict than Fuller's Academic Satisfactory Progress policy. SAP is calculated at the end of each quarter after grades have been posted.


SAP STATUSES & DEFINITIONS

SAP Description SAP Status SAP Definition
Pass PASS Students meet SAP Standards.
Appeal Approved APPEAL 1-4, Appeal Status is Approved for 1 Quarter with a Maximum to 4 for an approved Appeal.
Warning for Pace WCOMP Failed to Meet a 67% quarter Pace Rate.
Warning for GPA WGPA Failed to meet quarterly 2.5 GPA.
Warning for Pace Rate & GPA WBOTH Failed to Meet a 67% quarter Pace Rate & Failed to meet quarterly 2.5 GPA.
Suspension for Pace Rate SCOMP Prior status was Warning and Continued to Fail Quarterly Pace of 67%. Loss of Federal Aid.
Suspension for GPA SGPA Prior status was Warning and Continued to Fail 2.5 GPA. Loss of Federal Aid.
Suspension for GPA & Pace Rate SBOTH Prior status was Warning and Continued to Fail Quarterly Pace of 67% & 2.5 GPA. Loss of Federal Aid.
Close to Maximum Time Frame CMTF Attempted credits are equal to or greater than 125% of the length of the program but less than 150% of the length of the program. Loss of Federal Aid.
Over Maximum Time Frame FMTF Attempted credits are equal to or greater  than150% of the length of the program. Loss of Federal Aid.

QUARTERLY GPA

In order to maintain eligibility for federal financial aid the student must maintain a quarterly GPA of 2.50.

PACE (Formally called COMPLETION RATE)

All students must maintain a quarterly Pace rate of 67%. Please note that all attempts count and will impact your pace requirements.

PACE FORMULA

The Pace Rate formula is the total of all earned units divided by the total of all attempted units within the quarter.

(Total of all earned units) / (Total of all attempted units) = (Percentage of successfully completed units)

  • Grades that indicate successful Pace Rate: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, P, SA, and CR. These grades count as attempted units and earned units.
  • Grades that do not represent successful completion: F, H1, H2, H3, NS, NC, Extensions (IE, IX), and Withdrawals (W). These grades count as attempted but not earned units.
  • Transfer units do not count toward quarterly PACE.

MAXIMUM TIMEFRAME (MTF)

All students receiving federal financial aid must complete their program within 150% of the length of the program. Length of your declared program is listed in the catalog. Example: If your program requires 72 credits you can only attempt 108 credits during your enrollment in that program.

SAP WARNING AND SAP SUSPENSION

You will first be placed on SAP Warning if you fail either the quarterly GPA requirement or Pace measurements. You will remain eligible for all federal financial aid if placed on Financial Aid Warning. If, by the following quarter's evaluation, you are still failing SAP, you will be moved from Financial Aid Warning to Financial Aid Suspension.

SAP Suspension is defined as not meeting the requirements of SAP after measuring attempted credits from your last quarter in which you were enrolled and were on SAP Warning. If you receive a SAP Suspension you are unable to receive federal financial aid.

SAP APPEALS

You may submit an SAP Appeal if you are on SAP Warning or SAP Suspension.  SAP Appeals cannot be applied for prior quarters, but only apply to any quarter going forward.

  • You are only eligible for 4 appeals during your time at Fuller.

If you would like to submit an SAP appeal, you must submit ALL of the following written documentation to Student Financial Services within 30 days of the date on your warning/suspension letter.

  1. A detailed letter explaining the mitigating circumstance that affected your ability to meet SAP requirements and what your plan is moving forward. 
  2. An academic plan that has been created and approved with your academic advisor.

The Student Financial Services Policy Review Team will review the appeal and notify you of a decision within 5 business days of submission via email. Decisions of the Appeals committee are final.

Please follow this link to submit your SAP Appeal to the financial aid office.