Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
The University of Arizona cares about your academic success and encourages you to complete your degree in the most efficient, successful manner possible.
In order to be eligible to receive most types of financial aid, students must be making progress toward the completion of their degree. The Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid (OSFA) measures students’ progress at the end of each semester using Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards.
Federal regulations require Arizona to establish, publish, and apply standards to monitor your progress toward completing your degree program. Making progress toward a degree is important for your academic success and a key factor in reducing student debt.
There are three SAP standards that students are required to maintain to be eligible for most types of financial aid:
- GPA
- Pace
- Maximum Timeframe
You must successfully meet the minimum cumulative GPA as shown below:
Career |
Minimum University of Arizona Cumulative GPA Required |
Undergraduate | 2.0 |
Graduate | 3.0 |
Law | 2.0 |
Medicine | Must receive passing grade in all courses |
PharmD and Pharmacy PhD | 3.0 |
The following courses do not count towards the SAP GPA:
- Incomplete*
- Withdrawn
- Transfer credits
The following courses do count towards the SAP GPA:
- Completed courses
- Failed courses
- Developmental/ Remedial courses
- Courses purged through Academic Renewal
- Repeated courses are calculated in the SAP GPA in accordance with the University of Arizona's grading policy on repeat coursework
You must meet Pace and progress toward graduation by successfully completing at least 2/3 (67%) of the cumulative units you attempted by the end of each term.
Pace = Cumulative completed units with passing grade / Total cumulative attempted units
Completed units include all courses (including transfer courses) graded as satisfactory, credit earned, or with a passing letter grade.
Attempted units include completed courses (including transfer courses) with passing grades as well as courses that weren’t completed, failed, dropped, withdrawn, or graded as incomplete.
Below are examples of how a student would meet or not meet the Pace SAP standard.
EXAMPLE | CUMULATIVE UNITS COMPLETED | CUMULATIVE UNITS ATTEMPTED | COMPLETION PERCENTAGE | MEETS SAP? |
---|---|---|---|---|
Student A | 67 | 100 | 67% | Yes |
Student B | 66 | 100 | 66% | No |
We encourage you to be mindful of how many units you are attempting throughout your career. Work with your academic advisor to create a plan to complete your courses at a steady, but manageable pace.
The following outcomes count as both attempted and completed in the Pace SAP calculation:
- Passing grades (including College of Medicine Honors grades)
- Accepted transfer units
The following outcomes count as attempted (but not as completed) in the Pace SAP calculation:
- Incomplete*
- Failed
- Withdrawn
- More than one repeat of any previously passed course
The following attempted or completed courses do not count in your Pace SAP calculation:
- Correspondence
- Audit
- Credit by exam
*Incomplete classes that are later converted into a grade will be counted in the GPA and Pace standards in accordance with the Registrar's Incomplete Grade Policy.
Federal financial aid is meant to enable you to make progress toward the completion of your degree(s). To calculate academic progress, the University of Arizona sets a maximum timeframe in which you are expected to finish a program.
Students who fail to meet the Maximum Timeframe Standard will be placed in “Financial Aid Suspended Status” the first time, there is no “Financial Aid Warning Status” for this SAP standard. All semesters and credit hours attempted are used toward the Maximum Timeframe Standard regardless of whether the student received financial aid. All repeated courses, failed courses, withdrawals, courses taken from a change in major and transferred hours will count as credit hours attempted toward the MaximumtTimeframe.
Maximum attempted units are defined below:
MAXIMUM TIMEFRAME | |
---|---|
Undergraduate | 150% program length |
Graduate | Monitored by Graduate College |
Law | Monitored by Law College |
Medicine | Monitored by College of Medicine |
Pharmacy | Monitored by College of Pharmacy |
According to federal regulations, students who fail to make satisfactory academic progress towards their degree or certificate will lose their ability to receive federal student aid.
Students who fail to meet any of the three SAP standards will lose their ability to receive most types of financial aid, including institutional and federal financial aid.
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine students are monitored by their respective colleges.
Understand Your SAP Status
Financial Aid Warning Status
The first semester you do not meet either the GPA or PACE SAP standards, you will be placed in Financial Aid Warning Status. During the subsequent semester you are still eligible for financial aid, however you are one semester away from losing your financial aid eligibility.
Financial Aid Suspension Status
If at the end of your warning semester you are still not meeting the PACE or GPA SAP standards, you are then placed in Financial Aid Suspension Status. For the Maximum Timeframe SAP standard, you will be placed in fFinancial Aid Suspension Status the first time you do not meet the standard. You cannot receive federal or institutional financial aid while in the Financial Aid Suspension Status. However, you may submit a SAP appeal to regain eligibility.
-
Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal
If you’re placed on Financial Aid Suspension, you may file SAP Appeal to request reconsideration of your eligibility for financial aid funds. You must provide an academic plan and clearly explain why your SAP requirements weren’t met and provide proper documentation to support these extenuating circumstances (including if you believe you’ve regained eligibility due to submission of late grades or grade changes). Also, moving forward, indicate how you will improve your academic performance. Outline the changes you might have made in your personal, social, or economic situation that will allow you to improve your future academic success. The SAP appeal process also requires you to meet with your college academic advisor to discuss your academic progress and to review your academic plan. Your academic advisor is required to complete a section of your SAP appeal form.
Financial Aid SAP Academic Plan Status
If your SAP appeal is approved, you will be placed on a probation status of Academic Plan for one semester. You will be eligible to receive financial aid for this semester and you must successfully follow your SAP Probationary Conditions (and for Maximum Timeframe students, your Maximum Timeframe Academic Plan) while in this status. You will be monitored by OSFA at the end of each semester.
- If you meet SAP standards at the end of the semester, you will be placed back into a Meets SAP Status and you will be eligible to receive financial aid for the next semester.
- If you do not meet SAP standards at the end of the semester but meet your probationary conditions, you will remain in an Academic Plan status and will not need to submit an additional appeal to receive financial aid for the next semester.
- If you do not meet your probationary conditions (and for Maximum Timeframe students, your Maximum Timeframe Academic Plan), you will be placed back on the Financial Aid Suspension status and you will not be eligible for financial aid. You may appeal this status by submitting a new SAP Appeal (with new extenuating circumstances) in order for your aid eligibility to be re-reviewed.
We understand you might have questions about how this could impact your funding and your options moving forward. If you were placed in a warning status, here is a list of frequently asked questions to help you plan for the upcoming semester:
- Can I get out of the ‘Financial Aid Warning’ status and regain my ‘Meeting SAP Standards’ status?
Yes! If you were placed in Financial Aid Warning status because of your GPA and/or PACE you will have one semester to attempt to meet those standards. If at the end of the semester you are now meeting these standards, you will be placed back to the ‘Meeting SAP’ status. - What happens if I do not meet SAP standards at the end of my warning semester?
If you are still not meeting SAP standards at the end of your warning semester, you will no longer be eligible for financial aid. If extenuating circumstances prevented you from meeting SAP standards, you may be eligible to submit a SAP appeal, which must be approved by our office to continue to receive aid for an additional semester. - What resources are available on campus to support me? Across the Arizona campus, there are countless individuals dedicated to your success and we encourage you to take advantage of some of the services that are available to you, including:
- Academic advising appointments
- Think Tank tutoring and exam prep
- Student Engagement and Career Development
- SOS is a free service that provides answers to any and all questions whenever you need help – 24/7
- Campus Health
- Counseling and Psych Services (CAPS)
OSFA completes the review of students' SAP statuses after the completion of each semester. All periods of the student’s enrollment count when assessing progress, even periods in which the student did not receive federal financial aid. Reviews typically begin two to three weeks after the end of each semester as we must wait until grades have been posted.
Semester |
Semester End Date |
Review Timeline |
Summer 2024 - all sessions |
August 16, 2024 |
September 3 - Sep 13, 2024 |
Fall 2024 - all sessions |
December 19, 2024 |
January 2 - January 16, 2025 |
Winter 2024 |
January 14, 2025 |
January 2 - January 16, 2025 |
Please note:
- OSFA will review SAP standards for students whose grades have been posted for the respective semester. Subsequent reviews will take place to capture any students with later grade submissions.
- Incomplete grades count towards the SAP calculation at the time SAP is processed. Once you have a grade that replaces your incomplete, your SAP status will not be reevaluated until the following term you are enrolled.
- The review period after each fall semester is greater than the standard two to three weeks due to the University Winter Closure
- For SAP calculation purposes, winter units are considered as part of the fall semester
Following our review, students will be notified if they are in warning or suspended status via emails and/or To Do List notification in their UAccess Student Center. Students can review their SAP status by:
- Navigating to the Financial Aid Summary page
- Clicking the Satisfactory Academic Progress link near the bottom of the page. There students will find current SAP Status, Financial Aid Eligibility, and the most recent semester used to calculate SAP status.
![Satisfactory Academic Progress](/https/financialaid.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/styles/az_medium/public/2022-04/SAP%20not%20meeting%20example_0.jpg.webp?itok=M2i1y8tc)
Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Forms
FORM TYPE | SUBMISSION DEADLINE |
---|---|
Fall 2024 SAP Appeal form Complete if not meeting cumulative GPA and/or Pace |
December 5, 2024 |
Fall 2024 SAP Appeal Maximum Timeframe Academic Plan Complete if not meeting Maximum Timeframe (and GPA and/or Pace) |
December 5, 2024 |
The Summer 2024 SAP Appeal deadline has passed.
Appeals must be submitted by the established deadline depending on the semester you want to receive financial aid. Incomplete or late appeals may jeopardize the reviewing of your appeal in a time frame that would allow the disbursement of financial aid.
Federal student financial aid may be awarded to cover the cost of courses previously taken to improve a failing grade. However, once a student passes a course, Financial Aid may only be awarded for one subsequent attempt. All attempts, even if aid was not received, will count in the SAP calculation. Please review the Financial Aid Policy for Repeat Coursework web page for further information on the number of times a course can be retaken to still receive financial aid.
For repeated coursework, the initial course and repeated course are included in all SAP Calculations: GPA, Pace, and Maximum Time Frame.
- For the Maximum Timeframe calculation, each repeat attempt of a course is factored into the calculation as attempted credits.
- For the Pace calculation, any 2nd repeat of a course that was previously passed (with a D or better, including Pass grade) will be counted only as attempted (but not as completed).
- For the GPA calculation, any grade received for a repeat course will be factored in.
The University of Arizona’s academic repeat policy is different from the federal financial aid repeat regulations. Academic policies surrounding repeat coursework can be found through the Office of the Registrar, at the Registrar website.
If you withdraw from a course, those units will be factored into the pace calculation and will count as attempted, but not completed, in the timeframe calculation.
You may choose to take additional coursework at another institution while also being enrolled at Arizona. If you plan on receiving financial aid to cover courses taken at both institutions, you will need to complete a Consortium Agreement.
The outcomes of these additional courses may impact your SAP status in the following ways:
- GPA: Units taken at another institution that are transferred back to Arizona are not counted in your cumulative GPA calculation.
- Pace: Passing units taken at another institution that are transferred back to Arizona will count as attempted and completed in your Pace calculation. Please note that only ‘C’ grades or better will count toward attempted and completed.
- Maximum Timeframe: Units taken at another institution that are transferred back to Arizona (C or better) will count in your Maximum Timeframe calculation.
All students participating in a consortium agreement must submit official transcripts from the visited institution(s) immediately after the semester in which courses were taken under the agreement. Please note, due to the timeframe in which official transcript(s) are received and transfer units are evaluated, your SAP status may be determined before the transferred consortium units are posted to your academic record by Arizona.
Credit hours transferred from other schools that are accepted toward completion of your program at the University of Arizona count as hours attempted and hours completed in the SAP calculation. However, transfer credit hours are not included in the calculation of your grade point average.