Satisfactory Academic Progress

A school’s SAP standards must be applied consistently, and must include both a qualitative and a quantitative measure. A maximum time frame for program completion and a minimum quality standard, such as grade point average, must be established. A student’s quantitative progress must be assessed each academic year, at a minimum. Federal regulations permit a school to establish its own maximum time frame for program completion, provided the school’s time frame for an undergraduate program does not exceed 150% of the published program length.

In measuring SAP for subsequent disbursement, the school is not required to develop a system that is separate from the system the school already has established for verifying progress for subsequent disbursements of other Title IV Programs. However, the progress standards for Title IV aid recipients must be at least as restrictive as those used for students not receiving aid.

There is an online FSA Satisfactory Academic Progress Module available through the Assessments Section – Tools for Schools via the IFAP Web site that would be beneficial for schools to use in reviewing or developing a SAP policy.

Federal Regulations:

• [34CFR 668.16(e)], Standards of administrative capability
• [34 CFR 668.32(f)], Student eligibility -- general
• [34 CFR 668.34], Satisfactory progress
• [34CFR 668.42(c)], Financial assistance information
• Volume 1, Chapter 1 of the 2003-04 Federal Student Aid Handbook
• NASFAA Monograph #14 -- Satisfactory Academic Progress: A Balancing Act
• NASFAA Self Evaluation Guide
• FSA Assessment Tools
  
  

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