USU Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

Receiving federal financial aid requires making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) toward your degree — a federal standard that's separate from USU's own academic requirements. This means you can be in good academic standing at USU but still lose your federal aid. These standards apply to every semester you've attended USU, even semesters when you didn't receive aid. If you have a disability that may affect your academic progress, the Disability Resource Center can talk through possible accommodations. Additional academic support is available through ABLE.

Grade Point Average

To maintain aid eligibility, all students must meet a minimum cumulative GPA:

• 2.0 for undergraduates
• 3.0 for graduate students

Note: Failed transfer courses are not counted against your GPA for financial aid purposes. Failing USU courses can create a Pace problem — see below.

Pace

To maintain aid eligibility, all students must successfully complete a minimum percentage of attempted courses, known as Pace:

• Undergraduates must pass at least 67% of attempted courses.
• Graduate students must pass at least 50% of attempted courses.
• F, W, and incomplete grades, as well as repeated and audited courses, do not count as passing.
• Withdrawing from courses to protect your GPA can still hurt your Pace, even if your GPA looks fine.

Note: Transfer courses that were failed or withdrawn do not count against your Pace. Please review our frequently asked questions about Pace.

What Happens Next?

Your GPA and Pace are reviewed at the end of every semester, once all grades have been posted to your USU transcript. If there's a problem, your future aid will be placed on hold and you'll be notified by email with next steps.

Keep in mind that repeated Pace issues can lead to a maximum timeframe suspension, which affects your long-term aid eligibility. Please keep reading for important details.

Maximum Timeframe

Federal aid has a credit limit: you can only receive aid for so long before you're expected to have finished your degree. This is called your maximum timeframe.

Here's how it works: for every credit your degree requires, federal rules give you 1.5 credits worth of attempts to complete it. So if your bachelor's degree requires 120 credits to graduate, you have up to 180 credits of financial aid eligibility to get there.

That extra cushion exists for a reason — it gives you room to change your major, retake a course, or navigate a tough semester without immediately losing your aid. But it's not unlimited, and once you hit your program's maximum, your financial aid stops.

Every degree program has its own credit requirement, so the maximum timeframe depends on your program.

• Check the table below to find the limit for your specific program.
• Incoming transfer students who exceed the limits below are not eligible for federal aid but may appeal for consideration.
• If your technical or post-bachelor's certificates are designed to be completed in one semester, your maximum timeframe is also one semester. For certificates that require more than 24 credits, you have up to 150% of the program length to finish.
• For maximum timeframe, attempted credits include all graded USU courses, transfer courses with passing grades, testing credits, Pass/Fails, repeats, as well as Fs, Incompletes, Rs, Ws, and WFs.

Maximum Undergraduate Timeframe Limits

Maximum Graduate Timeframe Limits

Graduate students have a 200% maximum timeframe — so for a 30-credit program, you have up to 60 credits of aid eligibility to complete it.

Some graduate programs require more credits than the standard limit. If your program requires more, reach out to your federal aid counselor to coordinate your specific timeframe.

Maximum Time Frame Notifications

Your maximum timeframe is monitored throughout each semester. As you approach your program's credit limit, your future aid will be placed on hold and you'll receive an email from the financial aid office explaining your status and next steps.

Heads up: You may be ineligible for federal aid even if you're applying for the first time. If your cumulative GPA, Pace, or maximum timeframe was already out of compliance before you applied, that history still counts. We'll email you to let you know your options.

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Federal Aid Warning

If your GPA and/or Pace drops below the required standard, you'll be placed on financial aid warning and notified by email. You'll continue receiving federal aid for one semester under this status, but if your GPA and Pace don't meet the minimum standard by the end of that semester, you'll lose aid eligibility at USU.

Here's an example: if you have a difficult fall semester and are placed on financial aid warning, you'll still receive aid for spring. But if your GPA and/or Pace are still below the required standard at the end of spring, your financial aid will be suspended.

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Federal Aid Suspension

If your financial aid is suspended after your warning semester, you're no longer eligible for federal aid at USU, including grants, work-study, and federal student loans.

• Academic suspension from USU also results in financial aid suspension, regardless of your GPA or Pace.
• Financial aid suspension at USU doesn't automatically affect your aid eligibility at another institution.
• Financial aid suspension doesn't prevent you from continuing at USU. In some cases, you may be able to attend at your own expense while you work to bring your GPA or Pace back up to the required standard.

Appealing Federal Aid Suspension

If your federal aid has been suspended, you have the right to appeal. A successful appeal is possible when you experienced special circumstances in the past that affected your academic progress — and those circumstances have since been resolved or are now under control.

• Special circumstances can include things like a serious illness or injury, a family emergency, or the death of an immediate family member.
• To start an appeal, contact our office and we'll walk you through the online process.
• Note: Maximum timeframe suspensions have a separate appeal process — see below.

An appeal is your opportunity to explain in writing what happened and show that things have changed. You'll describe the circumstances that disrupted your academic progress and demonstrate that those circumstances have been resolved enough that you can be successful going forward. In some cases, a federal aid counselor may ask for supporting documentation.

If your appeal is approved, you'll be able to continue receiving aid under financial aid probation status.

Financial Aid Probation

If your appeal is approved, you'll receive federal aid on financial aid probation. As part of your probation, you'll be given specific conditions to meet through an academic plan. These are the benchmarks you need to hit to keep your aid. If you don't meet those conditions by the end of the probationary period, your aid will be suspended again.

Appealing Maximum Time Suspension

If your federal aid has been suspended due to maximum timeframe, you have the right to appeal. Common reasons for a successful appeal include things like exploring different majors before finding the right fit, or family and work circumstances that slowed your progress.

To appeal, you and your academic advisor will need to submit a graduation plan showing a realistic path to finishing your degree. If approved, you'll receive aid under maximum timeframe probation — with specific conditions to meet each semester to keep your aid active. If those conditions aren't met, your aid may be placed on hold before you graduate.

Before you go through the full appeal process, it's worth checking whether a federal aid petition might resolve your situation instead. In some cases, a petition can reduce your credit count enough to bring you back under the limit — no appeal necessary.

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Federal Aid Petitions

Federal aid rules are designed with the typical student path in mind, but your path may not be typical. If you transferred credits, took concurrent enrollment courses, changed your major, or are pursuing an additional degree, some of those credits may be counting against your Pace or maximum timeframe even though they don't reflect your current program.

In many of these situations, you have the option to petition the financial aid office to have those credits reconsidered. The sections below outline what's possible. If your situation applies, reach out to our office and we'll help you figure out your options.

Transfer Courses Petition

Only passing grades from transfer courses count toward your maximum timeframe. If you have transfer courses that don't apply to your current program, you can petition the financial aid office to have them excluded from your Pace and maximum timeframe calculations.

Concurrent Enrollment & Advanced Placement Credits Petition

If you have Concurrent Enrollment or Advanced Placement credits that don't apply to your current program, you can petition the financial aid office to have them excluded from your maximum timeframe calculation.

Additional Majors, Emphases, AS + AAS Petition

If you're pursuing an additional major, emphasis, AS, or AAS, you can petition the financial aid office to extend your maximum timeframe by the number of credits your additional program requires.

Important: Once you've completed enough credits to fulfill your first bachelor's degree, you're no longer eligible for Federal Pell Grant funding even if you haven't officially graduated yet. If this applies to you, reach out to our office before it affects your aid.

Previous Majors or Programs Petition

If you've changed your major or program, you can petition the financial aid office to remove up to 35 credits from your previous program from your Pace and maximum timeframe calculations.

If you're currently in a technical certificate program and have an uncompleted AS or AAS on your record, you can petition to have that prior program excluded from your maximum timeframe calculation.