Satisfactory Academic Progress - Graduate Level
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Enrollment in Graduate Program Financial aid recipients must take only courses which apply to their graduate program. Prerequisite undergraduate courses do not count toward enrollment status for graduate level financial assistance. Students enrolled in pre-requisite classes may qualify for senior class (undergraduate level) Stafford Loan limits for a maximum of 12 months. In these special cases, the completion rate and minimum cumulative grade point average of this policy apply. Special students and guest students are not eligible for financial assistance. Cumulative Grade Point Average Financial aid recipients are required to maintain a minimum grade point average as they progress toward achievement of their degree. Graduate and pre-requisite students will be evaluated as follows: New pre-requisite students – Must be taking only classes that are required pre-requisites OR a combination of required pre-requisite classes and graduate-level courses needed for the intended major. Courses must be approved by their graduate advisor and a copy of the approval must be submitted to the Student Financial Assistance office before the first term begins. New graduate students ‑ Must be admitted to Graduate Studies in a specific degree program. Transfer graduate students ‑ Must have minimum transfer graduate point average of 3.0 and be admitted to Graduate Studies in specific degree program. Continuing and readmission graduate students ‑ Must have minimum USI graduate cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and be in "good standing" as a graduate student in a specific major. NOTE: Certain courses (e.g. business courses numbered 501) do not automatically produce a graduate grade point average. A grade point average from such courses will be manually calculated to determine financial aid eligibility. Successful Completion Rate Students’ overall successful completion rate for USI graduate coursework is evaluated each semester. Students who have successfully completed a minimum of 67 percent of all attempted hours, and otherwise comply with the SAP policy, are considered to be making financial assistance satisfactory academic progress. Note that overall attempted hours include prerequisite hours required for the graduate program. Students whose overall successful completion rate falls below 67 percent will be placed on financial aid probation. Students placed on probation have one semester in which to establish a 67 percent successful completion rate for all courses appearing on the USI academic transcript. Failure to establish at least a 67 percent overall successful completion rate by the end of the probationary term will result in suspension of financial aid eligibility. Note: Courses in which a passing grade is earned are considered successfully completed. Courses in which a failing grade, no pass grade, incomplete, or withdrawal is assigned are not successfully completed. Exceptions to the Completion Rate Rule A student who receives financial assistance and fails to earn academic credit will have aid eligibility suspended at the end of the term. This includes students who withdraw from the term after receiving financial assistance. Maximum Timeframe Graduate students are limited to a maximum number of attempted credits (including transfer graduate credits and survey courses - e.g. business courses numbered 501) in pursuit of a master's degree. Federal regulations limit a student to 150 percent of the published timeframe for a particular program. This limit imposes the following maximum attempted hours for the majors listed. Maximum Attempted Hours 49: IM – Industrial Management; MALS - Liberal Studies; MSA - Accounting; and MSED – Secondary Education
Maximum Attempted
Hours 59:
MEED – Elementary Education; MHA – Health Maximum Attempted Hours 63: ACNP – Acute Care Nurse Practitioner; FNP – Family Nurse Practitioner Maximum Attempted Hours 68: MBA – Business Administration Maximum Attempted Hours 92: MSWT – Social Work Students pursuing second and subsequent graduate degrees are limited to 120 attempted credits including credit given for prior graduate studies. Transfer Credits Graduate credits accepted by USI from other institutions will be used in both the maximum timeframe and cumulative GPA evaluations. While the cumulative GPA will be determined by the Registrar using only credits attempted at USI, credits transferred to USI will count as credits attempted and credits earned. Incompletes and Course Repeats Incomplete grades must be converted to a passing grade by the end of the following regular term (fall or spring). Incompletes which remain beyond the following term will be considered unsuccessful completion for financial aid purposes. Graduate courses in which the minimum grade requirement is not met may be repeated only one time for financial aid purposes. Each occurrence on the academic transcript of a repeated course counts toward the maximum attempted credit limit stated under "Successful Completion Rate". Probation Satisfactory academic progress will be evaluated at the end of the Fall, Spring, and Summer. Probation with continuing financial assistance will be imposed for students who do not comply with this policy (except in cases of a one-term, zero percent completion rate in which case immediate suspension applies). Students placed on probation will have one semester to establish satisfactory academic progress. Suspension Students who fail to establish satisfactory academic progress after being placed on probation for one semester will have their financial aid eligibility suspended until they comply with this policy. (Note: A one-term successful completion rate zero percent will also result in suspension.) Mitigating Circumstances If a student's failure to maintain satisfactory academic progress is a result of illness, family circumstances, or other conditions beyond the student's control, the student may appeal to the Financial Assistance Advisory Committee for a waiver of this policy. All such appeals must be submitted within 60 days of the end of the term in question and documentation by a third party (e.g. doctor, counselor, or attorney) will be required when applicable. Appeals should be sent to the following address:
Advisory and
Appeals Committee Students will receive a written response to their appeal within 45 days. Appeals submitted less than 30 days prior to the start of a term for which assistance is desired may not be processed before tuition and fees are due. Students must be prepared to pay their tuition and fees pending the outcome of their appeal.
No financial
assistance, including Stafford Loans, will be reinstated for prior
terms in which the student was not in compliance with this
policy. REV. 01/06 Effective fall, 2006
Reasonable Academic Progress
(Before Fall 2006)
Enrollment in
Graduate Program
Cumulative Grade
Point Average New pre-requisite students – Must be taking only classes that are required pre-requisites and graduate-level courses required for the intended major. Courses must be approved by graduate advisor and copy of approval submitted to the Student Financial Assistance office before first term begins
New graduate
students ‑ Must be admitted to Graduate Studies in a specific degree Transfer graduate students ‑ Must have minimum transfer graduate point average of 3.0 and be admitted to Graduate Studies in specific degree program. Continuing and readmission graduate students ‑ Must have minimum USI graduate cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and be in "good standing" as a graduate student. NOTE: Certain courses (e.g. business courses numbered 501) do not automatically produce a graduate grade point average. A grade point average from such courses will be manually calculated to determine financial aid eligibility.
Successful
Completion Rate
Successful completion of 50 percent but less than 100 percent of attempted credits in a term or semester will result in probation. A successful completion rate of less than 50 percent in a term or semester will result in suspension of aid eligibility. Graduate students are limited to 56 attempted credits including transfer graduate credits and survey courses (e.g. business courses numbered 501) in pursuit of a master's degree. Students pursuing second and subsequent graduate degrees are limited to 101 attempted credits including credit given for prior graduate studies.
Transfer Credits
Incompletes and
Course Repeats
Probation
Suspension
Mitigating
Circumstances
Advisory
and Appeals Committee
Students will
receive a written response to their appeal within 45 days. Appeals
submitted less than 30 days prior to the start of a term for which
assistance is desired may not be processed before tuition and fees
are due. Students must be prepared to pay their tuition and fees
pending the outcome of their appeal. Admission
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