To receive financial aid, you must meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements. SAP measures a student's successful completion of coursework that is applied to an eligible degree-seeking program. Regulations require that all students who receive the benefit of Federal Title IV assistance must maintain SAP requirements.
At the end of each Spring semester, Lamar will evaluate the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for students receiving federal student aid.
For assistance setting up your Student Forms account, please visit THIS LINK. If you have already created your Student Forms account, please log in and submit all documents regarding your SAP appeal.
To maintain eligibility for financial aid, you must meet the following minimum SAP standards at the time of evaluation:
Failure to maintain these standards will result in the suspension of your financial aid and the loss of your financial aid eligibility.
The cumulative GPA at LU will be evaluated in determining if a student is meeting the GPA standards.
2. Pace/Completion Rate
All LU credit hours, transfer hours recorded by LU, remedial, repeat, audit, and hours removed by academic fresh start will be evaluated to determine if you are meeting the required 67% completion rate component for SAP. Your pace is calculated by dividing the cumulative number of hours you have successfully completed by the cumulative number of hours you have attempted. A completion rate of 66.67% or higher will be rounded to 67%.
Example 1: John has attempted 36 credit hours at the time of the SAP review. He has ‘successfully completed’ 30 credit hours (83% of the hours attempted). He is meeting the Pace standard for SAP.
Example 2: Sarah has attempted 108 credit hours at the time of the SAP review. She has ‘successfully completed’ 69 credit hours (64% of the hours attempted). She is NOT meeting the Pace standard for SAP.
3. Maximum Time Frame for Degree Completion
Undergraduate and Graduate/Professional students are eligible to receive financial assistance for a limited period of time while pursuing a degree. The number of credit hours a student attempts cannot exceed 150% of the credit hours required for completion in the chosen program of study, as published in the University catalog. Credit hours are cumulative; thus, students working towards obtaining more than one degree in the same category (e.g., two bachelor’s degrees) may exceed the maximum allowed hours. Additional degrees are NOT evaluated independently. Transfer credit hours posted to the official transcript record, remedial, repeat, and all courses removed through the Academic Fresh Start process will be counted as attempted credit hours, whether or not they are applicable to your current degree.
Example: Emily's degree program requires 120 credit hours, 120 multiplied by 150% equals 180. Emily must complete her program before exceeding 180 credit hours.
Financial Aid Suspension
You will be placed on financial aid suspension, resulting in the loss of your financial aid, if either of the following situations occurs:
You will be notified by email if your financial aid has been suspended. Also, your academic progress, located in , will be updated to one of the following suspension codes.
If your financial aid has been suspended it is possible to re-establish your financial aid eligibility. To re-establish eligibility, you must:
A. Enroll in courses at your own expense in a subsequent term(s) until all standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress are met, or
B. Have an approved appeal on file.
Appeal Process
If one of the following extenuating circumstances have prevented you from meeting the financial aid SAP standards, you may be eligible to appeal the suspension of your financial aid.
A complete appeal consists of the following:
1. The SAP Appeal Worksheet (found on your self-service banner), which includes:
2. Documentation or evidence of your extenuating circumstances to support any claims (i.e.: letter from physician, counselor, therapist, academic advisor, hospital documentation, etc.) Providing supporting documentation is required for all SAP appeals. If you fail to provide documentation, your appeal will not be reviewed and will automatically be denied.
Review Timeline
Appeals completed by the priority deadline may take 10-15 business days for review. Any appeal received after the priority deadline may take up to three weeks for review. If the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, you must submit no later than the following business day.
Please note that submission of an appeal does not guarantee an approval. Do not miss class while waiting on a decision. You are responsible for meeting any payment deadline while waiting on an appeal decision.
The Appeal Decision
Appeals that are incomplete or are illegible will not be reviewed. You will be notified through your LU email if we are unable to review your appeal. Once reviewed, all appeal decisions will be sent to your LU email account. Also, your academic progress will be updated in your self-service banner account to one of the codes listed below to reflect the appeal decision.
Approved Appeal Codes consists of:
Denied Appeal Codes consists of:
If your appeal is DENIED, any aid already awarded for the applicable term will be canceled. If denied, you may request to have your appeal reviewed by the Financial Aid Appeal Committee (the committee’s decision is final). If your appeal is denied, you may re-establish financial aid eligibility, see the section above titled "Re-Establishing Financial Aid Eligibility".
If your appeal is APPROVED you will be placed on probation and financial aid will be reinstated for one semester. While on probation you will be assigned one of the academic plans listed below to aid you in meeting the minimum SAP standards. At the end of the probationary period (one semester), you must either;
A. Meet overall SAP standards, or
B. Meet the requirements of your assigned academic plan
Academic Plan for GPA deficiency (GPA below the required minimum)
Students who break the GPA Academic Plan conditions will not be allowed to reappeal until the following conditions are met:
Academic Plan for Pace deficiency (Cumulative SAP is below the required 67%)
If you break your academic plan agreement, you will not be able to appeal your suspension again until you meet the following requirements.
Academic Plan for Maximum Time Frame
If you break your academic plan agreement, you will not be allowed to re-appeal. Your aid will remain denied until you graduate.
You will be required to sign an academic plan before any future financial aid is released to you. If your academic plan changes, you will be required to sign off on the new plan.
If you meet the conditions listed in item B, but are still not meeting overall SAP standards, you will remain on probation for the subsequent term and must continue to follow the academic plan assigned to you.
Failure to meet conditions of the plan assigned to you, will result in the denial of your financial aid. Subsequent appeals of the same nature will not be allowed. Your financial aid will remain denied until you re-establish eligibility for financial aid (see below).
If you breach your academic plan agreement, and your financial aid has been denied due to GPA or Pace deficiency, it is still possible to re-establish your financial aid eligibility for future terms. To re-establish eligibility, you must:
A. Enroll in courses at your own expense in a subsequent term(s) until all standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress are met, or
B. Have an approved appeal on file.
If you have been denied aid for breaking your academic plan conditions, you will be allowed to re-appeal once you meet the following conditions over a subsequent term at LU without the assistance of financial aid.
Once you meet the conditions in item A or B listed above, notify the Student Aid office by emailing financialaid@lamar.edu from your student email account. If it is determined that you are meeting overall SAP standards, your status will be changed to good and you will regain eligibility for financial aid. If you are still not meeting overall SAP standards but have met the conditions listed in item B above, you will be eligible to re-appeal. If your appeal is approved, you will be placed back on an academic plan (reference the section titled, “The Appeal Decision”).
If your financial aid has been denied due to not meeting the Maximum Time-Frame requirement, you will remain ineligible to receive financial aid at 91制片厂 until a degree has been obtained and you return under a different student class,( e.g., You earn your bachelor’s degree and return as a graduate student ).
If your SAP appeal is denied, or if you are not eligible to appeal the suspension of your financial aid, you will be responsible for all costs associated with your enrollment. Student Aid will certify a private educational loan if you secure and are approved by a private lender. You may contact our office for more information.
Hazlewood SAP will be evaluated after each term concludes. Failure to maintain the following standards will result in the suspension of the Hazlewood exemption.
If your hazlewood has been suspended it is possible to re-establish eligibility. To re-establish eligibility, you must:
A. Enroll in courses at your own expense in a subsequent term(s) until all standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress are met.
-OR-
B. Have an approved appeal on file.
Appeal Process
If one of the following extenuating circumstances have prevented you from meeting the financial aid SAP standards, you may be eligible to appeal the suspension of your hazlewood exemption.
If none of the above-mentioned items have prevented you from meeting SAP, you are ineligible to appeal and your exemption will remain suspended until meeting the SAP standards for the benefit.
To complete a Hazlewood Appeal, visit /forms/veterans-affairs/hazelwood-exemption-appeal.html.