Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress

In order to remain eligible to receive federal financial aid, students must continue to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) guidelines:

Students must earn 67% of the credits they attempt. This is monitored on a cumulative basis. The completion rate is calculated at the end of each semester by dividing the number of credits earned by the number of credits attempted. Additionally students who enroll in a semester and fail to earn any credits in the semester will be found to be failing pace requirements, even if they are passing the 67% pace requirement.

Click here for Pace Calculator

sample pace scenarios:

Example 1:

Student A has attempted 45 credits over the course of their first 3 semesters of attendance. The student received a failing grade in 3 classes totaling 9 credits. They earned 36 credits.

36 Total Credits Earned ÷ 45 Total Credits Attempted = .80 or 80% Completion Rate

Student A is meeting the Pace Requirement.

Example 2:

Student B has attempted 45 credits over the course of their first 3 semesters of attendance. The student received failing grades from classes totaling 24 credits. They earned 21 credits.

21 Total Credits Earned ÷ 45 Total Credits Attempted = .47 or 47% Completion Rate

Student B is NOT meeting the Pace Requirement.

Example 3:

Student C has attempted 45 credits and earned 40 credits over the course of their first 3 semesters of attendance.

Entering the fourth semester their pace is 88% (40/45).

In the fourth semester the student received a grade of F in each of the 4 classes (12 credits) for which they were enrolled. Their calculated pace would be 70%

40 Total Credits Earned ÷ 57 Total Credits Attempted = .70 or 70% Completion Rate.

However, because the student enrolled in 12 credits in term four and earned zero credits, they are considered to be failing pace. * Similarly, a term withdrawal will also result in a failure to meet guidelines because the student will have attempted 12 credits and earned none of them.*

*Students receive a SAP status of Warning if they fail to meet the SAP guidelines for a semester but were not on Warning in the previous semester.

Students are no longer eligible to receive federal financial aid once they have attempted 150% of the credits required to complete their degree. A 120 credit program must be completed by the time a student has attempted 180 credits. See the charts below to determine the maximum allowable credits for your program.

Click here for the Maximum Time Frame Worksheet

Sample Maximum Time Frame Scenario:

Student D has attempted a total of 190 credits while working towards their undergraduate degree. Their degree requires them to pass a total of 120 credits.

190 Total Credits Attempted ÷ 120 Total Credits Required for Academic Program = 1.58 or 158%

Student D is NOT meeting the Maximum Time Frame Requirement because they have attempted 158% of the credits required for degree completion.

Maximum Time Frame Limits - 150% of Credits

West Campus Programs

Degree	Maximum Allowable Attempted Credits
Bachelor of Arts	180
Bachelor of Science	180
Bachelor of Engineering	192
Second Baccalaureate Program	240

Health Science Center Programs

Program	Maximum Allowable Attempted Credits
Athletic Training	195
BS/MS Adult Health Nursing	192
BS/MS Child Health	192
BS/MS Midwifery	192
BS/MS Neonatal Health1	192
BS/MS Perinatal Women Health	192
BS/MS Psychiatric/Mental Health	192
BSHS/MSOT Health Science	184.5
Clinical Laboratory Sciences	228
Health Science	189
Nursing Accelerated One Year	189
Nursing Basic Two Year	192
Registered Nurse PT	192
Respiratory Care	219
Social Work	186

If you do not meet the minimum guidelines, you will lose your federal eligibility. Federal Financial Aid programs that require students to meet SAP include:

Federal Pell Grants
Federal SEOG Grants
Federal Direct Stafford Loan
Federal Work Study
Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan

Federal SAP Appeal Deadline Dates

Summer 2024 appeals must be submitted by July 15, 2024.

Fall 2024 appeals must be submitted by October 1, 2024.

Spring 2025 appeals must be submitted by March 3, 2025.

Federal SAP Status
If a student is failing to meet the FedSAP pace or GPA requirements, he/she will first receive a Warning. A Warning status allows students to receive federal aid for the semester, and he/she should use this semester to return their academic record to within compliance.
Students who are still not meeting SAP requirements after their Warning semester, or those who have exceeded the maximum time frame, will be notified that they are ineligible to receive federal financial aid.

Students will have their financial aid eligibility automatically restored in a future term once they meet all of the FedSAP guidelines.
Federal SAP Appeal Process
Students who are notified that they are ineligible will receive an email with their appeal form. Students will need to submit their appeal and supporting documentation by the deadline date listed. In limited circumstances, a student may receive an email with their appeal from after the deadline posted. In these limited cases, students will have two weeks from the date of the email communication to submit their appeal.

The appeal form submitted will need to include:
- An explanation as to why the student failed to meet SAP requirements (students must establish that their failure to meet SAP guidelines were a result of external circumstances beyond their control)
- An explanation as to what has changed that will allow the students to meet SAP requirements moving forward
- An academic plan that will define how long it will take the student to restore their academic record to a point where they meet the SAP requirements
Outcome of Appeals
If the appeal is granted, the student will be either be placed on Probation or on an Academic Plan:
- Financial Aid Probation - Financial aid eligibility is reinstated for one term only and SAP requirements must be met at the end of the term or financial aid eligibility will be suspended
- Academic Plan - Financial aid eligibility is reinstated and monitored on a term by term basis to ensure students are meeting the specific terms as outlined in the appeal submitted by the student. Note: In order to determine a student's SAP status each term, incomplete grades are considered credits that are not earned. Students placed on an academic plan who must earn all credits attempted will fail the conditions of their plan if an official grade is not posted by the add/drop deadline for the term.
If the appeal is denied, the student remains ineligible to receive federal financial aid. Students may submit an additional appeal after they have completed at least one additional term of attendance at Stony Brook University and their academic record indicates that the student successfully completed and passed all classes for which they were enrolled. Without an approved appeal, students will remain ineligible to receive federal financial aid until they meet all of the FedSAP guidelines.

Students are notified of the appeal determination at their Stony Brook email address.

Students whose petition was denied because they had exceeded the maximum allowable attempted credits cannot submit an additional appeal.
Federal SAP & Summer Enrollment
When is summer federal financial aid eligibility determined?
Academic Standing and FedSAP are run after spring grades have been recorded in the system. Because the grades are generally not recorded prior to the start of summer session one, some "at risk" students may have to wait for these processes to run in order to find out if they will receive financial aid for the summer.

What defines an "at risk" student?

A student whose most current FedSAP status prior to the spring term is either:
- Warning,
- Probation,
- Not Meet,
- or if you previously received a notification from the financial aid office that you were approaching the maximum time frame limit.
Will I be awarded financial aid for the summer?

Students who are not "at risk" will be awarded summer financial aid soon after the May 1st summer award packaging date.

Students who were "at risk" will be awarded summer financial aid mid-June if they are found to be eligible, based on their new FedSAP standing. Students found to be ineligible to receive federal financial aid will be notified by the financial aid office.

How do my summer grades impact my financial aid eligibility moving forward?

If you choose to enroll in summer courses the outcome for the term is an important factor in determining your financial aid eligibility for your next term of enrollment.

Here is what you need to know:
- Course withdrawals, and other forms of unearned attempted credits ( for example: NC, F grades) will negatively impact your pace.
- Your summer term GPA will impact your CUM GPA, which in addition to pace, is also a key factor in determining financial aid eligibility.
Federal SAP FAQ's
- If you currently fail to meet the standards but you met the standards the last time your record was evaluated, you will be placed on a status of Warning. The goal is to use this Warning semester to bring your academic record to within compliance.
  
  If you are still not within compliance after the completion of your Warning semester, you will lose your eligibility to receive federal financial aid.
- Yes; they will impact your pace, because the credits can only be earned once, yet each time you take the class it will count as attempted credits.
  While the grade received in subsequent attempts will not replace the earlier grade, it will average in along with the earlier grade, thus impacting the cumulative GPA requirement.
- They impact pace, as they count as attempted but not earned credits. Initially displaying as an I grade on your transcript, this course will not impact your cumulative GPA. Once the I grade is replaced with either an earned grade or an F, the grade will impact the cumulative GPA requirement as well.
- Transfer credits that count towards your academic program impact your pace in a positive way as they count as both attempted and earned credits. Because the grades for the transfer credits are not reflected in a student’s academic record, they do not impact the cumulative GPA.
- Pass no credit courses that are earned ('P' grade) count as both attempted and earned credits resulting in a positive impact on a student’s pace. Pass no credit courses that are unearned (NC or N/C grades) negatively impact a student’s pace, as they calculate as attempted but not earned credits.
- ESL classes are listed in the Undergraduate Bulletin and are counted in both the attempted and earned units. The Bulletin defines which of the ESL classes earn a letter grade, which would impact GPA, or a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grade, which would not. These classes are included in the SAP review and will impact pace and GPA in instances where a letter grade is received.
- We run the SAP process before each term begins. If you studied abroad and your earned foreign credits have not been posted to your SB transcript when we begin this process, you will not be meeting the term pace requirement.
  
  If you received a warning notification, you are still eligible to receive aid during your warning semester. However, you can contact our office when your study abroad grades are posted to your account so we can re-calculate your SAP status.
  
  If you received a notification indicating you are not meeting SAP standards, you may submit an appeal or wait for your grades to post so we can re-calculate your SAP status.