Satisfactory Academic Progress

Undergraduate Students:
A student must make satisfactory academic progress (SAP) toward the completion of his or her course of study in order to maintain eligibility for financial assistance in future semesters. It is important to note that scholarships may have their own standards.

A student is considered to be making satisfactory progress if he or she has maintained good academic standing as defined in the Western catalog:

• Successfully complete 75% of all attempted credit hours including summer session(s).
• Achieve and maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0.
• Completed all course work for graduation within 180 attempted credits (150% of the minimum graduation requirement of 120 credit hours); all transfer credits counted toward the completion of degree requirements will also be counted toward the maximum of 180 attempted credits.

If a student does not meet the first two requirements, he or she will receive a warning via Western e-mail and will have one additional semester of eligibility in which to return to satisfactory standing.

Warning is a status assigned to a student who fails to make satisfactory academic progress at a school that evaluates academic progress at the end of each payment period and/or term, and chooses to allow students who fail its progress standards to continue to receive aid. If the student has not returned to satisfactory standing after this additional semester, he or she will be suspended from further financial assistance until the satisfactory progress standards are met.

If a student does not meet the third requirement or withdraws from all courses, or receives the grade of "F" in all courses during a semester, he/she will be immediately suspended from financial aid eligibility. When mitigating circumstances occur, such as prolonged illness, a death in the immediate family, etc., the student may appeal in writing to the Office of Financial Aid. The Appeals Committee will act on the appeal in a timely manner, and if approved, financial assistance eligibility may be reinstated for one additional semester and is considered probationary. After which the student must have returned to satisfactory standing.

Probation is a status assigned to a student who fails to make satisfactory academic progress and who has appealed and has had eligibility for aid reinstated. A student may appeal the termination of eligibility only twice during his or her career at Western.

A successful appeal will be upheld only upon the successful completion of the Money Management 101 class taken within the same semester.  It is offered by the Financial Aid Office through the Extended Studies Program.

Graduate Students:
A student must make satisfactory progress toward the completion of his or her course of study in order to maintain eligibility for financial assistance in future semesters.

A student is considered to be making satisfactory progress if he or she:

• Achieves and maintains a cumulative GPA of 3.0.
• In addition, if students enroll full time (9 credits or more) they must pass at least 9 credits.  If enrolled in fewer than 9 credits, students must pass all of the credits for which they are registered. 

If a student does not meet the two requirements, he or she will receive a warning e-mail from Western and will have one additional semester of eligibility in which to return to satisfactory standing.

Warning is a status assigned to a student who fails to make satisfactory academic progress at a school that evaluates academic progress at the end of each payment period and/or term, and chooses to allow students who fail its progress standards to continue to receive aid. If the student has not returned to satisfactory standing after this additional semester, he or she will be ineligible for further financial assistance until the satisfactory progress standards are met. In addition, if a student withdraws from all courses during a semester, or receive grades of all F or Incomplete, eligibility for further assistance will be immediately terminated.

When mitigating circumstances occur, such as prolonged illness, a death in the immediate family, etc., the student may appeal in writing to the Office of Financial Aid. The Appeals Committee will act on the appeal in a timely manner, and if approved, financial assistance eligibility may be reinstated for one final probationary semester after which the student must have returned to satisfactory standing. A student may appeal the suspension of eligibility only twice during his or her career at Western.

Probation is a status assigned to a student who fails to make satisfactory academic progress and who has appealed and has had eligibility for aid reinstated. If students who have previously been placed on suspension subsequently fail to meet either of the two standards, future eligibility will be immediately terminated.  The student may also appeal this suspension.