College · Family Resources · Keeping financial aid
Federal aid depends on three numbers: GPA, pace and a credit limit. Enter your credits and this term’s expected grades to see all three, what a withdrawal would do, and the way back if you are under a line.
Load the example to see a made-up student who is below two lines and climbing back, then enter your own numbers. Change any class to W to test a withdrawal.
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Common values are filled in. Replace them with the numbers in your school's SAP policy.
From your unofficial transcript, before this term's grades.
Attempted counts every class you stayed in past add/drop, including F, W and I grades, repeats, and transfer credits your program accepted. GPA credits are the graded credits behind your GPA (often called GPA hours or quality hours).
Pick the grade you expect. Change one to W to see what a withdrawal does before you file it.
An appeal has to explain two things. Draft them here; they print with your summary so you can take it to the financial aid office.
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Three measures, the federal rule behind each, and the arithmetic the page runs.
Credits you have completed divided by credits you have attempted, counted over your whole time in the program. Finish 46 of 63 and your pace is 73 percent. Most schools set the line at 67 percent because that is the pace that finishes a program inside 150 percent of its length.
The most credits you may attempt and still get federal aid: for an undergraduate program, no more than 150 percent of its published length. A 120-credit degree allows up to 180 attempted credits. Aid ends at the point where finishing inside the limit is no longer possible, not only when you reach it.
Only at schools that check SAP every term. The first time you miss a line, the school may keep paying aid for one more term with no appeal. It lasts one term. Miss again and aid stops.
A written request to keep aid after a failed check. Federal rules name the student’s injury or illness, the death of a relative, or other special circumstances as grounds. It must explain why you fell short and what has changed so you can meet the standards at the next check. Schools are allowed, not required, to take appeals.
What an approved appeal gives you: aid for one more term. After that term you must meet the standards, or be keeping to the academic plan the school set with you.
A term-by-term agreement with the school, used when one term is not enough to get back above the line. Keep to the plan and aid continues even while the totals catch up.
| On the transcript | In GPA | Attempted | Completed | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A through D | Yes | Yes | Yes | A D earns credit at most schools, though a major may want a C. |
| F | Yes | Yes | No | Pulls down both GPA and pace. |
| P (pass) | No | Yes | Yes | |
| W (withdrew after add/drop) | No | Yes | No | Leaves GPA alone and lowers pace. |
| I (incomplete) | Not until graded | Yes | Not until graded | Schools say in their policy how an I counts. |
| A repeated class | By school policy | Yes, each time | Once | Some schools replace the old grade, some average. |
| Transfer credit your program accepted | Usually no | Yes | Yes | Counts as both attempted and completed. |
| Dropped during add/drop | No | No | No | Usually leaves no mark at all. |
Federal rules set the frame; each school writes the details, and its policy is the one that counts. For parents: a college shares grades and aid standing with the student, and usually with a parent only when the student has signed a release, so work through this page together with the student’s unofficial transcript.
An estimate from the numbers you enter, not an official SAP determination. Schools set their own standards inside the federal rules and may be stricter than the common values shown; scholarships and state aid often have separate, higher requirements. The example student is made up. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.