Undergraduate Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

Federal regulations (Sections 668.16(e).668.32(f) and 668.34) require that schools monitor the academic progress of each applicant for federal financial assistance and that the school certify that the applicant is making satisfactory academic progress toward earning his/her degree. This determination of progress must be made at least once a year and before the financial aid office disburses any federal aid funds for the subsequent semester.

Students who are aware of learning or other disabilities should immediately contact the Office of Disability Services so that appropriate accomodations can be made. A student with a documented disability and functional limitations is still held to the same academic expectations as other students. If the student is registered with the Office of Disability Services and receiving appropriate accomodations, the student should be able to maintain satisfactory academic progress for financial aid eligibility purposes.

Pursuant to Federal regulations, the following constitutes Loyola's policy on satisfactory academic progress for undergraduate students.

Maximum hours to earn degree: To quantify academic progress, a school must set a maximum time frame in which a student is expected to complete a program. For an undergraduate program, the maximum time frame cannot exceed 150% of the published length of the program measured in credit hours attempted.

The majority of undergraduate programs require 120 hours for graduation. The maximum time frame for students in these programs is 180 attempted hours (120 x 1.5=180). Students whose programs require more than 120 hours for a degree will have a higher limit.

  • As expressed in years: students are normally expected to complete an undergraduate degree by the end of 4 years of full-time study. Therefore,  students will forfeit their eligibility to participate in federal financial aid programs after 6 years of full time enrollement ( 4 x 150% = 6 )
  • Withdrawals: Grades of W are counted as courses attempted and count toward the maximum time frame.
  • Audited Courses: Students do not earn any academic credits for audited courses. They do not count in the calculation of "attempted hours." Students can find additional information in the University Bulletin
  • Pass/Fail Courses: These hours do count within the total of attempted and earned hours
  • Transfer credits accepted for the student's academic program or degree are counted when measuring the maximum time frame to complete the degree or program. Loyola University New Orleans does not accept fo credit any transfer grades lower than C. While credits may be accepted towards a Loyola University degree. Check the University Bulletin for additional information concerning how transfer credits are evaluated.
  • Conditional Admission: Prospective freshman students whose credentials indicate deficiencies in specific disciplines may be admitted by the Admissions Review Committee with a restricted registration. These students will be considered as "regular" students for the purposes of Title IV aid programs during their first academic year. Loyola University New Orleans does not offer any non-credit remedial coursework so these students will be enrolled in the regular curriculum but will be required to work closely with staff in the Academic Resource Center throughout their first year
  • Academic Amnesty: The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid must count all prior credit hours attempted for determining the eligibility for federal aid programs of students readmitted through the university's academic amnesty program.
  • Repeat and Delete Policy: The university recognized the fact that many students were under a great deal of stress during the Spring I 2006 and Spring II 2006 semesters. The administration has approved a repeat and delete policy for failing grades that were received during those semesters. If these courses are repeated and successfully passed, the effect of the failing grade from these two semesters will be removed from your record. Note - the course and grade will still appear on your transcript, but will not average into your grade point average. Loyola's normal policy would be to average all coursework. The deadline for this exception is 2010 Spring semester.
  • Double Majors and / or Minors: Students who receive permission from their Dean to pursue a double major / minor will normally be expected to complete all degree requirements before reaching 180 attempted hours.
  • Change in Majors: Students who change their majors will normally be expected to complete all degree requirements before reaching 180 attempted hours.
  • 2nd Bachelor's Degree: A student who has already been awarded a bachelor's degree may apply for a second degree only if the second degree is different from the first degree. Ordinarily, a second degree at the undergraduate level is discouraged, and a graduate degree is encouraged. Requirements for this exception are posted in the University Bulletin.

Undergraduate students are limited in how much they can borrow under the Federal Stafford Loan Program and the Federal Perkins Loan Program . These limits are not increased for students working on a 2nd Bachelor's Degree.

Satisfactory Progress Definition:

Students have a limited amount of time to complete their undergraduate degree requirements. To earn our basic undergraduate degree, students must successfully complete 120 credit hours.

For a student to be considered as progressing normally, the student's ratio of earned hours to attempted hours (or pace towards degree completion ) must be no less than as shown on the following table:

When total attempted hours are:
Earned Hours must be at least:
Less than 26 hours 50% of scheduled hours
 26 through 50 hours 55% of scheduled hours
 51 through 75 hours 60% of scheduled hours
 76 through 100 hours 65% of schedule hours
101 through 125  70% of scheduled hours
 126 hours and above  75% of scheduled hours

Attempted hours are those hours for which students were still officially registered at the conclusion of each semester's Add/Drop period. Withdrawals are counted as attempted hours.

Qualitative Standards: Grade Point Averages:

During the first four semesters of undergraduate enrollmernt, the qualitative standards for making progress will not be primarily monitored by the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, but by the several deans in accordance with the policies of each college. Standards for "Academic Actions" (academic probation, exclusion, and dismall) are listed in the current University Bulletin .

Students who are allowed by their Dean to continue their enrollment of a probationary status will also be put on "Financial Aid" probation and will be expected to meet the same minimum standards outlined by the Dean for continued enrollment.

However, in accordance with federal regulations by the second calendar year of enrollment in a post-secondary educational program, the student must have at least a 2.0 cumulative g.p.a. to be considered making satisfactory progress for continued participation in federal aid programs. Students who do not meet this test will be ineligible to participate in federal financial aid programs until this deficiency is corrected.

Grade Changes:

Students who are receiving aid on a conditonal or probationary basis must resolve all incomplete grades BEFORE the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid can make a final determination that they meet the satisfactory academic progress guidelines. Students must report any grade changes that impact their aid eligibility directly to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. Grade changes must be submitted to the Student Records Office by October 15 for fall semester aid applicants and by March 15 for spring semester aid applicants. Students must notify the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid once their final grades have been posted.

Consult the University Bulletin for additional policies concerning grade changes and appeals

Procedures:

Each aid recipient's record will be evaluated at the end of each semester to determine that the student is meeting the standards described above. If the student has reached the maximum number of scheduled hours without earning a degree, the student must be excluded from further participation in federal financial aid programs.

Federal regulations require that these standards apply to all students, even to first-time aid applicants who have previously enrolled at Loyola, or to those who have not been formally placed on probation.

Financial Aid Warning: 

There is a minimal amount of time between the time when final fall grades must be posted and the start of spring semester. There is even less time between  the time when final summer grades may be posted and the start of fall semester. Students incur a financial liability to the university as soon as the semester begins. Therefore, under most circumstances, we believe it would be unfair to retroactively remove a student's aid once the semester begins IF this is the first documented time that the student has experienced academic difficulty. These students will receive a "financial aid warning" letter  which will remind them of the minimum academic requirements for their aid programs AND  strongly urge them to take advantage of the academic services that are available to students. Students will be eligible to receive federal aid during this semester.These students will be notified that their records will be checked again at the end of the semester and that further action may be taken if there is not significant improvement during the current semester. Students can only receive aid for one semester under this "warning" status.

Financial Aid Probation: If the student has not reached the maximum number of scheduled hours and the Financial Aid Appeals Committee determines that the student has fallen below the completion ratio standards for satisfactory progress, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Probation and notified that his/her continued eligibility for federal financial aid assistance is in jeopardy. Students who fail to maintain the required minimum GPA will also be placed on financial aid probation. Students will normally be allowed only one probationary semester during their academic program.

Students on financial aid probation will receive a separate letter that will outline the academic requirements the student must meet in order to receive aid for following semester.If the student on financial aid probation meets the terms of the probation, he/she will be permitted to continue to participate in the federal student aid programs for a subsequent semester. Students who have been placed on probation shall be considered to be making satisfactory academic progress for the purposes of receiving financial aid as long as the student continues to meet the academic requirements outlined in their probationary letter.

The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid will review the records of students who are on financial aid probation at the end of each semester.

If the student does not meet the terms of the probation, the student will forfeit eligibility for all federal financial aid programs.

Loss of eligibility due to lack of satisfactory progress:

Student who has lost eligibility to participate in federal student aid programs for reasons of academic progress can regain that eligibility only by enrolling at Loyola at his/her own expense and demonstrating that he/she is capable of completing a semester without any failures, incompletes or withdrawals and showing the ability to complete his degree requirements in a more regular fashion. The mere passage of time will not ordinarily restore eligibility to a student who has lost eligibility for failure to make satisfactory progress.

Students who have been academically excluded from the university but who are subsequently given permission to re-enroll are not automatically eligible to continue to participate in federal, state, or institutional aid programs. Admissions decisions are totally separate from funding decisions.

Right to Appeal:

Students have the right to appeal any decision of ineligibility to continue to receive financial assistance. Appeals must be filed within 30 days of notification that aid eligibility has been lost OR 30 days after a semester begins (which ever comes first).  An Appeal must be made in writing to the Director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid . The appeal may not be based upon your need for the assistance OR your lack of knowledge that your assistance was in jeopardy. An appeal would normally be based upon some unusual situation or condition which prevented you from passing more of your courses, or which necessitated that you withdraw from classes.Examples of possible situations include documented serious illness, severe injury, or death of a family member.

If you do not have grounds for an appeal, or if your appeal is denied, you may still be able to regain your eligibility for future semesters. This is done by enrolling at Loyola at our own expense -- without financial assistance -- and negotiating a contract with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, in advance, for the conditions under which eligibility may be restored.

Appeal Approval Conditions: Appeals can only be approved if the Financial Aid Appeals Committee determines :

  • that the student will be able to meet the university's satisfactory academic progress after the next payment period; or
  • that the student has agreed to follow an academic plan that, if followed, will ensure that the student can meet the university's satisfactory academic progress guidelines by a specific point in time.

If an appeal is granted: Students whose appeals are granted will receive aid on a conditional basis for one semester. The conditions will be outlined in the letter sent to the student granting the appeal. The Financial Aid Appeals Committee will review the student's record at the end of the semester to determine his/her status for the following semester. Students who fail to meet the conditions outlined in their individualized academic plans during their conditional semester will not be to submit a subsequent appeal.

 Resources for Students:

 

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Updated September 16, 2012