Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policies and Procedures

The UTA Office of Financial Aid will determine who failed to meet UTA's SAP policy a few business days after Spring 2023 semester grades officially post on May 18, 2023. Students who failed to meet our SAP policy will be notified at that time via email and a mailed letter. Students will be able to complete a SAP Appeal at that time.

Once a student is notified, that student can complete a 2023-2024  Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) appeal, students can do so directly in their MyMav Account via the ‘My Forms’ tile on their Student Homepage. You can find a step-by-step instruction guide below.

• How to Submit a SAP Appeal

If you have specific questions regarding UTA's SAP Policy or the SAP Appeal process, please email SAP@uta.edu.

SAP appeal decisions may take up to 30 days to be made. If it has not been 30 days since the submission of you SAP appeal, please do not email us asking for a status update on your SAP appeal. Those emails will not be responded to.

PURPOSE

• Comply with the Federal Higher Education Act of 1965 Sec. 484(c), 34 CFR: 68816(e), 668.32(f) and 668.34 as outlined in the Federal Student Aid Handbook, School-Determined Requirements.
• Comply with the State of Texas Student Financial Assistance Act of 1975 most specifically related to the programs administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

HAZLEWOOD EXEMPTION APPEAL

The Waiver and Exemption Appeal process for Hazlewood recipients can be found on our Veteran Benefits Certification website.

POLICY

Federal Title IV and State of Texas regulations require institutions of higher education to monitor the academic progress of students who receive financial aid. In order to remain eligible for federal, state, and some institutional need-based financial aid, students must comply with The University of Texas at Arlington's standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).

SAP is administered on all relevant student populations on an annual basis shortly after the posting of official grades each spring semester. Financial aid does not have to be received for semesters to be included in the evaluation. Students not meeting SAP at the time of the review will be notified.

For purposes of this policy, satisfactory grades include A, B, C, D, P and R; unsatisfactory grades include F, W, I and Q. Unsatisfactory grades and the grade Z are counted in the credit hours attempted but will not count as credit hours completed.

If enrolled in pass/fail courses, a passing grade of P does not produce grade points. You still earn credit for a course with a grade of P, but it won’t affect your GPA. On the other hand, a failing grade of F will negatively affect your GPA. Passing grades of P are considered satisfactory. Failing grades of F are considered unsatisfactory.

Both the qualitative and quantitative requirements must be met, regardless of full-time or part-time attendance. 

1. Minimum Cumulative GPA earned at UTA:

2. Minimum Cumulative Pace of Program Progression: A student must successfully complete at least 67% of the credit hours attempted. Pace Formula = cumulative credit hours successfully completed divided by cumulative credit hours attempted. The cumulative measurement includes the total of both the successfully and unsuccessfully completed courses at UTA and all accepted transfer credit hours.

3. Maximum Time Frame: A student may attempt no more than 150% of the credit hours required by his/her degree program (transfer hours are counted as both attempted and completed hours).

If appealing due to maximum time frame, a student must be fully admitted into their program of study for their appeal to be considered. If a student is in an intended major, their appeal will not be considered.

All students appealing for maximum time frame must include a degree plan with their appeal. This degree plan must list the academic advisor's information, list all remaining courses needed to complete their degree, and list a reasonable anticipated graduation date.

¹Includes all undergraduate hours attempted at UTA and all accepted transfer hours.

²Includes all masters hours attempted at UTA.

³Includes all graduate hours (masters and doctoral) attempted at UTA.

A student's failure to meet SAP results in the immediate loss of Title IV eligibility.

A student has the right to appeal. Should the student not wish to appeal, the student must meet the SAP requirements before regaining Title IV eligibility.

APPEAL PROCEDURES

Students may appeal for the following reasons:

• Serious illness or injury to student or immediate family member (parent, spouse, sibling, child) that required extended recovery time - Documentation example: Doctor's Note/Order
• Death of an immediate family member - Documentation example: Obituary/Memorial Program
• Significant trauma in student's life that impaired the student's emotional and/or physical health - Documentation example: Note from counselor/third party
• Withdrawal due to military service - Documentation example: Orders
• Second degree, double major, change of major - Documentation required: Degree Plan from you Academic Advisor (must contain all courses remaining, a realistic graduation date, and your academic advisor contact info)
• Other unexpected circumstances beyond the control of the student - Documentation Example: Third-party letter

Note: Circumstances related to the typical adjustment to college life such as working while attending school, financial issues related to paying bills, and car maintenance/travel to campus are not considered as extenuating for purposes of appealing the loss of Title IV eligibility.

Note: All appeals submitted without proper documentation will be denied and the student's pending financial aid will be canceled. If proper documentation is submitted afterwards, our office will review their appeal again and, if approved, reinstate their financial aid at that time (based on available funding).

Note: All students not meeting UTA’s SAP policy due to ‘Maximum Time Frame’ must submit a signed degree plan from their academic advisor with their SAP appeal.

We strongly encourage a student to file an appeal within 30 days from the date the Notification of Loss of Title IV Aid letter is issued.

A student cannot receive financial aid for a semester that ended prior to their submission of their SAP appeal.

All students for whom an appeal is approved will be placed on financial aid probation.

Academic Plans may be provided to students placed on probation. These plans may be for a single semester, or for multiple semesters. All students on probation will be reviewed at the end of every semester until the student meets UTA's SAP requirements.

If a student's appeal is approved, they may be offered financial aid for an entire school year; however, they must meet the terms of their academic plan each semester to remain eligible for each subsequent semester's disbursement.

Failure to adhere to the terms of their Academic Plan will result in a loss of Title IV aid without the right to appeal and all future financial aid disbursements will be canceled.

The cancellation of a student's financial aid does not automatically drop their courses. It is the student's responsibility to drop any courses they plan not to attend.

A student may not re-appeal in the same academic year for the same SAP violation.

INCOMPLETES

At the time of evaluation, Incompletes (grade of 'I') do not affect a student's cumulative GPA for SAP, but count as credit hours attempted toward both pace and maximum time frame. Students with grades of Incomplete which become new letter grades prior to or during a subsequent period of enrollment and that may affect financial aid eligibility for that period of enrollment must contact the Office of Financial Aid for further evaluation.

WITHDRAWALS

The grade 'W' received for a withdrawal after the first class day in the term does not affect a student's cumulative GPA for SAP, but counts as credit hours attempted toward both pace and maximum time frame.

COURSE REPETITION

Students are allowed to repeat a course and have it count toward enrollment for financial aid eligibility only once. Each attempt at the course, however, will count toward a student's pace, and all prior attempts with lower grades will count as unsuccessful credit hours attempted.

REMEDIAL COURSES

Students may be offered financial aid for up to 12 remedial hours. These hours will be considered in the minimum pace and maximum time frame calculation.

BEGINNING ATTENDANCE AND COURSE FAILURE

Federal financial aid regulations require us to confirm whether or not a student began attendance in at least one course in order to establish eligibility for federal student loans, and in each course for Pell and FSEOG grants. Based on the information we receive, adjustments to financial aid offers may be necessary and will likely result in a balance due to UTA after the completion of the term.

Instructors confirm which students began attendance/participated in their courses when they report grades at the end of each term. Instructors may reference attendance records, graded assignments, quizzes, exams, communications, or papers to confirm that the student began academic participation. If the instructor confirms that attendance began in the class, there will be no adjustment to financial aid offers. If we do not receive confirmation that attendance began in the course(s), we are required to adjust financial aid based on the remaining eligible hours enrolled. If we do not receive confirmation that attendance began for ANY enrolled course, we are required to cancel ALL federal financial aid.

GRADE CHANGE

SAP monitoring is a point-in-time calculation; therefore, late posted grades or grade changes will not automatically trigger a SAP recalculation. You may request that your SAP status be reviewed after you have confirmed the grade change has been posted to your academic record.