Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
The Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) applies to all Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Noorda-COM) students. These standards are to be used when reviewing a student’s academic progress whether they receive financial aid (federal and/or private) or not.
I. SCOPE
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) applies to all Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Noorda-COM) students. These standards are to be used when reviewing a student’s academic progress whether a student receives financial aid (federal and/or private) or not. The Financial Aid SAP standards for the purpose of the review by the Office of Financial Aid must be at least as strict as the institution’s academic progress policy as set by the program.
II. PURPOSE
To maintain eligibility for student financial aid, students must maintain satisfactory progress in their academic program. Noorda-COM has established qualitative and quantitative standards that support a student’s progress toward completion of their degree. These Financial Aid SAP standards model the requirements outlined by the U.S. Department of Education (34 CFR 668.16 and 668.34). These standards must be met for a student to maintain financial aid eligibility. Students who are not meeting all Financial Aid SAP standards are not eligible to receive financial aid funding. The school is responsible for establishing the specific requirements for satisfactory academic performance, tracking their students’ progress, enforcing the consequences of unsatisfactory progress, and outlining the appeal process for students who experience extenuating or unusual circumstances that had an impact on their academic performance.
III. POLICY
A. General Policy Requirements
To be eligible for financial assistance, a student must meet the minimum required Financial Aid SAP standards. The three (3) SAP standards students must meet include the following measurements: 1) GPA (Qualitative), 2) PACE (Quantitative), and 3) Maximum Time Frame (MTF) (Quantitative).
1. GPA (Qualitative Standard)
The qualitative standard is measured using the student’s cumulative grade point average (GPA) or comparable norm. To meet the GPA Standard, students must have a 2.0 cumulative grade point average at the end of each evaluation period (upon completion of the spring semester, unless attending a summer semester as part of their curriculum).
a) Using a 4.0 scale (A. B, C, etc.): SAP is evaluated annually after the spring term. A student’s cumulative GPA must meet the minimum cumulative GPA requirement of 2.0 after spring semester grades are posted (or after summer grades are posted if enrolled in required coursework during the summer semester).
b) At the point in which the students program operates on a Pass/Fail scale (P, H, HP, S, U, F, etc.), OMS III and OMS IV, the student must complete at a minimum of 67% of the courses for which they are and have enrolled in up to the point of the annual Financial Aid SAP review. This completion rate will be measured at the end of each academic year once the posting of spring grades has occurred. The credit hours earned will be compared to the credit hours attempted [credit hours earned ÷ by credit hours attempted] with students needing to achieve 67% (66.6667%) or higher. Students must have been meeting the 2.0 cumulative GPA requirement up to the point of entering the Pass/Fail portion of their program.
c) A student who is placed on Academic Warning or Academic Probation by the Student Promotions Committee (SPC) will be monitored by SPC and is separate from the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress review due to the fluid nature of these two academic classifications. If a student moves from Academic Warning or Academic Probation to Academic Suspension at any time, the Office of Financial Aid will be notified and future aid will be suspended until the student returns to good academic standing as deemed by SPC.
d) A student could be on Academic Warning or Academic Probation and not be in compliance with one (1) or more of the three (3) Financial Aid SAP Standards when the annual Financial Aid SAP review occurs.
Students who are placed on a Financial Aid Suspension and who have an extenuating or unusual circumstance that contributed to their academic performance, have the right to submit a completed Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal along with supporting documentation to the Office of Financial Aid. Students will need to include any letters/requirements that they have received from SPC and/or SAC to support their request for a probation period for the purpose of being eligible to receive financial aid.
The Office of Financial Aid will prepare the appeal for review by the Senior Administrative Committee (SAC). The SAC will review the student’s appeal and render a decision regarding financial aid eligibility for the next semester/academic year. The academic probation/remediation plan, along with any conditions outlined in their approved FA SAP Appeal, should enable the student to complete the degree within the 6-year MTF to earn their degree.
Students with extenuating or unusual circumstances always have the right to submit an appeal to the Office of Financial Aid for consideration.
2. PACE (Quantitative Standard)
The quantitative standard is measured by reviewing a student’s PACE, which demonstrates the student is on track to complete their academic program within the set time frame. A student must be completing at least 67% (66.6667%) of their attempted courses to be on target to finish within their maximum time frame. PACE is measured by dividing the total credits earned by the total credits attempted.
3. Maximum Time Frame (MTF) Standard (Quantitative Standard)
All students are expected to earn their degree within a maximum time frame (MTF) no longer than 150% of the published length of their program. The MTF for the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program is 6 years, excluding any academically approved Leave of Absences on file with the Office of the Registrar.
If after the annual review, a student is not meeting all three (3) standards; GPA, PACE, and MTF, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension until they either meet all 3 standards or have extenuating circumstances and have submitted an appeal to the Office of Financial Aid for review by SAC and have been granted a probationary period to become in good standing with all three (3) standards.
The Evaluation, Notification, and Appeal Process is discussed in detail in Sections C and D of this policy.
B. Impact of Pass/Fails, Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, Remediation, Incompletes, Withdrawals, Repeats, and Transfer Credits
1. Pass/Fail
All enrolled courses are included in the PACE calculation. All credits will be included in the number of credits attempted and only the courses for which a ‘passing’ grade, or equivalent, will be included in the number of credits completed. Passing non-letter grades include Pass (P), Honors (H), High Pass (HP), or Satisfactory (S).
Passing grades include A, B, C, P, H, HP, and S. Students are encouraged to review the grading process that is followed by Noorda-COM to become fully aware of how grades, repeating courses, incompletes, and withdrawal from courses impact the GPA calculation.
2. Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
All Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory designated courses are included in the PACE and Qualitative standard calculation. All credits will be included in the number of credits attempted and only the courses for which a ‘passing’ grade, or equivalent, will be included in the number of credits completed.
3. Remediation
Students who are remediating one or more courses will be notified if they are not meeting one (1) or more Financial Aid SAP Standards at the end of the spring semester (or summer semester if enrolled in required courses for their degree). The students financial aid may be placed on hold until the remediation is successfully resolved and a ‘pass’ grade, or its equivalent, is reflected if the remediated course impacts the students GPA or PACE. If the student ‘fails’ their remediation and are allowed to remain in classes, and the remediation has caused the student to not meet either the GPA or PACE standard, they have the right to submit an appeal to the Office of Financial Aid if they experienced an extenuating circumstance. Students who are remediating a course will need a plan to pay their tuition and fees by the posted due date if they have been placed on Financial Aid Suspension, as well as have a plan to pay for their living expenses, unless they have an approved FA SAP Appeal on file with the Office of Financial Aid.
4. Incompletes
Courses that are assigned an ‘incomplete’ grade or if a grade is missing, will be included in the number of credits attempted but not the number of credits earned. Until a grade is posted for the purposes of SAP, they will have the same impact as a “failure’’ until the grade is populated. This will have an impact on PACE and potentially the GPA standard requirement, causing the student to not meet the GPA and/or PACE standard and may have an impact on a student’s financial aid eligibility.
5. Withdrawals
Students are given a ‘W’ (withdrawal) when they officially withdraw from a course. The credits for a course for which a ‘W” grade is assigned will not be included in the number of credits attempted or the number of credits earned when dropped on or before the add/drop period. If a ‘W’ grade is assigned after the add/drop period, the credits will be included in the number of credits attempted, but not the number of credits earned. This will have an impact on the student’s PACE standard measure.
6. Repeats
For purposes of financial aid, students may be permitted to retake courses in which they received a failing grade or its equivalent. Each time a course is attempted, it is considered an attempt when calculating the PACE of completion and MTF measures, regardless of whether the course is subsequently repeated for a better grade.
Students are only allowed to receive financial aid for one (1) repeat of a course if a passing grade has been received. If a student repeats a course for which they passed more than one (1) time, the student may be responsible for any charges associated with the repeated course.
7. Repeating an entire term or year
Students who are required to repeat a semester or academic year and who have extenuating, or unusual circumstances (documentation required) will need to submit an FA SAP Appeal to the Office of Financial Aid and have a decision rendered by SAC.
Students who failed a course(s) and are required to repeat either an entire year of coursework or partial curriculum of at least half-time or one semester (which may include successfully completed courses) and who have an approved FA SAP Appeal on file with the Office of Financial Aid, will be eligible for financial aid for the repeat of the required timeframe (e.g., academic year or semester). Funding will be provided only once for the repeat of the same course, academic year, or term if previously passed.
8. Audited Courses
Audit courses are not included in a student’s enrollment for the purpose of financial aid. Therefore, audits are not covered by financial aid and expenses associated with audited courses are the student’s responsibility.
9. Transfer Credits
For purposes of financial aid, only transfer credit hours officially accepted for the student’s program of study will be counted in the attempted and successfully completed credit hours toward the quantitative (PACE) and Maximum Time Frame (MTF). Most transfer credits are used for admissions purposes only and typically do not meet any degree requirements due to the nature of the program.
C. SAP Evaluation and Notification
- Frequency
Noorda-COM evaluates SAP annually at the end of the spring semester, which is the last semester of the academic year for most of our students. OMS I students who are attending the summer term will have their annual review at the end of the summer term if they are taking courses required for their degree.
If Noorda-COM implements a program that is one (1) year or less, students enrolled in this program will have their SAP reviewed at the end of every semester.
- Evaluation
The Office of Financial Aid will perform an annual review of each student’s progress to ensure that students are meeting each of the three (3) Financial Aid SAP standards. If it is determined that the student is not compliant with one or more of the standards, the student becomes ineligible to receive financial aid and will be placed on financial aid suspension. If a student has an extenuating or unusual circumstance, the student has the right to appeal their financial aid suspension status. If the student has a remediation or academic plan through the Student Promotions Committee (SPC) and/or Senior Administrative Committee (SAC), this will need to be included with the student’s appeal.
- SAP Statuses
a) Financial Aid – Good SAP: Student is meeting all SAP Standards
b) Financial Aid Suspension: Student is not meeting one or more of the SAP Standards
c) Financial Aid Probation: Student has successfully appealed their SAP deficiencies and have been given a probation period of one (1) term to meet all SAP Standards
d) Financial Aid Probation – Academic Plan: Student has successfully appealed their SAP deficiencies and have been given a probation period to meet all SAP Standards and has an approved Academic Plan on file that is greater than one (1) term
4. Notification
Students who are not meeting one (1) or more of the Financial Aid SAP standards will be notified in writing of their Financial Aid Suspension status after all grades have been posted by their program. The notification will include an explanation of the Standards evaluated and which Standard(s) they are not meeting. Written notification will be sent electronically via their Noorda-COM email account and/or mail via the last known mailing address according to the Office of the Registrar’s records. Students will also be able to see that they have an SAP issue needing to be resolved via their SONIS student portal.
Students will also receive information about their right to appeal along with instructions on how to submit a written appeal and supporting documentation for review by the SAP Committee.
D. Appeal Process
Students who are placed on Financial Aid (FA) Suspension have the right to make a written appeal to the Senior Administrative Committee (SAC). Students who appeal must demonstrate all the following:
– That failure to meet the minimum standard(s) was caused by an extenuating or unusual circumstance beyond their control (corroborating documentation must be supplied).
– That they have resolved the issue(s) that caused the deficit; and
– That the issue(s) will not affect their performance in the future and have outlined a plan for academic success.
When students are notified of their Financial Aid SAP Status, they will be provided a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal Form outlining the process and what types of documentation they will need to include with their SAP Appeal.
1. Appeal Review
Financial Aid SAP Appeals will be reviewed by the Senior Admininstrative Committee (SAC) during the committee’s next meeting. The Director of Financial Aid will attend the SAC meeting, if requested, in an ad hoc capacity when there is a Financial Aid SAP Appeal for review. All decisions are final. If a decision has not been made by the time tuition is due, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the Office of Student Accounts to discuss their options.
The Senior Administrative Committee (SAC) will notify the Director of Financial Aid of their decision. The Director of Financial Aid, or designee, will notify the student of the SAC’s decision regarding their SAP Appeal. Appeal decisions include:
a) Approved – The appeal has been approved because of the student resolving their SAP deficiency.
b) Approved with conditions (probation) – The appeal has been approved with conditions; the student has been placed on probation and the conditions of their approval will be included in their notification.
c) Incomplete – The appeal is incomplete and an explanation of why the appeal is incomplete will be included in the notification. The notification will include a request for additional or missing documentation.
d) Denied – The appeal and supporting documentation has been reviewed and does not warrant a probation period.
The student can request a meeting with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs to discuss their appeal decision.
2. Appeal Monitoring
A student that has been approved for a probationary period will have their academic progress monitored. This usually will occur at the end of each semester once grades are final. This may cause a delay in the disbursement of the student’s financial aid due to the timing of when grades are posted by the Office of the Registrar, the Office of Financial Aid review, and when the next semester begins. Students should inform the Office of Student Accounts of their SAP situation and discuss the payment options for their pending tuition and fees.
3. Limit of appeals
Students may not initiate an appeal using the same extenuating or unusual circumstance twice. Students are encouraged to use all resources available to them by Noorda-COM, their program, and Student Affairs throughout their probationary period to assist them with successfully meeting the requirements of their appeal.
4. Extenuating Circumstances
Extenuating or unusual circumstances that may cause a student to fail to meet Financial Aid SAP Standards include but are not limited to unexpected illness; family difficulties, such as divorce or illness; military deployment; interpersonal problems with friends, roommates, significant others; situations for which you had no valid choice other than to interrupt your education; and one-time emergency that impacted your ability to continue your education or affected your academic success for a short period.
5. Regaining Eligibility for Financial Aid through Self-Correction
Students who are ineligible due to not meeting one (1) or more SAP Standards and who do not have an approved appeal on file with the Office of Financial Aid, may regain eligibility by becoming compliant with all three (3) the Financial Aid SAP Standards while studying at their own expense. Students must request the Office of Financial Aid to review their SAP status once they have removed the deficiency(ies).
This policy was reviewed and revised in May 2024. For assistance with policies and procedures, please contact Alexa Levine (adlevine@noordacom.org).
