Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form

The United States Department of Education requires students to progress through their academic program in a timely manner in order to maintain eligibility for Title IV aid. Students receiving La Sierra University financial aid must also meet satisfactory academic progress requirements. La Sierra University's Satisfactory Academic Progress policy for receiving Title IV and La Sierra University financial aid is as follows:

All students will have grades and attempted academic units reviewed at the end of each Spring term.

• Undergraduate students whose cumulative or La Sierra University GPA falls below 2.0, and graduate students whose cumulative or La Sierra University GPA falls below 3.0 will be disqualified from receiving Title IV and La Sierra University financial aid. A disqualified undergraduate student may be reinstated when his/her cumulative GPA is 2.0 or higher. A disqualified graduate student may be reinstated when his/her cumulative GPA is 3.0 or higher. Only the most recent grade for a repeated class will be used in calculating the GPA.
• Students who fail to complete at least 67% of units attempted for the year will be disqualified from receiving Title IV and La Sierra University financial aid. Units attempted will be calculated for all grades including the number of corresponding units for grades of W, I, F, XF, S and U. Grades recorded as IP will be counted as units satisfactorily completed. IPW units will be counted as units attempted but not completed. A disqualified student may be reinstated when he/she has successfully completed enough units so that the cumulative number of units completed versus attempted is greater than 67%, so long as this does not exceed the 150% unit limit.
• La Sierra University policy states that graduate students must complete all requirements for a degree within five years (20 quarters) from the date of admission for a master's program, and within seven years (28 quarters) from the date of admission for the educational specialist or doctoral degree. Students who exceed these time limits will be disqualified for financial aid.
• Under Title IV regulations and La Sierra University policy undergraduate students may receive financial aid up to 150% of the units necessary to complete their program.
  • To receive financial aid, undergraduate students in a typical (190 unit) bachelor degree program may not exceed 285 attempted units.
  • When transferring to La Sierra University, attempted units from all other institutions where the student attended will be included when determining the total units attempted.
  • All the units for repeated classes will count in the total attempted units. Non-credit, continuing education units will not count toward the 150% total. Remedial units and for-credit continuing education units will be counted.
  • La Sierra University allows one change of major when calculating the 150%. When a student changes their major the units from their previous program that qualify for their new program will be calculated in the total.

Transfer students must submit official transcripts from all other institutions where the student attended before any federal aid can be awarded at La Sierra University. Upon evaluation of the official transcripts, if the student can complete the declared degree program within the 150% time frame of that program, the student will be awarded federal aid. Likewise, if the total units attempted elsewhere, along with the units left to complete the degree requirements exceed 150% of the units required to complete the program, the student will be denied all federal aid.

All students may appeal their disqualification by completing and submitting an appeal form available at the office of Student Financial Services, or on-line at lasierra.edu/sfs/docs-forms/.  The student may appeal on the basis of their own injury or illness, the death of a relative, or other special circumstance. In the appeal the student must explain why they failed to meet academic progress standards and also what changed in their situation that will allow them to start making appropriate progress.

Appeals will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and the student may be required to have an in-person interview before a decision is made. An appeal may be denied, approved on probation with an academic plan for one or more quarters, or approved for the remainder of the academic year without conditions.

Students who wish to be granted a probationary period must present an academic plan, prepared in consultation with their academic coach/advisor, which will bring them back into compliance with the academic progress standards within a minimum time frame. No probationary period will extend beyond three consecutive terms of attendance. Students who fail to fulfill any portion of an academic plan during any term will be disqualified for aid for subsequent terms, regardless of the original length of the academic plan.

Disqualified students and students whose appeals are denied will be ineligible for all federal and state aid, and most institutional financial aid. Grant aid for terms in which a student is disqualified may not be recovered. Loans, however, may be awarded retroactively for the same aid year if a previously disqualified student's financial aid is reinstated.

The Financial SAP Appeals Committee, composed of members from academic, student life, and financial service offices, will review appeals and decide whether to approve or deny the appeal. If approving the appeal, the committee may establish additional requirements that a student must fulfill in order to receive aid, such as accessing the services of the Counseling Center or campus tutoring. The committee's decision may be communicated to the student verbally by telephone or in person, or via email to the student's university email address. All decisions by the committee are final.

Students who register for a subsequent quarter before grades for the current quarter are in, accept full financial responsibility for the tuition and fee charges on their account should they fail to meet SAP terms in the current quarter thus becoming disqualified for aid for the subsequent quarter. Example: Joe registers for Summer quarter and his classes begin on June 15. Joe is currently enrolled for Spring quarter, and Spring quarter ends on June 12. Grades for Spring quarter don't become available until June 18 (3 days after Joe's first Summer class begins). When Joe's grades are posted, the Financial Aid office runs a process that determines that Joe failed to meet SAP terms and he has now lost aid eligibility. Joe's Summer class has already started and although he was planning on using financial aid to pay for his summer class, because he lost eligibility for aid, he must pay out of pocket or borrow money from a private lender. Joe should go see his Financial Aid Counselor to discuss his options.

For any questions pertaining to SAP terms or aid eligibility, please contact us.