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Satisfactory Academic Programs

 

Although state and national policy has established many objectives for student financial aid programs, one clear purpose is to fund only students who meet certain academic standards. Institutions are therefore required by law to formulate standards to gauge the progress of students receiving federal and state financial aid by applying both qualitative and quantitative measurements to academic work. A maximum time limit for the completion of a degree and a minimum grade point average (GPA) are used by The University to measure satisfactory academic progress. Most private and institutional scholarships have specific academic and enrollment standards required for renewal or continuance of the award, if renewal is allowed.

The qualitative standard of satisfactory academic progress is measured by the cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of courses taken at UT Permian Basin. Each financial aid recipient's academic record is reviewed at the end of each spring semester to measure the student's qualitative academic progress.

 

Undergraduate students are expected to maintain a minimum CGPA of 2.00 each semester they are enrolled. Students falling below this minimum CGPA are subject to academic probation or dismissal as described in the "Grading Policies" section of the catalog. Failure to meet the minimum standards described above or in the "Grading Policies" section of the catalog will result in sanctions ranging from losing eligibility for scholarships to termination of all financial aid eligibility. Administration of this policy will be as follows:

  1. A student failing to meet the minimum standards for the first time will be eligible to receive financial aid for the following semester on probation provided the student can be expected to improve his or her academic performance to the minimum standards required during the probationary semester of attendance.

  2. A student failing to meet the minimum standards for the first time who cannot be expected to improve his or her academic performance to the minimum standards during a probationary semester will be suspended from receiving any further financial aid.

  3. A student placed on financial aid probation must attain minimum academic standards within twelve (12) hours or two semesters, whichever comes first. Failure to remove the deficiencies within that time frame will result in suspension for financial aid eligibility.

  4. Attendance during summer session(s) will be evaluated in the same manner as attendance during a regular semester except where enrollment for the entire summer is less than six hours.

The University has established a quantitative measurement of academic progress toward completion of a student's degree or certification program. Federal Title IV regulations state that student eligibility cannot extend past 150% of the stated length of a student's program of study. A first baccalaureate program at UT Permian Basin requires a minimum 120 semester credit hours for graduation. Therefore, a student who is working on a first bachelor's degree must complete the program within 180 attempted semester credit hours (120 hrs. x 1.50). Programs of different lengths would be similarly calculated. A student's entire enrollment history is considered when evaluating academic progress within the established time frame, whether or not aid has been received previously. At the end of the semester in which the maximum number of allowed hours has been attempted the student loses eligibility for financial aid to complete that program.

 

In addition to the overall time frame, a financial aid recipient must also be making progress toward completing the program by completing the number of funded hours attempted each year. Funded hours are those semester credit hours which are counted in determining a student's enrollment status for payment of financial aid. Courses in which a "W", "D", "F", "U" or "Z" has been recorded may be repeated once and be included as funded hours for financial aid (i.e., in the 12+ hours for full-time enrollment). Repeated courses in which a grade of "C" or higher, "S" or "I" has been recorded will not be included as funded hours for financial aid. Audited courses cannot be funded with financial aid or counted in the progress requirements.

Federal Title IV regulations specify that developmental courses may be included as funded hours for financial aid. These courses are numbered 0399 in the catalog (i.e., ENGL 0399, Fundamentals of Composition). The regulations also stipulate that a student may receive funding for not more than one year or thirty (30) hours of developmental courses. Therefore, each course numbered 0399 may be repeated once and still receive financial aid funding provided all other progress requirements have been met.

 

A quantitative measurement of academic progress will be made at the end of each spring semester for all financial aid recipients. At the end of the spring semester a student must have successfully completed a minimum of seventy-five percent (75%) of all course enrollments attempted at UT Permian Basin. Any student who falls below the minimum completion rate of 75% will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension until the ratio of completed to attempted hours is again above 75%. Courses with a recorded grade of "F", "U", "W", "Z" or "PR" are not considered successfully completed. Students are permitted to use summer enrollments to make up credit hour deficiencies. Only enrollments attempted and successfully completed at UT Permian Basin will be considered in academic progress. Courses repeated or transferred from other institutions are not considered in measuring academic progress except for monitoring the overall time frame for completion of a student's program of study.

 

Students who have lost eligibility to receive financial aid as a result of Financial Aid Suspension must complete the equivalent of one semester of full-time enrollment (12 hours) using their own resources without benefit of financial aid and attain the minimum standards of satisfactory academic progress before becoming eligible to reapply for aid.


The University recognizes that students sometimes encounter circumstances beyond their control that can adversely affect their academic progress. Any student subject to probation or suspension of financial aid eligibility may appeal to the Director of Financial Aid for a review of the decision. The appeal must be submitted in writing and include in the request an explanation and documentation of the reason(s) why the minimum academic standards required by this policy were not achieved. The student has the right to further appeal the decision of the Director of Financial Aid to a Financial Aid Review Board. The review board shall have the authority to uphold or overturn the suspension. The review board shall also have the authority to place conditions upon the receipt of any financial aid for those cases where aid is reinstated. The student will be notified by the Director of Financial Aid in writing of the review board's decision.