Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
To be eligible for federal student aid, students must be evaluated on their academic progress toward completion of a degree program. Multnomah will hold to this standard for establishing eligibility for federal and institutional funding including any additional eligibility criterion specific to the scholarship or grant for which the student is eligible. There are two measurements required by Department of Education Federal Regulations: qualitative and quantitative. Please note: these policies govern financial aid and do not have any bearing on your academic standing as they are separate policies. Please refer to the Student Handbook for information regarding satisfactory academic progress standards.
Qualitative Standard:
The qualitative measurement is to ensure that a student is making the necessary progress in their program by maintaining a minimum 2.0 cumulative g.p.a. to continue to be eligible for Title IV funding (Federal Student Aid). All student transcripts will be evaluated at the conclusion of each semester shortly after grades have been submitted to the Registrar for the semester. Any student with less than a 2.0 cumulative g.p.a. will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for the semester following the sub-standard semester. If after this warning semester, the student still has less than a 2.0 cumulative g.p.a. then the student will move to Financial Aid Suspension*. Suspended students are encouraged to submit an appeal to the Director of Financial Aid. If the appeal is granted, the student will be placed on probation for one semester. If the student does not meet the minimum g.p.a. requirement after the probationary semester, the student will be moved back to Financial Aid Suspension status. The student will have one additional opportunity to appeal their FA Suspension status. This appeal will be considered by a committee made up of representation from Financial Aid, Student Life, and Student Accounts. The student must have shown significant academic progress during their probationary semester and not have any social and/or student account concerns to be granted a second appeal. If a second appeal is granted, the student will have one additional semester on Financial Aid Probation to met FA SAP minimum requirements. If the student is not meeting minimum requirements after this probationary semester then they are moved to Financial Aid Suspension status with no additional opportunity to appeal. To regain eligibility for financial aid, a student must successfully complete the equivalent of 12 semester credit hours and earn a 2.0 g.p.a. without the benefit of financial aid.
* Students not completing any credits attempted or receiving a 0.0 g.p.a. at the end of any semester are automatically placed on Financial Aid Suspension. In this case, students are encouraged to appeal financial aid suspension by submitting an appeal to the Director of Financial Aid.
Quantitative Standard:
Students are eligible for Title IV Federal Student Aid for a maximum of 150% of the required length of a program. The maximum time is determined based on the number of credits required for a student’s major. For example, if the major requires 124 credits for graduation, the student may receive funding for a maximum of 124 x 150% = 186 credits.
In a semester-by-semester breakdown, this means students must maintain a cumulative completion rate of 67% (credits earned/credits attempted) to meet the quantitative standard for Satisfactory Academic Progress.
Students who do not meet the minimum completion percentage requirement are subject to the same FA SAP status progression mentioned in the qualitative standard section above.
Attendance Measurement
The period of a student’s attendance will be measured from the first day of instruction through the student’s last day of actual attendance.