Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

• Most financial aid suspensions result from a student's not making satisfactory academic progress. The student might have failed to complete an adequate number of classes, have a low GPA or have attempted more than 150 percent of the credits required for the program of study. All of these situations are grounds for suspension of financial aid under federal guidelines.
  
  

Retroactive Suspension

• A retroactive suspension occurs when a school suspends a student's financial aid part of the way through an academic term, but the suspension is set to take effect back at the beginning of the term. The student might have qualified for aid at the beginning of the term, but due to failing to meet requirements, lost eligibility in the middle of the term. Alternatively, the school might not have received a student's grades from the previous term before the start of the new term, so the suspension could not be issued right away.
  
  

Returning Aid

• A student who received financial aid during a term before getting a retroactively issued suspension must return the aid to the college. Federal financial aid eligibility rules require that applicants not owe any federal aid to their schools. Moreover, an individual school can deny enrollment to a student who owes financial aid repayment.
  
  

Keep Good Standing

• You do not have to worry about retroactive suspensions if you maintain your school's academic standards. For example, you may have to register for a specific number of credits per semester to be eligible for financial aid. If you withdraw from a class in the middle of the semester and drop below the threshold for getting aid, all of your aid will be suspended. Avoid this by completing all of the classes you are registered for. If you were on financial aid probation for a term, work on remedying the reason for the probation to ensure your aid is not suspended during the next term.