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Satisfactory Academic Progress

A student may receive institutional financial aid for a period not to exceed four full academic years (eight semesters) as a full-time student. EXCEPTIONS REQUIRE A WRITTEN REQUEST TO THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL AID. Other documentation may be required for unusual circumstances preventing a student from degree completion within the eight-semester limit.

Transfer students enrolling at KWC for the first time are subject to the satisfactory academic progress policy based upon their transfer hours and cumulative grade point average. Students who apply for re-admission to KWC after sitting out at least one semester (or part of a semester) are subject to the satisfactory academic progress policy based upon their KWC grades as of the time of re-admission. If the grades/hours fall below that required in this policy, the student will be placed on financial aid probation for the first semester of enrollment following admission.

A full-time student must pass at least twenty-four semester hours each year. If this requirement is not met, the student is placed on financial aid probation for the following semester and must pass at least 12 semester hours that semester or he/she will become ineligible for financial aid the following semester. Students may appeal this decision in writing to the Director of Financial Aid.

A student must maintain a satisfactory grade point average as defined in this policy. Classes from which a student withdraws are counted in the number of hours attempted, as are incompletes. The following scale of hours attempted (not earned) and grade point average is used to determine satisfactory academic progress:

1-29 semester hours................ 1.6 cumulative GPA on 4.0 scale
30-59 semester hours.............. 1.8 cumulative GPA on 4.0 scale
60 or more semester hours..... 2.0 cumulative GPA on 4.0 scale

If a student falls below the criteria on this scale, he/she will be placed on financial aid probation for the following semester. At the end of the probationary semester, if the cumulative GPA does not meet or exceed the above standard, the student is considered ineligible for financial aid during subsequent semesters (even if the academic dean permits the student to remain in school) until the GPA is raised to that required. NOTE: If a student changes grade levels while on probation, he/she must meet the cumulative GPA for that grade level at the end of the probationary semester. For example, a student has attempted 57 semester hours at the end of the fall semester and has a cumulative GPA of 1.40. Based upon the scale above, he/she must have at least a 1.8 to meet satisfactory academic progress requirements. Therefore, this student will be placed on financial aid probation for the following spring semester. At the end of the spring semester the student has attempted a total of 77 credit hours and is therefore required to have a cumulative GPA of at least a 2.0 in order to receive financial aid during subsequent semesters. Students may appeal this decision in writing to the Director of Financial Aid.

A student will be removed from financial aid probation status when the cumulative GPA once again meets the satisfactory academic progress policy stated above. A student may not use transfer credit/grades to improve the cumulative GPA; a student must attend KWC to change his/her grade point average.

If a student is suspended from KWC, he/she may apply for re-admission after sitting out one semester. If admission is granted, the student may receive financial aid (if eligible under federal/state/institutional regulations) for one probationary semester. The probationary semester requires the student to raise his/her cumulative GPA to the necessary level. If the student fails to do so, he/she will be considered ineligible for financial aid until the cumulative GPA required by this policy is met, even though the student may be permitted to remain in school at the discretion of the academic dean.

Repeats are counted in hours used to determine enrollment status only (e.g. 9 hours regular credit and 3 hours of repeat would be considered a full-time enrollment status) for financial aid purposes. However, the repeat hours are NOT counted in the overall 24 hours needed to meet the minimum annual completion requirement of this policy. Audits are NOT counted toward enrollment status for financial aid purposes. The audit hours are NOT counted in the overall 24 hours needed to meet the minimum annual completion requirement of this policy.*

*The rationale is based upon tuition charges. The repeats are charged regular tuition rates; audits are not.

This policy is applied to ALL federal/state/institutional financial aid programs administered by Kentucky Wesleyan College.

Any student who feels that he/she has been treated unfairly and wishes to appeal any decision made in the administration of this policy may appeal to the Director of Financial Aid for reconsideration.