SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS & CONDITIONS OF AID

All new, transfer, re-entry, and continuing students applying for federal student aid at LSU Health Shreveport must adhere to the terms of this policy. 

Students continuing enrollment from terms prior to a Fall term and applying for financial aid the upcoming school year must meet the terms of the Financial Aid SAP policy that was in place prior to the start of the current award year. The Federal Student Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy may differ from other institutional academic policies but is consistent with the minimum graduation requirements in place prior to the start of the effective school year. Revisions to this policy and implementation, thereof, may not coincide with changes to mid-year academic program policy. A student who has an academic dismissal recommendation overridden by the Dean is not automatically eligible for financial aid. The student is still required to meet Financial Aid SAP requirements or appeal successfully to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee. It is possible for a student to be in good academic standing with their academic program and be ineligible for financial aid because of the student's failure to meet the Financial Aid SAP requirements. The Satisfactory of Academic Progress (SAP) Policy is reviewed annually to ensure the policy is up to date with institutional practices.

Status Definitions

Aid applicants and recipients will be assigned one of the following statuses after SAP evaluations.

Meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress

Student is meeting the SAP requirements for their degree program and is eligible for financial aid for the following academic year.

Academic Plan/Probation

This status refers to a student who:

• Has completed an appeal that has been approved by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee and financial aid eligibility has been reinstated on a probationary basis for one academic year.
• Does not meet the SAP requirements of their degree program but is meeting the conditions of an Academic Plan as a condition of the student's approved appeal as defined and monitored by their program.

A student who makes an appeal must create an individualized Academic Plan with the Academic Affairs Office or the Program Director, Educational Dean, or designee. If a student is successfully meeting the conditions of the Academic Plan but is still not meeting the SAP standards of their degree program at the time of the subsequent SAP evaluation period, the student will be permitted aid for the upcoming academic year. As long as a student continues to meet the conditions of the Academic Plan as determined by the degree program at each evaluation period, the student is eligible to receive financial aid. If the student fails to meet the conditions of the individualized Academic Plan and is still failing to meet the SAP standards of their degree program, the student loses financial aid eligibility.

Not Meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress

A student with this status is not meeting the SAP standards for their degree program and is ineligible for financial aid.

Students who are in Not Meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress status will remain in this status until the next evaluation period, which is at the end of the academic year, even if the student is able to successfully complete the course requirements to improve their status prior to the end of the academic year. At the next evaluation period, if the student meets the SAP requirements, the status will update, and the student will regain eligibility.

SAP Undetermined

A student with this status has not yet completed their first academic year and has not reached their first SAP evaluation. This student is eligible for financial aid.

Financial Aid Appeals

A student who has failed to meet SAP requirements due to extenuating circumstances may appeal to the Financial Aid SAP Appeals Committee to request continued use of financial aid while remediating their SAP status. The appeal must be submitted with accompanying documentation by the deadline date given in their SAP notification. All supporting documents will be retained in the student’s financial aid file.

General SAP Appeals Information

All Financial Aid SAP Appeals Committee decisions are final. Each appeal will be considered on its own merit based on the student’s explanation of the extenuating circumstances as well as the accompanying documentation corroborating the student’s statement. Individual cases will not be considered a precedent. Students are not limited to the number of times they can appeal while pursuing their current degree, however, they are limited to one appeal per SAP assessment year. Each subsequent appeal must be based on a new circumstance.

Appeals without proper documentation will not be scheduled before the committee. Both the Financial Aid Office and Appeals Committee members are not allowed to contact doctors, instructors, or other persons for additional information, and they may not present information to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee on behalf of students.

Appeal Procedures

Students wishing to appeal their SAP Status must submit a completed Financial Aid Appeals Form with supporting documentation through their online student portal no later than Wednesday of the 2nd week of the term for which they are applying. Students can view the academic calendar to determine the SAP appeal deadlines on the Registrar’s page of the LSUHS website at https://www.lsuhs.edu/our-schools/registrar.

APPEAL FORM

Appeal documents will include an explanation of extenuating circumstances from the student, third-party documentation of the extenuating circumstances (e.g., doctor’s note, police reports, death certificate or obituary for deceased relative, proof of medical care, etc.), and confirmation of Academic Plan signed by advisor from Academic Affairs Office, Program Director, Educational Dean or their designee.

The Financial Aid Appeals Committee will review appeal applications and make a collective decision on Thursday of week 2 of the student’s term for which they are appealing.

The Financial Aid Office will provide the student with a written notification of the committee’s decision on Friday of week 2 of the student’s term.

Financial Aid Appeals Committee

The Financial Aid Appeals Committee will consist of an appointee from each school, selected by the Dean of that school or their designee. Each member shall be an LSUHS full-time employee. Student Financial Aid shall obtain notice from each Dean or their designee of appointees at the start of each academic year.

The Director of Student Financial Aid serves as the Chairperson for the Appeals Committee and the liaison to the students.

The Financial Aid SAP Appeals Committee meets on the 2nd Thursday of each academic term to review appeals submitted for that term.

All questions and concerns should be addressed to the Director of Student Financial Aid or their designee.

 

Requirements for Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

SAP requirements include both a qualitative measure (grade-based) and a quantitative measure (pace). The specific qualitative and quantitative criteria to meet SAP requirements for each school/program are outlined in the respective academic progress policies, which can be found at the following links:

• School of Allied Health Professions (SAHP): Refer to the current LSUHS Catalog
• School of Graduate Studies (SGS): Refer to Academic Progress - School of Graduate Studies
• School of Medicine (SOM): Refer to PolicyTech

SAP evaluation will take place at the end of each academic year of enrollment in the degree program.

Qualitative Measure of Progress (Grade-based)

The qualitative requirement sets a minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) for the degree level at which a student is classified for their current degree program, except for those in the School of Medicine (SOM) which uses a percentage to determine final grades.

The following grades are included in GPA Calculations: A, B, C, D, F. The following grades are not included in GPA Calculations: I, P, S, U, W.

Transfer credit courses from outside the university are not calculated towards the qualitative measure of progress. If a student transfers programs within the university, any previously completed university courses which apply to the student’s new program will be included in the qualitative measure calculation.

Quantitative Measure of Progress (Pace)

To remain eligible for federal financial aid, students must meet the standards indicated below of their degree program at each SAP assessment. Students must successfully complete the minimum number of attempted credit hours and be within the maximum timeframe for total attempted credits as defined in the academic progress policy for the respective school.

All successfully completed and approved transfer credits which apply to completion of the student’s current program of study are calculated towards both completion rate and maximum timeframe requirements.

Incomplete grades, temporary grades, withdrawals, and failing grades (F, I, U, W) are counted as attempted but unearned credit hours in the completion rate. SOM temporary grades (N, Deferred, GNR) are not counted in the quantitative calculation. Any temporary grades that are updated after the SAP evaluation is completed will be used in the calculation at the next SAP evaluation.

All LSUHS coursework taken for the student’s academic program is counted in the completion rate, even if financial aid was not awarded during the term that the coursework was taken.

The quantitative requirement contains the following two components:

Pace of Progression/Completion Rate

The credit hour completion rate reflects the pace at which students must progress to ensure that they are able to complete their degree program within the maximum timeframe. The pace of progression is calculated by dividing the total number of credit hours the student has successfully completed in their program by the total number of hours the student has attempted in their program. Percentages are not rounded.

Maximum Timeframe

For Title IV financial aid, the maximum timeframe allowed for students to complete their degree cannot exceed 150 percent of the published length of the academic program. Students who continue to attend credits in the same program after attempting 150 percent of the published length of the program will not be eligible for Title IV financial aid and will not be able to regain eligibility outside of a successful SAP appeal. All LSUHS coursework and successfully completed transfer credits taken for the student’s academic program are counted towards the maximum timeframe even if financial aid was not awarded during the term that the coursework was taken. Terms which include repeated coursework and courses taken for audit will count toward the maximum timeframe. Periods of Leave of Absence count toward the time limit for degree completion.