Overview of 2024-25 SAP Policy
| Minimum GPA | Minimum Cumulative Completion Rate for Total Credit Hours Successfully Completed | Maximum Time Frame to Complete Degree Requirements | |
| Undergraduate Student | 2 | 67% of attempted credit hours | Program must be completed within a time frame no longer than 150% of the published length of the academic program, as measured by credits attempted and including transfer credits. Example: For a 120-credit program, the maximum number of credits attempted by a student cannot exceed 180 credits. |
| Graduate Student | 3 | 50% of attempted credit hours | Graduate students must complete their educational programs within a time frame of no longer than 200 percent of the published length of the educational program, as measured by the credits attempted and including transfer credits. For example, a student must complete his or her program before attempting a maximum of 72 credits for a 36 credit program. |
How to Determine Your Cumulative Completion Rate
To determine your cumulative completion rate, you will need to know the total number of credits you have attempted to take at UMGC and the total number of credits you have successfully completed (including any transfer credits accepted by UMGC). Completed credits are courses in which you receive grades of A, B, C, D, S, and P. You can find this information in Transcripts in MyUMGC.
Under View Unofficial Transcript, select the transcript type from the drop-down field.
Click the Generate Transcript button.
After a few moments, a link to your transcript will appear in the section below. Click the PDF icon to view your transcript.
Scroll down to the very bottom to find Credits Attempted and Credits Earned.
To calculate your completion rate, divide the total number of completed credits (courses in which you receive grades of A, B, C, D, S, and P) by the total number of credits attempted.
Examples of SAP Evaluations
Example 1
An undergraduate student attempted a total of 18 credits (six 3-credit courses) in the terms prior to spring 2024. She earned two As, three Bs, and one F. She took the term off for spring 2024. Her SAP would be calculated at the end of the spring 2024 term to determine her eligibility to receive aid from the summer 2024 term onward.
This student's GPA would be 2.83.
Her completion rate would be 83 percent, because she completed 15 out of the 18 credits that she attempted.
Her GPA and completion rate would both meet the SAP requirements.
This student would be considered eligible to receive aid until her next SAP evaluation at the end of the spring 2025 term.
Example 2
An undergraduate student was enrolled in both the fall 2023 and spring 2024 terms and attempted 6 credits (two 3-credit courses) in each term. In the fall, she earned an A and a F. In the spring, she withdrew from both courses after the add/drop period ended. Her SAP would be calculated at the end of the spring 2024 term to determine her eligibility to receive aid from the summer 2024 term onward.
This student's GPA would be 2.0.
Her completion rate would be 25 percent, because she only completed 3 out of the 12 credits that she attempted.
Even though her GPA would meet the minimum requirement of 2.0, her cumulative completion rate would not meet the minimum requirement of 67 percent.
She would not be eligible to receive aid for the summer term and onward.
She would not be eligible to submit a SAP appeal because she would not be able to meet SAP requirements by the end of her next term of half-time enrollment. (For an appeal to be considered, students must be able to reach the minimum SAP requirements within 6 credits. Even if this student successfully completed her next 6 credits, her cumulative completion rate would still be below the 67% requirement: 9/18 = 50%)
This student would need to use alternate payment methods to take courses until she meets the SAP requirements. If she has met SAP requirements, or gets close enough to meet within one half-time term.
Example 3
A graduate student was enrolled in both the fall 2023 and spring 2024 terms. In the fall, she attempted 9 credits and earned all Bs. In the spring, she attempted 12 credits, but withdrew from the courses after the add/drop period ended. Her SAP would be calculated at the end of the spring 2024 term to determine her eligibility to receive aid from the summer 2024 term onward.
This student's GPA would be 3.0.
Her completion rate would be 42 percent, because she only completed 9 out of the 21 credits that she attempted.
Even though her GPA would meet the minimum requirement of 3.0, her cumulative completion rate would not meet the minimum requirement of 50 percent.
She would not be eligible to receive aid for the summer term and onward.
She would be eligible to submit a SAP appeal, since she would be able to meet SAP requirements by the end of her next term of half-time enrollment. (If this student successfully completed her next 6 credits, her cumulative completion rate would be above the 50% requirement: 15/27 = 55%)
If the student submits a SAP appeal and it is approved, she would be placed on probation status and eligible to receive aid for the summer 2024 term. Her SAP would be reevaluated again at the end of that probationary term. If she meets all SAP requirements at that point, she would regain normal SAP status starting with fall 2024. If not, she would again lose eligibility to receive aid.
Appealing Suspension of Your Financial Aid
You may be eligible to submit a Satisfactory Academic Progress appeal form if any of the below pertains to you:
- If you have experienced an event that affected your academic performance and you are now placed on Aid Denied status*
- If you are now placed on Aid Denied status but you have since earned credit(s) that would result in SAP being regained
- If you are now placed on Aid Denied status but have undergone a grade change from the previous aid year that would result in SAP being regained
*Your appeal will be reviewed to confirm that the extenuating circumstance happened during the term when you failed to meet the minimum SAP requirements.
Please note: SAP appeals are only accepted from students who will be able to meet all cumulative SAP requirements within one probationary term of half-time enrollment, including being mathematically capable of completing their academic program within the maximum timeframe limit. Students who have reached that limit, or will do so before completing their program, are not eligible to appeal their aid suspension.
Circumstances That May be Eligible for Financial Aid SAP Appeal
Appeals will be considered for circumstances that fall into one of the following four categories:
Personal injury, unexpected illness, physical disability, or victim of a crime
Death or illness of an immediate family member
Separation/divorce
Work-related difficulties or other extenuating circumstances
How to Submit a SAP Appeal
Each SAP appeal must include all of the following:
A signed and dated SAP Form including details of extenuating circumstances that has affected your academic progress at UMGC
If you are submitting an appeal for Summer 2024, Fall 2024, or Spring 2025, please complete the 2024-25 Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal form
Documentation that supports your claim of an extenuating circumstance (e.g., medical statement from doctor, court documents, police reports, etc.)
Incomplete appeals will be denied. The appeal form and all required documentation must be received by the deadline of the term for which you are seeking aid. If your appeal is received after the deadline, it will be reviewed for the following term.
| Term | Deadline |
| Summer | August 1 |
| Fall | November 1 |
| Winter/Spring | April 15 |
After your completed appeal is received, a decision will typically be rendered in 10 business days. You will be notified of the outcome by e-mail. All appeal decisions are final.SAP appeals should be submitted via our secure document submission page.
Please note: SAP appeals are separate from and unrelated to academic appeals seeking grade changes or refunds, which are not processed by the Financial Aid Office. To learn more about academic appeals, visit Refund Exceptions.