Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy for Graduate & Law Students

Overview: 

To be eligible for student financial aid, a student must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards. The Financial Aid and Scholarships office (FAS) has established guidelines (based on federal regulations) for evaluating a student’s progress, taking into consideration the cumulative KU GPA, the cumulative number of hours a student has attempted and completed (completion rate), and the maximum timeframe to complete a degree. These standards will be reviewed at the end of each period of enrollment.  

Graduate/Law students are considered to be meeting SAP standards on their first day of enrollment in a degree-seeking program. Students may continue to receive financial aid while meeting the minimum standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress. Non-degree seeking students are generally not eligible for federal financial aid.  

Minimum Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards for Graduate/Law Students:

• Maintain the required GPA.
  • Graduate: maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative KU GPA. The KU GPA includes all KU courses taken within the Graduate career graded A-F.
  • Law: maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative KU GPA. The KU GPA includes all KU courses taken within the Law Career graded A-F. 
• Successfully complete a minimum of 67% of all hours attempted. Completion rate is calculated by dividing the total number of successfully completed hours by the number of attempted hours. All courses within the career will be evaluated.
• Complete the degree within the time limit allowed for the degree program.
  • Complete Master’s degree within 7 years of first day of enrollment.
  • Complete Doctoral degree within 8 years of first day of enrollment.
  • Complete Juris Doctor (JD) degree within 5 years of first day of enrollment.
  • Complete Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) degree within 8 years of first day of enrollment.
  • Complete LL.M Program in American Legal Studies within 3 years of first day of enrollment.

 Academic progress is reviewed at the end of each semester (fall, spring, summer). Courses a student is enrolled in on or after the first day of the 50% refund period are reviewed.

• Courses marked “F,” “incomplete,” “no credit,” “dropped,” “withdrawn,” “unsatisfactory,” “waiting on grade,” “no progress”, and unposted grades are considered courses attempted, although not successfully completed.
• Graduate/Law courses successfully transferred from any other postsecondary institution, as well as test credits, are calculated as attempted and completed courses.
• All course repeat attempts will be included in the attempted hours.
• Courses retroactively withdrawn from will continue to be evaluated as courses attempted, although not successfully completed. Grades for courses that are academically forgiven must still be counted in the GPA calculation, as well as the completion rate calculation for SAP. 

Financial Aid Warning:

If a student is not meeting SAP standards during an end of semester review for the first time due to GPA or completion rate issues, the student will be placed on financial aid warning for one semester. The student may continue to receive financial aid for that semester.  If the student is not meeting the minimum SAP standards by the end of the next term in which the student enrolls, the student will become ineligible for financial aid.   

There is no warning semester for students who hit maximum timeframe limits. Those who hit maximum timeframe limits will become ineligible for financial aid without a warning semester. Graduate students who hit maximum timeframe, but meet GPA and completion rate requirements, do not need to submit an appeal – instead, these students should contact their department to discuss a Time Limit Extension Request. Time Limit extensions will be granted for financial aid if the university approves the Time Limit Extension for the student’s degree program.

Ineligibile Status and Regaining Eligibility: 

If a student becomes ineligible for financial aid because minimum Satisfactory Academic Progress standards are not met, the student will be notified via their KU email account.  To regain eligibility, the student will need to meet the minimum Satisfactory Academic Progress standards OR if a mitigating circumstance caused the student to become ineligible, the student may be eligible to appeal by following the steps below.

Step One:     

• Schedule an appointment with a Financial Aid Counselor to discuss the situation.
• If there are extenuating circumstances that have caused you to become ineligible for aid, you may be eligible to appeal. Explanations may include death of a family member, injury or illness of the student, domestic violence, victim of a crime, divorce, an unhealthy living situation or other special circumstances.

Step Two – Login to CampusLogic:

• Students will be selected for SAP appeal in CampusLogic (ku.studentforms.com). Students will login to CampusLogic with their KU login information.

• Complete and submit the SAP appeal form with a typed narrative. Your typed narrative should describe the extenuating circumstances that caused you to become ineligible for aid, as well as your plan to be successful/meet SAP standards in the future. 
• Submit any supporting documentation, such as letters of academic support from professors, a letter of prognosis from a physician, police report, etc.

• Download the One Semester Academic Plan requested of you in CampusLogic (ku.studentforms.com)
• Set up a meeting with your assigned academic advisor – bring a copy of the form to this meeting. You and your advisor will need to complete this form together.
• Upload the completed form to CampusLogic (ku.studentforms.com).
• Submit your appeal.

• You can anticipate a decision from the Financial Aid Appeals Committee within 4 weeks of submission, depending on the volume of appeals submitted.
• Following the review of your appeal, you will be contacted via email.
• If your appeal is approved, you will be instructed to contact the FAS office to meet with a Financial Aid Counselor to review and sign your financial aid Monitored Academic Plan (MAP).
• If your appeal is denied, the email will indicate whether an appeal can be submitted in the future, including criteria you must meet to be eligible to submit a subsequent appeal.
• Committee decisions are final and are not subject to further review.