Satisfactory academic progress
To be eligible to receive financial aid at VCU, students must maintain satisfactory academic progress. VCU’s SAP policy is based on federal criteria and applies to all financial aid recipients.
Need to make an SAP appeal?
A student whose eligibility for financial aid has been suspended may submit an appeal if special circumstances prevented the student from achieving satisfactory academic progress.
Prior to completing your SAP Appeal please be aware that you will need to have the following information on hand:
A personal statement that details the circumstances as to why you have failed SAP and the steps taken to improve your academic record.
- External documentation and/or third-party statements that support and can corroborate your situation
- The name of your academic advisor and their email address
- The total number of credit hours remaining to complete your degree/program
- Your expected graduation month and year
Please do not submit this form without any of the above information as incomplete submissions may be denied. Instead, you may start the form and then click the "Finish Later" button to return where you left off (you will receive an email with a link to return to the form).
Reviewing your SAP Appeal can take up to four weeks by the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. Should you have questions, contact your financial counselor by logging into Navigate or emailing sfmc@vcu.edu. Multiple or duplicate Appeal submissions will not be reviewed without having first met to discuss with your Financial Counselor.
Spring 2025 SAP Appeal (Only submit this appeal if you intend to enroll or are enrolled during the Spring 2025 semester)
- Spring 2025 SAP Appeal Form
- Deadline: April 9th, 2025
What determines SAP?
Undergraduates: Must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0
Graduate students: Must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0
Please visit the VCU Policy Library to see the university's official SAP Policy.
Pass/Fail grade considerations
Changing from a standard letter grade to a pass/fail grade will not impact a student's Title IV aid as long as the classes continue to count toward the student's degree completion requirements and the student continues to meet VCU's SAP rules.
Pass/Fail grade considered for pace and GPA (undergraduate students):
- Grade of pass (P) is awarded for certain courses to denote satisfactory completion of requirements equivalent to letter grades A-C. The grade of P is not included in the calculation of the GPA. Grade of P will satisfy the prerequisite to register for courses that require a minimum grade of C. Students should check with their academic departments and advisors to see if a grade of P will be accepted for courses with prerequisites of B or higher, as well as for program requirements that specify a minimum grade of B.
- Grade of F, W, AU, N, NR and I are counted toward the total hours attempted, but they are considered to be successfully completed grades and will negatively affect the completion rate.
- Grade of P or CR in Pass/Fail courses will be counted in the completion rate calculation as both attempted and earned hours.
Pass/Fail grades considered for pace and GPA (graduate students):
- Grade of satisfactory (S) is awarded for certain courses to denote satisfactory completion of requirements equivalent to letter grades A-B. The grade of S is not included in the calculation of the GPA. The grade of S will satisfy course requirements of a minimum grade of B or higher to advance to another course.
- Grade of unsatisfactory (U) is awarded for certain courses to denote satisfactory completion of requirements equivalent to the letter grade C. The grade of U is not included in the calculation of the GPA.
- Grade of fail (F) is awarded for certain courses to denote not passing (earning a letter grade equivalent of a D or F) and is included in the calculation of the GPA.
Withdrawals, failing grades and incompletes
- Grades of F and W will count toward attempted hours and maximum timeframe.
- All incompletes (I) and withdrawals (W) will not be. computed into the GPA when calculating financial aid eligibility.
- SAP will be recalculated if the student earns a passing grade that replaces the incomplete or has a grade change after grades have posted. The student or department must notify Financial Aid to initiate the process of recalculating SAP when changes are made after final grades have been posted.
We will work with students on a case-by-case basis to ensure their academic success.
Students must complete at least 67 percent of their overall attempted hours at VCU. The completion rate is determined by dividing credits earned by the number of credits attempted. Transfer hours are included.
VCU rounds up to the whole number of 67% when the completion rate is 66.5% or above.
|
Grade level |
Credit hours attempted |
Number of earned credits needed to meet completion rate |
|
Freshman |
23 |
16 |
|
Sophomore |
53 |
36 |
|
Junior |
84 |
57 |
Undergraduate students must not attempt more than 150 percent of the hours required for their degree program, including transfer and AP credit hours. For example, a student in a program that requires 120 credit hours will have eligibility for aid suspended after attempting more than 180 credit hours.
Graduate and Professional Students must not attempt more than 175 percent of the hours required for their degree program.
Special grades or coursework also can impact SAP, including:
- Incomplete grades
- Study abroad
- Audited courses
- Advanced Placement courses
- English as a Second Language courses
- Course withdrawal
- Military withdrawal
- Transfer credits
- Repeated courses
Learn more about how special grades or coursework are treated when determining SAP.
Under federal regulations, financial aid will pay for only one undergraduate bachelor’s degree or the equivalent of 120 credits at VCU. As part of a degree program, students select courses to complete major and general education requirements. Students may review their degree audit to determine how selected courses count in the 120 credits, including transfer credits, advanced placement (AP) or dual enrollment course credits and courses taken at VCU. Learn how changing your major or adding a second major may impact SAP.
Nondegree-seeking students
Nondegree-seeking students are ineligible for federal or state financial aid. However, if a student later enrolls in a degree or certificate program, all attempted courses, including those taken while classified as a nondegree-seeking student, must be evaluated when determining SAP status.
Repeat coursework
Under federal regulations, any course that has been passed with a D or higher can only be taken one additional time. Repeated attempts after that will not be eligible for financial aid.
Medical, dental and pharmacy students at the professional level who are required by their academic deans to repeat a year are permitted to continue on financial aid for that year.
Repeats of courses previously passed will not count as earned credits in the semester in which they are repeated. Only the initial passing grade of a course is counted as earned credits, while all attempts of a course are counted as attempted credits
Suspension and probation
SAP is reviewed annually at the end of the spring semester. When students fail to meet established requirements, they receive a financial aid suspension letter, indicating the type of SAP violation.
Students may submit an appeal if mitigating circumstances prevented them from achieving SAP. If the appeal is granted, students will be assigned a probation status and will be eligible to receive federal financial aid for one semester. Students who fail to meet the established SAP requirements at the end of the semester will be placed on an academic plan with set deadlines, which must be met to receive federal financial aid for future semesters.
Resources for student success
VCU provides a number of academic and support services to help students regain and maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress.
Academic support resources:
- University Academic Advising
- VCU Advising
- Student-Athlete Support Services
- VCU Transfer Center
- Campus Learning Center
- Writing Center
Student support resources: