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    • Keep Your Financial Aid (SAP)

    Financial Aid

    Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

    Federal, state, and university regulations require financial aid recipients to show progress toward the completion of their degree. This policy, referred to as Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), must include a qualitative measure, such as a cumulative GPA, and a quantitative measure, such as a maximum time frame to complete a degree.

    You must meet SAP requirements to maintain most types of financial aid and scholarships. A SAP hold on a student’s account, from not meeting the requirements, will prevent all financial aid payments. If you receive departmental awards and you’re not receiving any other federal, state, or university funds, the SAP’s yearly progress and maximum time allowance portion doesn’t apply to you.

    SAP Requirements

    • Meet a minimum grade point average of:
      • Undergraduate students: 2.0
      • Graduate and professional students: The academic minimum required in the program.
    • Earn a minimum number of credit hours each academic year:
      • Undergraduate students: Successfully complete 67% (rounded to the nearest whole percentage) of total attempted hours while enrolled at UT.
      • Graduate and professional students: Maintain academic and other standards for continued enrollment.
    • Complete your degree within 150% of the time for the published length of your major. All transfer hours count toward your maximum time frame.
      • For example, most undergraduate degrees require 120 credit hours to complete. 120 credit hours x 150% = 180 maximum attempted credit hours allowed to complete a degree.
    • Students who withdraw from UT two times or more while receiving financial aid are no longer eligible to receive it.

    SAP Grades & Appeals

    UT monitors your cumulative completion percentage, maximum time allowance, and grade point average at the end of each semester.

    You will receive SAP credit for these grades: A, A-, B +/-, C +/-, D +/-, S, and P. No SAP credit is given for these grades: I, F, NC, W, and NR.

    If you do not meet the requirements of SAP, a hold that prevents financial aid payments will be placed on your account.

    Click here for information about how to file an appeal if you lose your financial aid.

    Maximum Time Frame

    All semesters, credit hours, and course repeats are counted toward the SAP maximum time allowance, regardless if you received financial aid. All attempted credit hours are considered toward the maximum time allowance.

    If you are working on a second undergraduate degree, you have an additional 45 hours to complete your necessary coursework.

    For graduate and professional students working on a second study program, you are given 150% of the time allowed for your program.

    Programs Governed by SAP Requirements

    • Federal programs:
      • Grants including Pell and Supplemental Educational Opportunity
      • Loans including Perkins, PLUS, Direct (subsidized and unsubsidized), and Grad PLUS
      • Federal Work–Study
      • State-sponsored grants and scholarships, such as the Tennessee Student Assistance Award (TSAA) and Tennessee Lottery (HOPE) Scholarships
      • Agency-sponsored assistance requiring institutional certification of SAP
      • Some scholarship, grant, and loan programs funded by UT

    Repeated Courses

    If you enroll in a course in which you originally received an A-F, or an S/NC, P/NP, I, W, X, N, or AU, it is considered to be a repeated course.

    You may be funded for a repeated course based upon the UT repeat policy. See the catalog that applies to the year you took the course. All repeated courses (with the exception of the first twenty-four semester hours of remedial or developmental hours) are counted as credit hours you attempt toward your maximum time frame.

    If you’ve transferred to UT, you will be evaluated based on the standards for your designated academic level. This includes all transfer credit hours from your previous institution(s).

    Financial Aid Suspension

    At the end of each semester, all students are evaluated on the following criteria:

    • Completed 67% of attempted credit hours during enrollment at UT
    • Cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 for undergraduate students; graduate and professional students must be meeting the requirements of their program
    • Cumulative number of attempted hours
    • Number of total withdrawals from the university

    If you do not meet any one of the above criteria, you will be granted one warning term for the next semester you attend. If after the warning term you still do not meet all of the above criteria, your financial aid eligibility will be suspended, beginning with the next semester you attend. If you do not meet the standards, you will be notified with a written warning at the end of the semester via your UT email and in your MyUTK account. Click here for information about how to file an appeal if you lose your financial aid.