Graduate Federal Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements
It measures your cumulative GPA, Pace (progress toward your degree) and Maximum Timeframe (maximum attempted credits). If you don’t meet all the requirements, you aren’t making SAP. You then become ineligible to receive federal aid programs like Unsubsidized Direct Graduate Loans and Graduate PLUS Loans.
If you have no interest in federal financial aid programs, then these requirements do not apply to you.
You must meet all of these requirements:
| Measurement | Requirement |
| Cumulative GPA after attempting/completing at least 9 cumulative credits | 3.0 or greater |
| Pace (progress toward degree) is calculated by dividing total # of completed credits by total # of attempted credits | 67% or greater. No rounding |
| Maximum Timeframe (maximum attempted credits) is calculated by multiplying the credits required to complete a degree program by 150%). |
Must be able to earn degree before exceeding maximum attempted credits Will vary depending on program of study |
Credit hours that you have completed at another institution that are accepted at RIT will be counted as both attempted and completed credits. This does positively affect the calculation of your Pace (progress toward degree). However, the grades for transfer credits are not factored into the calculation of your cumulative GPA at RIT.
“I” grades are equivalent to “F” grades for SAP cumulative GPA calculations. The GPA calculations as reported by the Office of the Registrar at the conclusion of every semester/term will always be made with an “I” grade equaling a failing grade of 0.00. The GPA calculations on your academic transcript however are not calculated with “I” grades being equivalent to “F” grades and the “I” grades have no impact on the GPA calculations. Because of this, your cumulative GPAs on your academic transcript will always be higher than what is indicated on the SAP reports from the Registrar’s Office.
In the calculation of your progress toward degree (Pace), the credit hours associated with the course for which you have an “I” grade are counted as attempted credit hours. Because the “I” grade is equivalent to an “F” grade and no credit is earned for “F” grades, these same credit hours do not count as completed credit hours.
RIT’s policy on repeating a course is that the last grade will stand as final even if the last grade is lower than the grade previously earned. Accordingly, the last grade earned will affect the calculation of your cumulative GPA for the semester/term in which the last grade was earned. The credit hours the repeated course is worth are again counted as attempted credit hours. They will be counted as completed credits only if the last grade earned is a passing grade.
The last grade earned does not impact the SAP status assigned for the semester/term the class was previously taken.
“W” grades, assigned to courses you have withdrawn from past the add/drop period, carry no credit and do not affect your SAP cumulative GPA calculations. However, “W” grades can possibly impact your SAP progress toward degree (Pace) and might also affect the maximum timeframe because the credit hours associated with the courses you withdrew from are counted as attempted credit hours and they do not count as completed credit hours.
Review a copy of your unofficial transcript. Look at your most recently completed semester. It shows your cumulative GPA, your total credits attempted, and total credits completed. Compare your transcript to the requirements above. You can also contact your primary academic advisor.
The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (OFAS) monitors Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress at the conclusion of every semester/term (summer/fall/spring) using information received from the Office of the Registrar. The OFAS will only notify you if you aren’t meeting SAP requirements or if it is unable to determine your SAP status.
As a graduate student, your eligibility for federal financial aid loan programs is affected. Other aid programs like state grants have their own rules. Scholarships and grants funded by RIT are not typically impacted.
NTID sponsored aid programs are determined by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), but if you are not meeting SAP requirements you may not be eligible for NTID scholarships and grants.
If you have good reasons for not making SAP and can demonstrate those reasons will not happen again, you may request Federal Financial Aid Probation so that you can continue to receive federal aid while you work toward regaining SAP. You need to work with your primary academic advisor or program chair to develop a Federal SAP Action Plan that outlines the number of semesters it will take you to meet SAP requirements.
Only request Federal Financial Aid Probation if you desire to receive federal financial aid and file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Follow these steps to request Federal Financial Aid Probation:
- Complete and submit the Request for Federal Financial Aid Probation Form provided in the "Additional Requirements" section of your eServices account.
- Meet with your designated Program SAP Contact to create a SAP Action Plan that outlines what you need to accomplish academically to regain SAP. Your Program SAP Contact will have the SAP Action Plan form and will complete it with your help. The completed form would be submitted to the RIT Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships via our secure document uploader or via the SAP Action Plan link in the "Additional Requirements" section of your eServices account. This form would not be submitted via email. Use the SAP Contact List to find your find your contact.
- Based on the semester you are seeking a Federal Financial Aid Probation, both your Request for Federal Financial Aid Probation Form and your SAP Action Plan summary must be submitted to the RIT Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships by the indicated deadline below:
Summer Semester: June 10
Fall Semester: October 10
Spring Semester: March 10
The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships notifies you of the decision. If approved, you will need to meet the conditions outlined in the Federal SAP Action Plan to continue to be eligible for federal financial aid. If you do not meet the conditions, or if your request is not approved, then you are not eligible to receive federal aid until you again meet all SAP requirements.
A graduate student is allowed one approved probation, lasting no longer than two consecutive semesters.
These are cumulative. For example, if you used a Federal Financial Aid Probation while pursuing a graduate degree at RIT but transfer into another RIT graduate degree program you would not have any remaining probation opportunities while attending RIT as a graduate student.
Federal regulations for graduate students require that students complete their program of study within 150% of the time it would take a student to normally complete their degree program. A review of your academic record would indicate that one of the following situations applies to you:
- You have already reached or exceeded the maximum credits allowed for your program of study.
- You may reach the maximum allowable credits for degree completion before you graduate.
A Maximum Timeframe SAP issue affects your eligibility for federal financial aid sources such as Unsubsidized Direct Graduate Loans and Graduate PLUS Loans. Other aid programs like state grants have their own rules. Scholarships and grants funded by RIT are not typically impacted.
NTID sponsored aid programs are determined by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), but if you are not meeting SAP requirements for Maximum Timeframe you may not be eligible for NTID scholarships and grants.
On a case-by-case basis, students may exceed the 150% maximum timeframe with certain conditions. A student may appeal for this SAP exception, however there is no guarantee that the appeal will be granted.
If you wish consideration of federal financial aid, you will need to request that your Program SAP Contact submits an Academic Plan for Graduation to Determine Financial Aid Form on your behalf to the RIT Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. Your Program SAP Contact will be confirming your remaining number of semesters/terms and your remaining required courses/credits to complete your program of study. To generate this request to your contact, you will need to access the Academic Plan for Graduation to Determine Financial Aid Form link in the "Additional Requirements" section of your eServices account. Use the SAP Contact List to find your find your contact.
Based on the semester you are seeking federal financial aid, the Academic Plan for Graduation to Determine Financial Aid Form be submitted to the RIT Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships by the indicated deadline:
Summer Semester: June 10
Fall Semester: October 10
Spring Semester: March 10
Submission of this information does not guarantee approval for an exception to the 150% maximum requirement.
There are two possible results:
If your request is approved, there will be a limited timeframe for you to earn your degree while continuing to receive federal aid. Any other conditions will be outlined in your notification.
-or-
If your request is denied, you will no longer be eligible to receive federal financial aid while attending RIT.