Satisfactory Academic Progress

To qualify for federal student aid, federal regulations require you to achieve reasonable Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) toward your degree or certificate program.

SAP is determined based on GPA, percent completion and maximum timeframe. While SAP doesn’t prevent enrollment at Kent State, it does impact the awarding of federal financial aid.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Assessment

SAP assessment occurs annually at the end of spring semester for most programs or when you complete the FAFSA. Programs that can be completed in one year or less are evaluated after each payment period (semester).

Undergraduate Student Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

Undergraduate Students

Measure	SAP Policy
GPA: Undergraduate students	All students must have a 2.00 overall SAP GPA regardless of grade level. Students who fail to maintain a minimum 2.00 overall SAP GPA are not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress standards. After attending Kent State for two calendar years, all students must have a 2.00 overall SAP GPA regardless of grade level. All grades count in the GPA, including grades that are waived under the academic forgiveness policies. Remedial coursework is included in the GPA calculation.
Percent Completion: Undergraduate students	Percent completion will be calculated by dividing overall SAP earned hours by overall SAP attempted hours. For example: If a student attempted 50 credit hours but only successfully completed 40 out of those 50 credit hours, the completion rate would be 80% (40/50=80%). Transfer hours are included in the percent completion calculation. 0-29 SAP earned hours: at least 50% overall completion rate 30-59 SAP earned hours: at least 60% overall completion rate 60+ SAP earned hours: at least 67% overall completion rate Grades of W, WF, WP, F, U, SF, NF, NR, IP, IN and Z will count as zero in the earned hour calculation and will negatively affect the percent completion calculation. Courses in which a student remained registered past the add/drop date and earned a grade of “W” or its equivalent are included in SAP evaluation. In regards to incomplete (IN) grades, once the IN grade is finalized, the new grade would be considered at the next annual SAP evaluation. Students are encouraged to speak with an academic advisor and the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center prior to withdrawing from a course
Maximum Time Frame: Undergraduate students	Undergraduate students pursuing an associate degree can attempt up to 97 hours. Undergraduate students pursuing a bachelor's degree can attempt up to 180 credit hours. Undergraduate students pursuing an undergraduate certificate program can attempt up to 29 credit hours.

Students must complete their program within 150% of the published length of the program. A student is ineligible when it becomes mathematically impossible for them to complete the program within the maximum timeframe established by the school. Students who lose student aid eligibility due to this standard can regain eligibility for financial aid by submitting a successful SAP Appeal.

Course repeat hours Credit for repeated coursework will only be counted once in earned hours; however, all repeated coursework attempts are counted in attempted hours. This will negatively affect the percent completion rate. See Kent State University’s Course Repeat Policy in the University Catalog for guidance on how repeating courses affect grade point average and total hours for graduation.

Graduate Student Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

Graduate Students

Measure	SAP Policy
GPA: Graduate students	Graduate students are expected to maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA in all work attempted at Kent State University. Podiatric Medicine students are expected to maintain a minimum 2.4 GPA in all work.
Percent Completion: Graduate students	Percent completion will be calculated by dividing overall SAP earned hours by overall SAP attempted hours. Graduate applicants must have completed at lease 65 % of overall SAP attempted hours. Grades of W, WF, WP, F, U, SF, NF, NR, IP (non thesis/dissertation IP), IN, and Z will count as zero in the earned hour calculation and will negatively affect the percent completion calculation. Courses in which a student remained past the add/drop date and earned a grade of "W" or it's equivalent are included in SAP evaluation. In regards to incomplete (IN) grades, once the IN grade is finalized, the new grade would be considered at the next annual SAP evaluation. Students are encouraged to speak with an academic advisor and the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center prior to withdrawing from a course.
Maximum Time Frame: Graduate students	Maximum time frame will be monitored by academic units. As noted in the Kent State University Catalog, graduate students in a master’s program are held to a 6 year time limit and graduate students in a doctoral program a 10-year limit.

What is included in SAP Attempted Hours?

Overall institution attempted hours even if the student changes majors
Overall transfer hours
Attempted hours are counted for all terms, even those semesters during which the student did not receive financial aid as well as those waived under academic amnesty policies
Remedial, repeated and forgiveness hours are included in the overall SAP attempted hours calculation

Students who have reached the maximum time frame limit and who have completed coursework to graduate but have not yet received their degree cannot continue to receive further financial aid as an undergraduate student.

What is My Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Calculation?

Follow these steps to view your Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Calculation:

Log into FlashLine
Click on the Student tab
Under Finances, click on Scholarships & Financial Aid.
Scroll down to Additional Financial Aid Resources section
Click on Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Calculation

This Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Calculation displays a student's Financial Aid GPA, SAP Financial Aid Completion and SAP Maximum Time Frame values. Please note the SAP earned hours value. SAP earned hours is used to determine percent completion standard.

View the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Process

If extenuating circumstances impacted your ability to maintain SAP, you may choose to submit an appeal. Students in compliance with the SAP standards prior to the end of the academic year must still submit an appeal.

Step 1: Review Appeal Guidelines

If you are not meeting the SAP policy, you may appeal for federal financial aid by submitting a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal. The purpose of the appeal is to show that there were extenuating circumstances that led to you not meeting the standards.

Examples of extenuating circumstances are: death of a relative, an injury or illness of the student or other special circumstances. In an appeal, you must explain the circumstances that prevented you from meeting the SAP policy standards and explain what has changed that will allow you to meet the standards at the next evaluation. Supporting documentation must be provided.

If you’re cited for SAP and you do not appeal, are denied by the committee or are non-compliant with standards, you will lose federal financial aid eligibility. If you’re cited but now meet SAP standards, you must still file an appeal for review. Paying out-of-pocket or sitting out an enrollment period isn’t sufficient to reestablish federal aid eligibility.

Step 3: Find your SAP Status

Kent State will notify students who do not meet the Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress policy after the end of the spring semester or when our office receives the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) results.

To view your status:

Log on to FlashLine and select Student.
Under Finances, click on Scholarships & Financial Aid.
Click on Financial Aid Dashboard. Pin this item to your Student Dashboard.
Confirm that the Aid Year displayed in the upper right corner is the correct aid year.
Click the Satisfactory Academic Progress tab from the top menu to view your SAP Status.

Step 4: Identify the forms needed based on your SAP Status

After finding your SAP status in FlashLine, use the charts below to determine what steps and forms you need to complete the appeal process.

If your SAP status is:	Submit the following form(s)
Cite GPA Cite 2-Years Time GPA Cite GPA/2YTF Cite Percent Complete Cite Percent Complete/2YTF Cite GPA/Percent Complete Cite GPA/Percent Complete/2YTF Cite percent complete (Grad) Cite GPA (grad) Cite GPA/Percent Complete grad	Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form Collect your supporting documentation and prepare it to be attached to your online appeal. Supporting documentation must be provided. Examples of documentation that support the circumstance are medical documentation, obituary or a counseling record.

If your SAP status is:	Submit the following form(s)
Cite GPA/Percent/Max/2YTF Cite GPA/Percent/Max Time Cite GPA/Max/2YTF Cite GPA/Max Time Frame Cite Percent/Max/2YTF Cite Percent/Max Time Frame Cite Maximum Time Frame/2YTF Cite Maximum Time Frame	Maximum Time Frame Form The Maximum Time Frame form must be signed by an academic advisor to be considered complete (through Dynamic Forms). When completing the Maximum Time Frame form, you will need to submit your academic advisor’s name and email. Your advisor will make updates to the form as needed and it will be sent back to your email. Once your academic or faculty advisor has completed, signed and submitted your form, it will automatically be sent to your campus for processing and you will receive a confirmation email. Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form Collect your supporting documentation and prepare it to be attached to your online appeal. Supporting documentation must be provided. Examples of documentation that support the circumstance are medical documentation, obituary or a counseling record.

If your SAP status is:

Submit the following form(s)

Cite GPA/Percent/Max/2YTF
Cite GPA/Percent/Max Time
Cite GPA/Max/2YTF
Cite GPA/Max Time Frame
Cite Percent/Max/2YTF
Cite Percent/Max Time Frame
Cite Maximum Time Frame/2YTF
Cite Maximum Time Frame

Maximum Time Frame Form
- The Maximum Time Frame form must be signed by an academic advisor to be considered complete (through Dynamic Forms). When completing the Maximum Time Frame form, you will need to submit your academic advisor’s name and email. Your advisor will make updates to the form as needed and it will be sent back to your email. Once your academic or faculty advisor has completed, signed and submitted your form, it will automatically be sent to your campus for processing and you will receive a confirmation email.
Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form
- Collect your supporting documentation and prepare it to be attached to your online appeal. Supporting documentation must be provided. Examples of documentation that support the circumstance are medical documentation, obituary or a counseling record.

Step 5: Review information on acceptable documentation

Supporting documentation must be provided. The documentation submitted should support the information given in your appeal statement. Examples of documentation that support the circumstance are medical documentation, obituary or a counseling record.

All documentation must include the student’s full name and dates. For example, if a student is submitting a snapshot of a medical record from their online medical chart, the dates of service for the medical appointment would need to be included as well as the student’s name. The same applies to an obituary, another person’s medical documents or any other supporting documents that are being used. The dates of the occurrences on the supporting documentation should best coincide with the semester(s) the student struggled academically.

When submitting supporting documentation from third parties (such as counseling statements or medical statements from counseling centers) they should be submitted on the medical provider’s letter head and signed by the provider (electronic signatures are acceptable).

Step 6: Complete and submit needed forms

Gather your documentation when you submit your appeal. Complete appeals will be reviewed promptly.

This appeal is to appeal federal financial aid only, not scholarships. This is not a scholarship appeal.

View the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form(s)

If you were cited for Maximum Time Frame, you must also provide a completed Maximum Time Frame form.

The Maximum Time Frame form must be signed by an academic advisor to be considered complete (through Dynamic Forms). When completing the Maximum Time Frame form, you will need to submit your academic advisor’s name and email. Your advisor will make updates to the form as needed and it will be sent back to your email. Once your academic or faculty advisor has completed, signed and submitted your form, it will automatically be sent to your campus for processing and you will receive a confirmation email.

If you have already submitted your appeal and need to only submit the Maximum Time Frame form, please complete the Maximum Time Frame form. Once your academic or faculty advisor has completed, signed and submitted your form, it will automatically be sent to your campus for processing and you will receive a confirmation email.

Please read the instructions carefully before completing this form.

View Maximum Time Frame Form(s)

Term	Deadline
Spring 2025 Appeal	Sunday, May 4, 2025

Term	Deadline
Summer 2025 Appeal	Friday, Aug. 1, 2025
Fall 2025 Appeal	Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025
Spring 2026 Appeal	Sunday, Apr.26, 2026