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To maintain financial aid eligibility at SMU, you must meet federal standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to ensure you’re making meaningful progress toward completing your degree while receiving financial support.

What you'll find here: Helpful information about those requirements, including  GPA minimums, completion rates, and eligibility timeframes.

What are the standards measured to determine SAP?

Cumulative GPA (Qualitative Measure of SAP)

A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 or higher is required for both undergraduate and graduate students. However, academic departments may require a higher minimum cumulative GPA. The specific GPA requirements for each program are outlined in the ҹɫ����academic catalog. If there is no GPA requirement listed for a school or program, the default requirement of 2.000 will apply.

Most ҹɫ����merit-based scholarships require a minimum GPA that is greater than 2.000. For more information on the requirements for your specific academic scholarship, please refer to your academic advisor or academic catalog. 

Completion Rate (Quantitative Measure of SAP)

Federal regulations require schools to ensure students are progressing toward completing their degree at a reasonable rate. This completion rate is calculated by dividing your total earned hours by your total attempted hours.

• Undergraduates have a required completion rate of 75%.
• Graduates have a required completion rate of 60%.

Students are evaluated annually, prior to the start of the summer term, to verify academic progression. 

What counts against my completion rate?

Federal regulations consider courses with final grades of A, B, C, or D to be successfully completed. Any course with a final grade of F, W, or I is considered unsuccessful. Withdrawn courses and failures count as attempted hours but not earned hours, which will negatively impact your completion rate. 

• For repeated courses, each attempt counts toward your total attempted hours, regardless of the grade received. Students are permitted to repeat an unsuccessfully completed course up to two times while using financial aid funds. Successfully completed courses count toward your earned hours.
• Incomplete grades initially count as attempted but not earned hours. Once completed, these hours are applied as earned hours. If the course is never completed, a failing grade is assigned and counts toward your GPA calculation.
• Summer hours count toward both attempted and earned hours, as well as GPA calculations.
• For Pass/Fail courses, a passing grade counts toward both attempted and earned hours but does not affect GPA, while a failing grade counts only toward attempted hours.

ҹɫ����does not offer federal financial aid to students who enroll in non-credit or remedial courses or to those students who attend the university in the summer for probationary or remediation status before the first year (Upward Bound Program, Athletes and Academic Prelude).

How long can I receive financial aid?

Federal regulations limit eligibility for financial aid to a maximum of 150% of the credit hours required for your degree program, regardless of whether you’re an undergraduate or graduate student. 

• For undergraduate students, this typically translates to a maximum of 12 terms or six academic years of aid eligibility. 
• Graduate students’ timeframes are determined by their specific academic program with details available in the course catalog. For doctoral programs, maximum term limits are established on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the academic department. 
• Students enrolled less than full-time are granted additional terms to complete their degree, proportional to their enrollment status.

What if I transfer credits to SMU?

Transfer hours and consortium hours are included in both attempted and earned hours calculations. Transfer hours accepted by ҹɫ����that do not apply toward your degree plan are not included in these calculations and do not affect your GPA. However, these hours do apply toward lifetime and aggregate limits for federal aid programs, which cannot be appealed. Once you reach these limits, you no longer qualify for that specific aid program.

What happens if I don’t meet SAP requirements?

If you fail to meet any of the SAP measurements, you will become ineligible for all forms of financial aid for upcoming terms. To regain eligibility, you must either successfully meet all SAP requirements or submit an approved SAP appeal to Financial Aid Services. 

Can I appeal if I lose my financial aid?

Yes. The appeal process requires submission of two key documents: 

1. A personal letter or email to your financial aid adviser explaining the mitigating circumstances that prevented you from meeting SAP requirements. Mitigating circumstances may include student illness, family illness, family problems, emotional difficulties, interpersonal problems with other students, challenges adjusting to college life, or difficulties balancing school and work commitments.
2. A signed statement from your academic adviser confirming that they have met with you, discussed the SAP issues, and created an academic plan for improving your standing. For students with a GPA below 1.8 and/or a completion rate below 70%, a detailed course plan signed by the academic advisor is required. 

Appeals are reviewed on a case-by-case basis with final decisions made by committee. If approved, your financial aid advisor will notify you via your ҹɫ����email and aid will be awarded for a single term, after which your progress will be reviewed again. If the appeal is denied, you will still be notified via email, but any aid that has been offered for future terms will be canceled.