All students who receive financial aid at Emmaus University must be making satisfactory academic progress (SAP) in an eligible degree or certificate program. The academic progress policy applies to any period of attendance at Emmaus even though financial aid may not have been received.  Satisfactory academic progress for financial aid will be reviewed at the end of each semester.

To be eligible for federal financial aid at Emmaus University, students must maintain SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS, a federal requirement composed of three parts:  1) a minimum number of credits completed; 2) a minimum grade point average; and 3) a maximum time frame.

Minimum Requirements to Remain Eligible for Aid

Students who fail to complete these minimum requirements will be placed on financial aid warning status and will be granted one additional semester to regain satisfactory academic progress. During the warning status semester, the student will continue to receive federal student aid.  Failure to regain satisfactory academic progress at the end of the financial aid warning status semester will result in the student having his or her aid suspended for the upcoming semester. Students will be notified if they have not maintained satisfactory academic progress.  Transfer students will be considered as making Satisfactory Academic Progress at the time of their transfer.  Below you will find further information about each of these criteria.

Minimum Credit Requirement

All students receiving financial aid must, at the end of each semester, complete at least 67 percent of the cumulative credits that they attempt, in order to maintain satisfactory academic progress.

• Incompletes, withdrawals, failed classes and audits do not count as completed credits.
• Earned credits received for remedial coursework do count toward the minimum credit requirement, but are not included in the cumulative grade point average.
• Transferred credits, including those received during consortium study, are included in the calculation of both attempted and earned hours, but they do not count in the calculation of the cumulative grade point average.
• A repeated class (when it is the same class with the same content) is counted toward completed credits only when it is successfully completed, but it is counted as part of the attempted credits each time the course has been taken.
• A student may repeat a class (with the same content) that was successfully completed and receive financial aid for the course only one additional time.
• The number of attempted credits will be established at the end of the drop/add period.  This will also be the enrollment status for which your aid will be disbursed.  Only courses required for your degree or certificate count toward your enrollment status.
• At the end of a semester, the number of completed credits will be based on the number of credits indicated on your transcript as having been “Earned”.
• Classes taken at NICC, Clarke University or the University of Dubuque, as part of a co-operative program, are counted in the calculation of both attempted and earned credits.

Minimum Cumulative and Semester Grade Point Average

Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher and must complete each term with a minimum 1.0 grade point average for each term of study. Only the highest grade obtained is counted in the grade point average when a course is repeated.   Classes taken at NICC, Clarke University or the University of Dubuque, as part of a co-operative program, are counted as part of the cumulative and semester GPA.  Grades of “W” and “I” are part of the GPA calculation (0.0 numeric grade). 

If a student is enrolled in a Bachelor’s Degree program, they must have a 2.0 cumulative GPA at the end of their second year (and any semester thereafter) in order to be eligible for financial aid.

Note:  Some Emmaus Endowed and Institutional Scholarships tied to strong academic performance may require higher standards than those listed here.  Please refer to the Emmaus web site for information on these scholarships.

Maximum Time Frame

A student becomes ineligible when it becomes mathematically impossible for him/her to complete their program within 150% of their program length.  Students will be notified when they reach this point and will have the opportunity to file an appeal.  If the appeal is approved, a student could be eligible to receive financial aid until they have attempted a maximum of 150 percent of the minimum number of credits required for the degree or certificate.  Once the maximum attempted credits hours have been reached, financial aid eligibility is denied for the subsequent credits hours of enrollment.  Prior degree credits and all transfer credits that are listed on an Emmaus transcript are counted in the calculation of cumulative attempted credits.

Reinstatement of Eligibility

Financial Aid Appeal Process

Sometimes the inability to maintain academic progress is due to circumstances beyond the student’s control. Students who are no longer eligible to receive financial aid after the completion of their financial aid warning semester because of lack of satisfactory academic progress, may submit a Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal to the Financial Aid Office.  The appeal is reviewed by the Satisfactory Academic Progress Committee and the appeal could be approved or denied.  If it is approved, the student is placed on Financial Aid Probation status and the student’s eligibility for aid is reinstated for one payment period (semester).  If the student is unable to meet satisfactory academic progress at the end of the probation semester, their aid will be suspended for the following semester.

If, as part of the appeal process, it is determined that the student should be able to meet the SAP standards by the end of the semester they are on probation status, an academic plan is not required.  If it is determined that the student will require more than one semester to meet SAP standards, an academic plan must be developed with the Vice President for Academic Affairs.  If the appeal is approved, the student is placed on probation status.  In addition, the student’s progress will be measured at the end of each semester to determine if the student is meeting the requirements of the academic plan.  If the student is meeting the requirements of the academic plan, the student is eligible to receive federal aid as long as the student continues to meet the requirements of the plan.  Students who fail to meet the requirements of the academic plan will have their aid suspended for the following semester.

The Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form is available in the financial aid office.  The appeal form describes the documentation needed for the appeal to be considered.  Incomplete appeal forms will not be reviewed.  Appeals will be reviewed for circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the student that prevented the student from maintaining satisfactory academic progress.  Examples include personal illness or accident, or serious illness or death within the immediate family. If the appeal is denied, the student’s aid will not be reinstated. The student will be informed in writing of the action taken on their appeal.  Note that a student may submit a maximum of three appeals during their time of study at Emmaus University.

Reinstatement of Financial Aid

For students whose aid is suspended and they do not appeal (or their appeal is denied), they can reinstate eligibility by paying their own tuition for at least one semester at Emmaus and enrolling in (within one semester) and completing a minimum of 3 credits with a 2.0 semester GPA AND earning a 2.0 cumulative GPA.  In addition, the student must successfully complete 67% of their total cumulative credit hours at Emmaus.

Please review the chart below for a summary:

Additional Information

• Changes in major may alter your SAP status.  Failing grades earned under a previous major may be excluded from a student’s cumulative GPA.
• Incomplete grades do not count toward credits completed. The student whose aid is suspended because of incomplete classes may request to have their status re-evaluated when the classes are completed.  Example: A student enrolls for 12 credits fall semester and receives all incomplete grades and is ineligible for aid due to failure to meet SAP during a probationary semester.  If the student completes the courses by the end of spring semester (and is enrolled in other classes spring semester), he/she may be eligible to receive financial aid for spring semester if the completed coursework meets Satisfactory Academic Progress.  If the incompletes are not completed before the end of spring semester, no financial aid could be awarded for spring semester.
• Students taking remedial coursework must demonstrate progress in remedial coursework.  Students can repeat a remedial course one additional time.  Progress in remedial coursework will be evaluated by the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
• Students do have the option to take courses on a pass/fail basis and such credits will count toward their enrollment status.  Courses attempted on a pass/fail basis count as attempted courses as part of the completion rate measurement but are not factored into the student’s GPA.  Note that the number of courses that can be taken on that basis is very limited and subject to the academic requirements for their program of study (see Academic Catalog for more information).
• Transfer credits are evaluated by the Registrar and/or department chairs.  If the transfer credits are accepted and applicable to the student’s program of study, they are listed on the Emmaus transcript.
• Once a student completes the academic requirements for their program, regardless of whether a degree or certificate has been awarded or conferred, they are no longer eligible for additional federal aid funds for that program.
• This Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy also applies to State of Iowa financial aid programs.