1. Using Student Financial Planning
  2. Satisfactory Academic Progress

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is determined using the student's academic record to measure qualitative and quantitative standards based on US Department of Education (ED) guidelines.

Overview

Student Financial Planning accepts data from the institution's student record system to determine the student's SAP. Student's must meet SAP standards to continue receiving Federal Student Aid (FSA). Students may appeal any SAP decision, and you can update the SAP status accordingly.

What Student Financial Planning Does Automatically

Student Financial Planning automatically does the following things:

Initiates the SAP Evaluation

You can configure when to initiate an SAP evaluation for a student using a Groovy script in the Sap_Evaluation_Period_Determination_Script column of the School Guide. The configuration can reference different program data values to specify unique SAP evaluation periods by program code, career, and so on. As part of the output, the script defines an SAP evaluation period of:
  • Academic Year.
  • Payment Period or Term.
However, if a student's SAP status is:
  • FP (Probation)
  • FD (Disqualified),
SAP is evaluated at the end of the next Payment Period or Term, regardless of configuration.

Calculates Pace of Completion

Note: Non-term schools aren't required to evaluate Pace of Completion; however. they must still evaluate Grade Point Average (GPA) and Maximum time frame SAP requirements. Whether to perform a Pace of Completion evaluation is controlled by a Groovy script in the Disable_Pace_of_Completion field in the School Guide.

Quantitative Measure

The student's Pace of Completion is calculated using the Student Academic and Financial Information (SAFI) message. The student's Pace of Completion is calculated by dividing the total number of earned or completed credits (including any accepted transfer credits and/or assessed credits) by the sum of all attempted credits (including repeats). The pace of completion can't exceed the configured percentage set by the institution; for example, 67%. The application compares the calculated completion rate against the minimum value set by the institution at completion of each payment period, to ensure completion is equal to or greater than the configured percentage to pass the SAP evaluation.

To determine the number of attempted credits, the application sums the total units for each, course completed with an SAP Applicable indicator equal to true (including repeat courses) from the beginning of the program through the end of the payment period being evaluated. If the course has a Passed, Failed, Withdrawn, or Incomplete scheduling status, the application adds up the units. However, if the scheduling status is Withdrawn and the student has not met attendance requirements, then the application doesn't include the units for that course in the SAP calculation. If the scheduling status is anything other than Passed, Failed, Withdrawn, or Incomplete, Student Financial Planning doesn’t include the associated course credits as attempted credits. The application also calculates and includes the total number of Assessed units, which are units the student passed out of and the total number of transfer credits applied to the student's program.

Pace of Completion

Cumulative number of credit hours the student successfully completed (earned) divided by Cumulative number of credit hours the student attempted equals Pace of Completion.

Example:

  1. Earned Credits (24)
    1. Passed Course (12)
    2. Failed Course (n/a)
    3. Failed Course (n/a)
    4. Failed Course (n/a)
    5. Withdrawn Course (n/a)
    6. Passed Course (12)
  2. Credits Attempted (63)
    1. Passed Course (12)
    2. Failed Course (15)
    3. Failed Course (12)
    4. Failed Course (12)
    5. Withdrawn Course (n/a)
    6. Passed Course (12)

Calculated Pace (38.10%)

  • 24 divided by 63 equals 38.10%
  • 38.10% < configured percentage (67%) equals Fail

View Pace of Completion Details by clicking on the icon from the SAP Information Screen

Withdrawn Course Not Included In Calculation

In this example, the student has not met attendance requirements for the Withdrawn course, therefore the course is not counted in the calculation. Withdrawn courses that have an Academic Related Activity (ARA) indicator equal to False in the SAFI message are identifiable in the application User Interface (UI) through the Program Information screen (Status equals Withdrawn, Grade equals N/A).

  1. Navigate to the Student Record greater than Program Information Screen.
  2. Identify the Course with a Scheduling Status of Withdrawn:
    • If the Grade is N/A, it is not counted in the calculation.
    • If a Letter Grade is present, it is included in the calculation.

Calculates Maximum Program Time Frame

Quantitative Measure

The application uses the Student Academic and Financial Information (SAFI) message to determine the student's total program length. The student's total attempted program length is calculated by dividing the sum of all attempted credits (including repeats) by the total required credits for the student's program. The time frame to complete a program can't exceed 150% of the required length of the program measured in the proper units; for example, credits or clock hours, for undergraduate and graduate students. Therefore, the application compares the calculated attempted program length against the maximum value set by ED at the completion of each payment period, to ensure completion is within 150%.

To determine the number of attempted credits, the application sums the total units for each, course completed with an SAP Applicable indicator equal to true (including repeat courses) from the beginning of the program through the end of the payment period being evaluated. If the course has a scheduling status that is Passed, Failed, Withdrawn, or Incomplete, the application adds up the units. However, if the scheduling status is Withdrawn and the student has not met attendance requirements, then the application doesn’t include the units for that course in the SAP calculation. If the scheduling status is anything other than Passed, Failed, Withdrawn, or Incomplete, the application doesn’t include the associated course credits as attempted credits. The application also calculates and includes the total number of Assessed units, which are units the student passed out of and the total number of transfer credits applied to the student's program.

Maximum Time Frame Calculation

Cumulative number of credits the student attempted divided by Cumulative number of credits required for the program equals Max Time Frame.

Example:

  1. Attempted Credits (63)
  2. Total Credits Required (48)
  3. Calculated Time Frame (131.25%)
    • 63 divided by 48 equals 131.25%
    • 131.25% < 150% equals Pass

View Maximum Time Frame Details by clicking on the icon from the SAP Information Screen.

In this example, the student has not met attendance requirements for the Withdrawn course, therefore the course is not counted in the calculation. Withdrawn courses that have an Academic Related Activity (ARA) indicator equal to False in the SAFI message are identifiable in the application User Interface (UI) through the Program Information, Course Detail screen (Status equals Withdrawn, Grade equals N/A).

See the information in the previous section: Withdrawn Course Not Included In Calculation.

Determines Program Grade Point Average (GPA)

Qualitative Measure

The application determines the Grade Point Average (GPA) for the student's program through data received in the Student Academic and Financial Information (SAFI) message to determine the student's cumulative GPA up to the end of the course. The course with the latest end date associated with the payment period that is Financial Aid eligible is included when calculating the student's GPA. However, if the student retakes a course, only the first passing grade is counted as a completion when calculating the qualitative component. The application compares the program GPA against the minimum value required for the program.

GPA Analysis

Program GPA equalls greater than Minimum Required GPA equals Pass.

Example:

  1. Program GPA at SAP Evaluation Date (3.00).
  2. Program Required GPA (2.00) (Configurable per Institution/Program).
  3. GPA Status equals Pass:
    • 3.0 greater than 2.0 equals Pass.

Determines SAP Status

The application records the appropriate SAP status based on the result of the SAP evaluation for the following components: GPA, Pace of Completion, and Maximum Time Frame. The status of each SAP component is recorded for each evaluation.

The application records the following for all SAP evaluations:

  • Program Information.
  • Academic Year Dates Information.
  • Payment Period Dates Information.

The SAP status has a value corresponding to the current SAP evaluation. (See Status Definitions)

  • When an Academic Year is created for a new student, the SAP status is set to RG - Regular.
  • When the GPA, Pace of Completion, and Maximum time frame evaluations all pass, the SAP status is set to RG - Regular.
  • If the GPA or Pace of Completion evaluation fails when evaluating a Payment Period, the SAP status is set to FW - Financial Aid Warning.
  • If the GPA or Pace of Completion evaluation fails when evaluating an Academic Year, the SAP status is set to FD - Financial Aid Disqualification.
  • If the Maximum time frame evaluation fails, the SAP status is set to FD - Financial Aid Disqualification.
  • If the student appeals an SAP review and is granted one payment period, the SAP status is set to FP - Financial Aid Probation.
  • If the GPA or Pace of Completion evaluation fail while in a Warning status, the SAP status is set to FD - Financial Aid Disqualification.
  • If the GPA or Pace of Completion evaluation fail while in a Probation status, the SAP status is set to FD - Financial Aid Disqualification.
  • If the GPA and Pace of Completion evaluation pass while in a Warning, Probation, or Disqualification status, the SAP status is set to RG - Regular.

Creates the SAP Evaluation and SAP Appeal tasks

When exceptions have been configured for manual review, the application creates a Review SAP Evaluation task when that configured criterion is met. In addition to configured exceptions, if a student is placed in an FD - Financial Aid Disqualification SAP status, the application creates a Review SAP Appeal task when the document configured by the institution to initiate the appeals process is received. These two manual tasks allow an authorized user to review the SAP evaluation or requested appeal and make final decisions.

Initiates the SAP Appeals Process

The application begins the SAP Appeals process when the document configured by the institution to initiate the appeals process is received. Although, if the maximum number of appeals has already been met (configured by the institution), the application terminates the SAP appeals process.

Sends Outbound Message to Communicate SAP Results

The application sends an Outbound Message to communicate the outcome of the SAP evaluation when the SAP Status changes from it's current value and throughout different states of the SAP Appeals process to communicate SAP Appeals information once a decision is made:

Resets SAP Status for Program Changes

The application sets the appropriate SAP status when a student undergoes a program change.

RG - Regular

  • Student's Program changed.
  • Student doesn’t remain in the same payment period.

RG - Regular

  • Student advances degrees.
  • The SAP status is reset to Regular since the student's program has changed.

Previous SAP Status

  • Student changes back to an old program.
  • The SAP status is updated to reflect the most recent SAP status the student had the last time the student was active in the old program.

Re-Evaluates SAP at Completion of a Re-Opened Payment Period

When a payment period is completed the application completes a single SAP evaluation for the payment period. However, if a program or course update result in a payment period being re-opened, the application triggers a new SAP evaluation when that payment period is again updated to a completed status. This is the only scenario that the application processes multiple SAP evaluations for a single payment period.

When multiple SAP evaluations are completed for a single payment period, the results for each are saved and can be viewed on the SAP Information screen.

Calculates the SAP Status when previous SAP Statuses have been Converted

The application calculates the student's SAP status at the student's SAP evaluation if the previous status was converted on the student's record so that the status is valid. The application calculate first SAP evaluation using the SAP status of a converted value. The Previous SAP status will not be associated to an Academic Year /Payment Period.

The Current SAP status for the converted student will be based on the converted value and this status will not be displayed in the User Interface (UI).

The SAP status will always have a value corresponding to the current SAP evaluation:

  • If the student fails the GPA or Pace of Completion evaluation while in a Warning or Probation status, the student will be placed in an FD - Financial Aid Disqualification status.
  • If the student passes the GPA and Pace of Completion evaluation while in a Probation, Disqualified or Warning status, the student will be placed back in an RG - Regular status.

Configurable Attributes

SAP-related configuration is done using the School Guide using these fields:
  • Disable_Pace_of_Completion.
  • Minimum_Pace_of_Completion.
  • Maximum_Approved_SAP_Appeals.
  • SAP_Appeals_Initiating_Doc.
  • Count_Repeat_Courses_in_SAP_Pace_of_Completion.
  • Count_Repeat_Courses_in_SAP_Max_Time_Frame.
  • Sap_Evaluation_Period_Determination_Script.
SAP letters configuration is done using the Letter Guide creating a unique Letter_Code that uses the Message_Class field value of FasSapAcademicInformationEvent for each SAP Status. Baseline Configuration includes letters for these SAP Statuses:
  • RG - Regular Notification.
  • FW - Financial Aid Warning.
  • FD - Financial Aid Disqualification.

Navigation to the Student Financial Planning User Interface Functionality

To view SAP Information

Navigate to Student > Student Record > SAP Information