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Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
All students must be making satisfactory academic progress at Mercyhurst College to establish and retain eligibility for student financial aid. Mercyhurst monitors satisfactory academic progress (SAP) after the spring term to provide students with early notification of their academic progress status for financial aid eligibility. However, final review is performed again after the summer term for the preceding 12-month period (fall, winter, spring and summer terms). The student's entire academic history must be considered when determining the academic progress status. This includes coursework transferred in from another college. Mercyhurst must apply two different Satisfactory Academic Policy standards depending on the type and sources of funding. The two SAP Policies are as follows:
- Institutional and Federal Student Aid
- Pennsylvania State Grants and Scholarships
The following standards explain the components to the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.
Institutional and Federal Student Aid
Quantitative Measure
Credit Hour Programs:
Students must complete a minimum number of credits toward graduation requirements each academic year in which they are enrolled at Mercyhurst. The quantitative measurement for academic progress compares the credits attempted to credits passed. To calculate credits completed, all courses taken by the student will be counted. Below is the minimum academic progress chart that full-time undergraduate students must adhere to:
| End of Full-time Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Credits Completed | 24 | 48 | 72 | 96 | 120 |
Students that do not attend all terms within the academic year, will follow the same chart above, but the expectation is that the student will complete a proportion of the credits. For example, if the student is attending a 3-term academic program, but has only attended one term, the expectation is that the student must complete a minimum of 8 credits at the end of the academic year.
For terms of less than full-time enrollment, the progression is based on the proportions below applied to the full-time chart:
| Full-time (8 or more credits) | 1.0 Term |
| Three quarter-time (6 - 7 credits) | .75 term |
| Half-time (4 -5 credits) | .50 term |
| Less than half-time (2 - 3 credits) | .25 term |
Clock Hour Programs:
Quantitative measure for clock hour programs is evaluated based on calendar time. The review must occur at mid-point of the program length.
Practical Nursing - 1,670 clock hours, 48 week, 4 terms (spring, summer, fall and winter)
At the conclusion of summer term, Practical Nursing students are expected to have successfully completed at least 600 clock hours.
Municipal Police Cadet - 796 clock hours, 18 weeks, 1 term
After the ninth week of the program, Municipal Police Cadets are expected to have successfully completed 318 clock hours.
Graduate Students:
The quantitative requirement for graduate students is that they must successfully complete 75% of their coursework attempted.
Students taking non-credit remedial must follow the progression of the quantitative chart indicated above. Even though students do not earn credit toward graduation for remedial courses, students receive grades for these courses.
Maximum Time Frame for Completion
The maximum time frame a student may attend and continue aid eligibility cannot exceed 150 percent of the published length of the student's academic program measured in academic years, this is for both undergraduate and graduate students. For example, the published length of a four-year program is 12 full-time equivalent terms. Therefore, the full-time student has a maximum of 18 terms to complete the program. Note, however, there is a 4-year limit (12 full-time equivalent terms) to receive institutional scholarships and grants. When the student's enrollment exceeds the 150 percent point, the student is no longer eligible for federal financial aid.
Credits transferred to Mercyhurst affect the measurement of quantitative progress and the maximum time frame for completion. For example, an entering student with 48 transfer credits is placed on the chart as if he/she attempted six full-time terms. Readmitted students must meet the same requirements as students who have remained enrolled based on the total number of terms attended at Mercyhurst.
All credits the student attempts count toward the 150 percent time frame requirement, even if the student changes major. If a student is pursuing two programs simultaneously, the program requiring the most credits to complete will be used to measure the maximum time frame for completion. If the student has earned a degree at Mercyhurst and pursues a subsequent degree, only the courses taken toward the subsequent degree will be calculated to measure maximum time frame.
Qualitative Measure
After attending two academic years, undergraduate students must have a 2.0 cumulative GPA regardless of how many credits the student has accrued. After attending one academic year, graduate students must have a 3.0 cumulative GPA regardless of how many credits the student has accrued.
Specific Mercyhurst scholarships and grants may have different grade point requirements for continued eligibility. This is a separate and distinct factor in renewing or continuing eligibility for certain institutional scholarships and grants. The grade point requirement for specific programs supersedes the grade point average requirement referenced above. Information on the terms and conditions of specific institutional awards is made at the time of the grant/scholarship offer.
Effect of Withdrawals, Incomplete Courses, and Repeated Courses
If a student withdraws from a course or courses (W grade) after the first week of classes during a given term, the credits are included in the count of courses attempted. An incomplete course counts as credits attempted, but is not included in the GPA and credits completed until the incomplete grade changes to a passing or failing grade. A repeated course is only counted toward progression if it replaces a previous course for which the student received no credit.
Procedures for Appealing
Students not meeting the minimum standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress described above are ineligible for federal and institutional financial aid (this includes grants, scholarships, work and loans). However, students may request reinstatement of their financial aid eligibility by submitting a written appeal to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee.
SAP Appeal requests must provide an explanation of the circumstances that contributed to the student's failure to meet the minimum academic progress standards and a realistic academic plan for improvement. Students must also meet with their academic support counselor to obtain approval of their academic plans prior to submitting an appeal.
If the Financial Aid Appeals Committee approves the appeal, the student's financial aid eligibility is reinstated for the applicable payment periods. Students receive their appeal results in writing. The decision of the Financial Aid Appeals Committee is final.
Students have an opportunity to take summer courses to help make up credits not earned during the academic year or to raise their GPAs. Even though summer credits attempted and earned are included in the calculation of satisfactory academic progress (qualitative, quantitative and maximum time frame measures), courses taken in the summer are combined with the fall, winter and spring terms to calculate successful completion. For example, after one academic year (fall, winter and spring terms) and the summer session, full-time students are expected to have successfully completed a minimum of 24 credits.
Deadlines to Appeal
The deadline to appeal for combined summer, fall, winter and spring is June 16. The deadline to appeal for combined fall, winter, and spring terms is August 24, the deadline to appeal for the winter and spring term is November 20, and the deadline to appeal for the spring term is February 25 each year.
Pennsylvania (PHEAA) State Grants and Scholarships
Before crediting a state grant or scholarship to a student's account, Mercyhurst must certify that for the last academic year during which the student received a state grant, the student completed the minimum required credits hours for the terms to which grant aid was applied.
For example, if the student received an equivalent of an academic year State grant award during the prior academic year, the student is expected to have completed successfully 24 credits over the course of the prior academic year and summer.
If the student has received at least one term of state grant aid during a prior academic year, Mercyhurst must verify that, during or subsequent to those terms, the student completed the minimum number of semester credits/clock hours needed to make academic progress given the number of terms of state grant aid received and the student state grant award status (full-time or part-time) during each of those terms.
The following table is used in determining the minimum number of credits/clock hours that must be successfully completed for each enrollment status during a term of state grant aid. It is necessary to add the award counters (according to the student's specific enrollment and award status) for each term of the academic year in order to determine the minimum total number of credits/clock hours that must have been completed by the student for the academic year period in question.
| For each | Award Counter | Student Must Complete Minimum of |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time semester award | .50 | 12 semester credits/450 clock hours |
| Full-time trimester/quarter award | .33/.34 | 12 qtr. or 8 semester credits/300 clock hours |
| Part-time semester award | .25 | 6 semester credits/225 clock hours |
| Part-time quarter award | .16/.17 | 6 qtr. or 4 semester credits/150 clock hours |
State aid grant/scholarship recipients who fail to meet the requirements above remain ineligible until the requisite credits have been completed.
Transfer Students
All of the student's coursework, whether it was taken at Mercyhurst or elsewhere, is applicable when performing the academic progress test for state aid.
Transfer students that were prior year recipients of a state grant must have their official academic transcript from their prior institution submitted to the Mercyhurst Admissions Office so that academic progress may be reviewed by the Office of Student Financial Services. Credits successfully completed at the previous institution need not be transferable to Mercyhurst to be counted for academic progress.
Effects of Repeated Coursework and Incomplete Course
Repeated coursework may only be counted once toward the state aid grant/scholarship academic progress requirement. Credits earned through examination may only be counted toward the academic progress test if the examination is taken during one of the terms being reviewed for progress.
In the case of students who were permitted a prior term of state grant on the basis of the remedial exception, only those remedial credits which were counted toward the full-time/half-time minimum may be considered part of the credits needed to meet the academic progress test for that period of time.
Procedures for Appealing
In cases where the student has failed to complete the required number of credits to satisfy the academic progress test as a result of a medical condition, family illness, or other extenuating circumstances, such can be report to PHEAA on an individual basis for their review and approval. The academic progress exception form is available at www.pheaa.org/stategrants/forms.shtml. This medical exception form must be submitted with appropriate documentation to the office of SFS for approval before it is forwarded to PHEAA.
Deadlines to Appeal
The State Grant Progress Exception Form must be submitted within 30 days after the start of the term and will never be accepted after April 1 by PHEAA.
