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Additional Information

Satisfactory Academic Progress

UF is using an AdobeSign petition software solution powered by ProEd, which enables students to complete a petition from their smart phone, tablet, or computer.

Before a student starts a Student Financial Aid and Scholarships Petition (formerly Satisfactory Academic Progress petition), they must have their academic adviser’s name and UF email address.  If a student does not already have their academic adviser’s information, they can go to college-advising-contacts to obtain it.

Step 1:  Complete the Academic Plan of Work.

The student’s academic adviser will be contacted via the email address that is provided to complete the advising section electronically after the student has submitted their portion of the form.

Step 2:  Complete the Student Financial Aid and Scholarships Petition.

The student will complete the form and personal statement. The Academic Plan of Work and any other documentation for the petition will be uploaded to the form.

Petitions are reviewed in the order in which they are received. It can take up to 10 business days to review a petition from the time we receive both the petition form and the academic advising section. The academic advising form as well as the petition are available on the SFA forms page.

The student will receive an email via their UF email account with the decision or if further documentation is required. They will also see an update on their ONE.UF account.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

To be eligible for Federal Student Aid (FSA) funds, a student must be making satisfactory academic progress (SAP) under the school’s published standards.

I. COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL REGULATIONS

In compliance with current federal regulations in 34 C.F.R. §668.34 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, the University of Florida (UF) Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships (SFA) will monitor student satisfactory academic progress toward degree completion to ensure students receiving Title IV (federal financial aid) funds are successfully progressing through their program of study. The standards govern all federal and state financial aid programs to include various institutional scholarships, grants and loans. The Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) applies to all students, even if they did not receive financial aid in a previous term or transferred in from another institution. Only courses required for your degree will be considered when determining eligibility for all financial aid.

Bright Futures and scholarships not awarded by the University of Florida have their own requirements as stated by their programs.  Should you not meet the minimum Satisfactory Academic Progress standards, you would not need to submit a petition to receive those programs.

Bright Futures will not be disbursed or will be repaid for courses listed in a Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal as not required for a student’s degree.

II. STANDARDS OF SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS

a.  Credit Hour Completion (Quantitative Component)

Undergraduate students, except for undergraduates in the College of Dentistry, must satisfactorily complete 67 percent of all hours attempted. 

  • Undergraduate students in the College of Dentistry must satisfactorily complete 75 percent of all hours attempted.

Graduate students must satisfactorily complete 75 percent of all hours attempted.

b.  Cumulative Grade Point Average (Qualitative Component)

Undergraduate Students: Undergraduate students must have a cumulative 2.0 UF grade point average (GPA).

Graduate Students: Graduate students must maintain a cumulative minimum 3.0 UF GPA or meet the academic standards required by their departments.

c.  Degree Completion (Maximum Timeframe)

Per the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, 34 C.F.R. §668.34(a)(5)(i) and (b)(Maximum Timeframe), Undergraduate programs may not exceed 150% of the published length of the program as measured in credit hours. For Graduate programs, the maximum timeframe is defined by the institution based upon the hours required to complete the program.

Undergraduate students will be eligible for aid until they reach the term in which they have attempted 180 credits hours (whether or not they received aid for all terms).

  • 80 credit hours for the Undergraduate College of Dentistry Program.

Graduate students will be eligible for aid until they reach the term in which they have attempted the number of credit hours listed below by degree (whether or not they have received aid for all terms):

  • 70 credit hours at the graduate level for a master’s degree program
  • 100 edit hours at the graduate level for a specialist degree program (including master’s degree hours).
  • 120 credit hours at the graduate level for a doctoral degree program (including master’s degree hours)

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III. REVIEW

The SAP review must include the student’s total academic history—meaning all attempted hours (including UF, AP, dual enrollment, and transfer credit hours).

The quantitative (credit hour completion) and qualitative (cumulative grade point average) components for SAP will be monitored annually at the end of each Spring semester and/or when a student has been enrolled at UF for four semesters.

The degree completion/maximum timeframe and probation/academic plan components for SAP will be monitored at the end of each semester.

Standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress for Professional Programs in the colleges of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy, Law and Dentistry.

Maximum Time Frame Standard—A professional student cannot exceed 160% of the published length of the professional degree program based on total hours. All professional programs require that students complete the program within 6-years from the date of matriculation.  Maximum time frame as calculated at 160% would allow students to graduate within this 6-year academic policy.  Time frame cannot be appealed.  Dual degree program credit hours will be included in maximum time frame calculations when applicable.

  • College of Medicine – 192 credit hours, 160% = 307 total credit hours
  • College of Veterinary Medicine – 150 credit hours, 160% = 240 total credit hours
  • College of Pharmacy – 146 credit hours, 160% = 233 total credit hours
  • College of Law – 88 credit hours, 160% = 140 total credit hours
  • College of Dentistry – 205 credit hours, 160% = 328 total credit hours

Quantitative Measure of Progress Standard – A professional student must progress through the professional degree program to ensure that they will graduate within the maximum time frame.  The pace at which the student is progressing is measured by dividing the total number of credit hours the student has successfully completed by the total number of credit hours attempted including courses that a student has failed, received a W for withdrawal, and/or repeated.  Incompletes do not affect pace calculations.  A student not meeting a completion rate of 75% or higher must submit a Student Financial Aid and Scholarship petition.

Qualitative Measure of Progress Standard – A professional student is expected to successfully complete each period of study and be promoted to the next level of education.  A student placed on academic probation (as indicated in their program’s Student Handbook) and is repeating an academic period must submit a Student Financial Aid and Scholarship petition.

Financial Aid probation-A status a school assigns to a student who is failing to make SAP and who successfully petitions. Eligibility for aid may be reinstated for one payment period.

Academic probation-An adverse action that indicates unsatisfactory progress toward the professional degree based on poor academic performance and/or failure to meet professionalism standards as designated by the program’s Academic Standards Committee.

Academic Progress Evaluation– Professional students who receive Title IV aid (Direct Loan), scholarships, and/or grants must meet SAP. SAP standards are reviewed by the SFA office annually at the end of each period of study.   All prior academic progress is evaluated to determine eligibility for financial aid even if a student has not previously received financial aid.

Leave of Absence (LOA)- A student returning from an approved LOA will have the same SAP status as when he or she began the LOA if the standards of SAP are met.  The student may continue to receive scholarships, Title IV, and other financial aid upon his or her return, provided that the LOA was not granted due to poor academic performance and/or being placed on academic probation due to unsatisfactory progress towards their professional degree.  If the LOA is in conjunction with not meeting SAP, the student submits an SAP petition to SFA upon return to their program. A LOA designated as medical and/or personal are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

IV. NOTIFICATIONS

All students who are not meeting the SAP standards will receive an electronic notification via their UF email account and can also view their status at ONE.UF after final grades are posted.

Students in Professional Programs in the colleges of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy, Law and Dentistry will be notified by their college of their status.

V. APPEALS, PROBATION AND ACADEMIC PLANS

a.  Appeals

Students who have extenuating circumstances that have contributed to their failure to maintain SAP may petition their status by completing a SAP petition. The petition is available on the SFA forms page.

Students are advised to submit their petition early as petitions are reviewed in the order in which they are received.

Students in Professional Programs in the colleges of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy, Law and Dentistry follow the following process.

Appeals– A student who fails to meet SAP, and remains a professional student, must submit an SAP petition to the SFA office.  Unfortunate or unforeseen circumstances may occur in the lives of students, and these events can adversely affect students’ academic progress.  For this reason, students must submit an SAP petition and a personal statement that explains any mitigating situations, why the student failed to make SAP, and what has changed that will allow the student to make SAP at the next evaluation.  Supporting documentation may be submitted along with the petition to the SFA office. Students with approved appeals are placed on a financial aid probationary status which allows for financial id award packaging and disbursement.  Denied petitions will lose all aid eligibility.

Reestablishing Eligibility– A student may receive Title IV and other financial aid during the financial aid probationary period.  If at the term evaluation, the student has successfully met SAP, the financial aid probationary status ends, and the student may continue to receive Title IV and other financial aid in good standing.  If at the end of the financial aid probationary period the student does not meet SAP, eligibility is changed from approved to denied aid eligibility. Students in the status of denied aid eligibility are not allowed to receive financial aid moving forward until the standard of SAP are successfully met.

Deadline Dates

2024-2025 Academic Year

Fall 2024December 4, 2024
Spring 2025April 23, 2025
Summer 2025August 8, 2025

Retroactive petitions will not be accepted.

b.  Probation

Students who fail to meet the standards of SAP and submit an approved appeal will be granted a probationary semester in which they will be eligible for financial aid.  During the probationary semester, the student is expected to show progression towards SAP requirements or rehabilitate themselves by meeting the SAP requirements by the end of that term.  If the student does not achieve either, they will be terminated and must submit another appeal.

c.  Academic Plan

Part of a student’s appeal requires an Academic Adviser complete Section III (Academic Plan of Work) of the SAP petition which requires all of the following:

  • A list of the courses the student is enrolled in for the term in which they are petitioning to receive aid.
  • If those courses are required for the student’s degree.
  • How many credit hours are required to complete the student’s degree?

Courses not required for a student’s degree completion are not eligible when determining financial aid.

d. Grade Changes

All grade changes will be reviewed during the regular SAP process.

Individual grade change recalculations during the semester will be done on a case by case basis.  The student must notify our office of a grade change for this to occur.

Grade changes will not change the SAP status of a prior term. Grade changes will only be used to review for a change in the current term’s SAP status.

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VI.  POST-BACCALAUREATE STUDENTS

Post-baccalaureate students will have their status evaluated based on the information given to SFA from the Office of the University Registrar (OUR). Post-baccalaureate students must meet the same academic requirements as undergraduates, as specified above. The types of financial aid available to post-baccalaureate students will depend on the student’s degree-seeking status.

VII. CREDIT HOURS

Attempted credit hours include the following grades, even if financial aid funds not received:

a.  Passing Grades: Counted in GPA and Attempted Credit Hours

Undergraduate Students:
A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-,
S = Satisfactory (equal to a 2.0 or better)

Graduate Students:
A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C
S = Satisfactory (equal to a 2.0 or better)

b.  Failing Grades – Zero Grade Points: Counted in GPA and Attempted Credit Hours

Undergraduate Students:
E = Academic Failure
E0 = Never Attended
E1 = Stopped Attending
WF = Withdrew Failing
NG = No Grade Reported
I = Incomplete

Graduate Students:
E = Academic Failure
E0 = Never Attended
E1 = Stopped Attending
WF = Withdrew Failing
NG = No Grade Reported
I = Incomplete

c.  Undergraduate and Graduate Non-Punitive Grades and Symbols – Zero Grade Points: Not Counted in GPA but Counted in Attempted Credit Hours

W = Withdrew
U = Unsatisfactory
H = Deferred grade assigned only in approved sequential courses or correspondence study
N* = No grade reported
I* = Incomplete

d.  Undergraduate and Graduate Satisfactory-Unsatisfactory (S-U) Grades:

Satisfactory and unsatisfactory courses do not influence grade point average. They are counted in credits attempted and maximum timeframe and are eligible for financial aid.

e.  Incomplete, Deferred Grades and No Grade Courses:

Incomplete, Deferred Grades and No Grades courses count as hours attempted as well as counting toward credit hour completion percentage and maximum timeframe for degree completion.

f.  Audit Courses:

Audit courses receive no credit and do not influence grade point average. They are not counted in credits attempted and are not eligible for financial aid.

g.     Remedial Courses:

The University of Florida does not offer remedial courses. The university will count any remedial courses taken at another institution in the credit hour completion percentage, GPA calculation, and maximum timeframe for degree completion.

h.     Withdrawals:

Withdrawn courses (WF, W) count toward credit hour completion percentage and maximum timeframe for degree completion.

i.  Repeat Courses:

Repeated course work counts as hours attempted as well as counting toward credit hour completion percentage and maximum timeframe for degree completion.

Repeated course work counts towards GPA as stated in the University of Florida’s Repeat Course Work Policy which can be found at:  https://catalog.ufl.edu/UGRD/academic-regulations/grades-grading-policies/#gradingpoliciestext-otp2

If a student enrolls for a third time in a course for which they have received two prior grades (passing or failing), SFA will not include hours for that course when calculating financial aid eligibility and funding will be reduced accordingly.

j.  Transfer Credits:

Transfer credits count toward credit hour completion percentage and maximum timeframe for degree completion. These are not counted in the calculation of grade point average.

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VIII. Other Categories

Students enrolled in curricula not specifically addressed in this policy must petition the SAP Appeals Committee to continue to receive financial aid.

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