SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS
SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS POLICY FOR MASTER'S DEGREES
Financial Aid recipients must demonstrate through their scholastic records that they are making satisfactory academic progress toward completion of their program(s) of study in order to maintain eligibility for any form of Federal or Seminary financial assistance. Academic progress for financial aid is measured at the end of the Fall, Spring and Summer terms utilizing the following qualitative and quantitative standards.
Student must earn Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to maintain enrollment at Pentecostal Theological Seminary. SAP is earned when the students maintains a cumulative GPA of 2.0 and successfully completes 75% of attempted credit hours. Failed grades, ungraded courses, extensions, incompletes and withdrawals are included when calculating this percentage.
It is advisable that any and all failed courses be repeated as soon as possible. Once a failed course is successfully repeated, the failing grade (F) will be removed and replaced with an R (repeated).
Transcripts are reviewed by the Registrar's Office at the conclusion of each Fall term, each Spring term, and at the conclusion of the July J-Term. Those students who do not demonstrate sufficient academic progress will automatically be placed on Academic Warning during the next term of enrollment. If sufficient academic progress is achieved by the student at the end of the probation period, academic warning status will be removed. If SAP is not achieved by the end of the probation period, the student may be placed on Academic Suspension.
A student on academic warning will conference with the Academics Office to formulate an academic plan the student will follow to correct the probation issues. The action plan may include an adjustment to the student's class schedule in order to improve academic performance. If a student does not improve his or her academic standing during the probation period, he or she will be required to withdraw from the Seminary (Academic Suspension) for at least one term to work toward the resolution of the problems involved.
When a student returns to the Seminary, after academic suspension, the student returns on academic probation as he or she corrects any academic transcript issues.
Students may appeal a determination of lack of sufficient academic progress to the Office of the Vice President for Academics. If extenuating circumstances (i.e., illness, financial hardship, personal or family difficulties) are substantiated in writing by the student to the Vice President of Academics and judged to be of sufficient nature as to impair student academic progress, consideration for reinstatement will be given and a plan proposed to allow the student to complete his or her degree. The proposed plan must be accepted by the student, the student's advisor, the Financial Aid Committee (if student is eligible for aid), the Registrar, and the Vice President for Academics.
The student may apply for readmission by submitting a letter to the Vice President for Academics stating: (1) the reason for requesting readmission; (2) any action taken to correct the problem; and (3) the applicant’s present academic/vocational expectations. Upon recommendation from the Vice President for Academics, this letter and the applicant’s academic file will be reviewed by the Admissions Committee for consideration of readmission.
This standard measures a student’s quality of performance in terms of courses successfully completed and must maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary.
This standard has two components: maximum time frame and course completion rate. The maximum time frame in which a student must complete a program of study cannot exceed 150 percent of the published program length, measured in credit hours attempted. Example: A student pursuing a program that contains 89 hours would be allowed to attempt a maximum of 133 hours [89 x 150 percent (1.5) = 133]. The number of hours attempted includes any transfer hours accepted from other institutions that are applied to the student’s program of study.
In conjunction with the maximum program length, students must successfully complete (measured as credit hours earned) at least 75 percent of all coursework attempted as they progress through their program of study. (Attempted hours include failed grades, ungraded courses, extensions, incompletes and withdrawals.) This is a cumulative process, illustrated as follows: A student has maintained satisfactory academic progress for the first two semesters of enrollment. However, at the end of the third semester the student’s academic transcript indicates 45 hours attempted and 27 hours earned. The course completion rate is 60 percent (27 divided by 45). The student does not meet the required 75 percent standard and thus will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for the following semester. Note: all enrolled courses (including incompletes, extensions and withdrawals) are included as attempted hours when calculating percentage of earned hours towards course completion rate.
1. The student must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0.
2. The student must have completed at least 75% of cumulative attempted hours. (Cumulative attempted hours include failed grades, ungraded courses, extensions, incompletes and withdrawals.)
3. The student must be attempting at least 9 hours in a regular semester or 6 hours in the Summer session.
1. The student must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0.
2. The student must have completed at least 75% of cumulative attempted hours. (Cumulative attempted hours include failed grades, ungraded courses, extensions, incompletes and withdrawals.)
3. The student must be attempting at least 6 hours in a regular semester or 3 hours in the Summer session.
A student who does not meet satisfactory academic progress standards is placed on Financial Aid Warning for one semester, during which time the student is eligible to receive financial aid funds. If the student meets the standards at the end of the warning semester, the student is removed from Financial Aid Warning status and maintains financial aid eligibility. If the student does not meet the standards at the end of the warning period, the student is placed on Financial Aid Ineligibility/Financial Aid Suspension.
A student on Financial Aid Ineligibility Status is not eligible for any form of Federal or Seminary financial assistance. The student remains ineligible until satisfactory academic progress standards in Pentecostal Theological Seminary courses are met, or he or she may appeal for financial aid reinstatement. Some outside alternative loans are available for students working to regain academic progress.
Students placed on Financial Aid Ineligibility status can appeal to the Financial Aid Committee for financial aid reinstatement. The appeal must be submitted in writing to the Financial Aid Office and be accompanied by appropriate supporting documentation.
Acceptable reasons for appeal are: (1) serious illness or accident on the part of the student; (2) death, accident or serious illness in the immediate family; (3) financial difficulties forcing incomplete and premature withdrawal; (4) other extenuating circumstances directly affecting academic performance.
If financial aid is reinstated, the student is placed on Financial Aid Probation for one semester. After the Financial Aid probationary term, the student must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress or must be successfully following an academic plan. The student must meet with the Vice President for Academics to request an academic plan. Failure to meet the academic plan or academic progress standards will result again in the student being placed on Financial Aid Ineligibility. The student remains ineligible for financial aid until satisfactory academic progress standards in Pentecostal Theological Seminary courses are met or a successful financial aid appeal is approved. If the appeal is not approved, the student has no additional recourse for Pentecostal Theological Seminary financial aid until he or she regains academic progress.
Students may be eligible to enroll in courses without financial aid assistance (Federal, Seminary or state aid) as long as they are not on Academic Suspension or if they have approval from the Office of the Vice President for Academics.
Transfers of credits from another school are measured in the quantitative review/completion rate calculations, but are not included in the (GPA) qualitative standard review for academic progress.
Retaking Failed Coursework: Students may retake a failed course again while receiving federal aid/loans until the course has been passed by the student.
Retaken Passed Coursework: Students may retake (one time only) any previously passed course while receiving Title IV federal loans. After repeating the course a second time and receiving a passing grade, the student is not allowed to retake the course again for federal loans. Students can retake the course but the retaken course cannot be counted towards the student’s enrollment status (full time/part time) for federal aid eligibility, since a passing grade was received.
The return of unearned Title IV aid applies to any student who meets the following criteria:
The student completely withdraws (officially or unofficially) before 60% of the payment period.
The student received Federal Title IV or state aid (Federal Stafford Loan, Federal Graduate PLUS Loan, but not Federal Work-Study).
If a student withdraws before the 60 percent point of the semester during the period of enrollment, calculated using calendar days, a portion of the total Title IV funds awarded a student, the Seminary is required to calculate the amount of aid earned. Any unearned aid must be returned according to the provisions of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998. The withdrawal date is determined by the Registrar’s Office. If a student does not officially notify the institution of his or her withdrawal, 50 percent of the payment period may be used (or the school may choose to use a documented attendance date that is past the 50 percent point). The calculation of return of these funds may result in the student owing a balance to the seminary and/or the Federal Government.
If the amount disbursed to the student is greater than the amount the student earned, unearned funds must be returned. The student will be responsible for any balance due on the account after Title IV funds have been returned. The student’s responsibility includes earned Title IV aid due to the lender and any tuition and fees due to the institution. If the student’s portion of unearned Title IV aid is a loan, the terms and conditions of the loan take care of the repayment.
The student must return his or her portion of unearned Title IV aid to the institution within 45 days or they will be referred to the US Department of Education for collection. The student will remain ineligible to receive future Title IV aid until this obligation is paid in full.
Students should be aware that failure to attend all classes registered for in a term or unofficially withdrawing from school could result in their having to repay financial aid funds, thereby, making them ineligible to receive other Title IV assistance until this obligation is paid in full. Unresolved overpayments are reported to the Department of Education. (To view the Title IV policy in its entirety, students have access in Populi under "Forms" or they may request a copy from the Financial Aid Office at finaid@ptseminary.edu).