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CSUDH is required by federal law to establish, publish, and apply reasonable standards for measuring whether a student is maintaining satisfactory academic progress toward a degree objective, and to ensure progress toward the degree for all periods of enrollment, whether or not the student has received financial aid. These standards are applicable to all financial aid recipients at CSUDH and affect eligibility for all federal and state aid, including grants, student loans, and work-study.
The following policy is effective for Satisfactory Academic Progress evaluations as of January 1, 2025, inclusive of Fall 2024 semester grades.
Cumulative grade point average is monitored each semester based on a students' degree objective as listed below:
Students meeting all three SAP standards remain eligible for aid. At the conclusion of a semester, SAP will be re-evaluated using grades and grade points from the recently completed semester.
The first time a student does not meet either,
the student will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for their next semester of enrollment. This warning status allows a student to continue receiving aid for that next semester of enrollment, while attempting to bring their GPA and/or Pace in line with the CSUDH Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress minimum standards.
Students that meet both Standard 1: Minimum GPA and Standard 2: Pace after their semester of Financial Aid Warning, are once again meeting all SAP Standards and continue to be eligible for financial aid for the next semester.
Students that are not meeting both Standard 1: Minimum GPA and Standard 2: Pace at the end of their Financial Aid Warning semester will have their financial aid eligibility disqualified and must appeal for continued financial aid eligibility.
Students are disqualified from receiving financial aid if any of the following applies:
Students that have their financial aid disqualified are eligible to submit a Financial Aid Appeal for reconsideration.
Students who become disqualified from receiving financial aid are notified through their ToroMail account. Students that experienced extenuating circumstances that hindered their academic success, may complete and submit a SAP Appeal Form at least two weeks before the end of term.
Appeals are evaluated based on the student's extenuating circumstances and statement indicating how the extenuating circumstances have been mitigated allowing the student to be successful in the upcoming semester.
Standard 1: Minimum GPA and/or Standard 2: Pace Appeals: If a student’s appeal is approved, they will be placed on a Financial Aid Academic Plan. Students are notified, via their campus ToroMail account, of the conditions of their appeal approval and specific academic requirements they must achieve to meet the terms of your Financial Aid Academic Plan to continue receiving financial aid beyond the current semester.
At the end of the semester, the Financial Aid Office will review that the specific conditions for continued aid eligibility have been achieved. Students who do not meet the conditions of the SAP Financial Aid Academic plan will once again be disqualified from receiving financial aid. The student is notified via their campus email account how they can regain their aid eligibility.
Standard 3: Maximum Timeframe Appeal: When a student fails the Maximum Timeframe standard and wishes to appeal, students must also submit a Degree Completion Plan where they list their major, minor, expected graduation date and the courses they need to complete to earn their degree.
If approved, a student will be allowed additional attempted units to complete any remaining outstanding major/program requirements. Students are notified, via your ToroMail account, of the conditions of your appeal approval and any monitoring requirements that will take place. Should a student not be able to complete their program before reaching the newly extended Maximum Timeframe, they will once again have their financial aid eligibility disqualified.
Appeal of Denial (2nd Level Appeal)
If a student’s appeal is not approved, the student may wish to challenge the denial of their initial SAP appeal as follows:
The Associate Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships will review 2nd Level Appeals and consult other campus partners as appropriate in evaluating, and responding to, your challenge.
Students who are disqualified due not meeting Standard 1: Minimum GPA and/or Standard 2: Pace and do not submit an appeal, or have their appeal denied, may regain eligibility once they are once again meeting both of these standards, provided they have no exceeded Standard 3: Maximum Timeframe.
If you have any questions about financial aid, just contact us. We're here to help.