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Academic Progress
ACADEMIC PROGRESS BEGINNING SPRING 2011
Students receiving Federal or State Financial Aid Funds must meet the following academic criteria:
LEARNING SUPPORT
You must complete required learning support courses in 30 hours. Any learning support hours above 30 will result in loss of all financial aid including HOPE and student loans. Aid will be reinstated once learning support requirements are completed.
GPA REQUIREMENT
You must maintain the required institutional GPA at the attempted hours listed:
0-30 attempted hours: 1.8 GPA
31-60 attempted hours: 1.9 GPA
61 attempted hours & above: 2.0 GPA
GRADUATE STUDENTS GPA REQUIREMENT
You must have a 3.0 UWG Institutional Grade Point Average (GPA).
GPA Warning: You will be placed on Financial Aid GPA Warning for one term if you are unable to meet the above GPA requirements. Your GPA must be at or above the minimum requirement at the end of the warning term.
GPA Suspension: At the end of the warning term your financial aid will be suspended if you are not able to meet the minimum GPA requirement.
Reinstatement of Aid: Your financial aid can be reinstated once your institutional GPA requirement is met.
COURSE COMPLETION
You must successfully complete 67% of the courses you attempt each term with grades of A, B, C, D, S or S%. 67% is calculated by dividing earned hours by attempted hours. Unsatisfactory grades are F, W, I, IP, U and WF. (Failure, Withdrawal, Incomplete, In progress, Unsatisfactory and Withdrawn Failing)
67% Warning: If you are unable to meet the 67% completion requirement you will be placed on Financial Aid 67% Warning for one term. You must successfully complete all the courses you attempt during your warning term to regain your financial aid.
67% Suspension: If you are unable to meet the completion requirement during the warning term your financial aid will be suspended.
Reinstatement of Aid: Financial aid can be reinstated once you successfully complete 9 hours of coursework at UWG without any unsatisfactory grades.
UNDECLARED MAJOR
You must declare a major before you earn 60 hours. To declare a major you go to the department of the major you would like to declare and fill out the major declaration paperwork.
Undeclared Major Warning: Once you have 45 earned hours you will be notified that you are nearing your maximum amount of earned hours as an undeclared major. You will have up until 60 earned hours to declare a major.
Undeclared Major Suspension: Once you have 60 earned hours as an undeclared major you will no longer be eligible for financial aid.
Reinstatement of Aid: Your financial aid can be reinstated once you declare a major.
MAXIMUM HOURS
You must complete your degree within a specified number of hours. Those enrolled in a 120 hour Bachelor’s degree program are allowed up to 180 attempted hours. These attempted hours include all UWG institution hours as well as transfer hours. If you have a previous degree you are allowed and additional 60 attempted hours toward your next undergraduate degree.
Maximum Hours Warning: At the end of the semester you cross 170 attempted hours you will be placed on maximum hours warning.
Maximum Hours Suspension: Once you have attempted 180 hours your financial aid will be suspended.
Reinstatement of Aid: You must file a Financial Aid Appeal to reinstate your aid. There is no guarantee the Financial Aid Appeal will be approved. Approval will be based upon your explanation of your current situation. Appeals are reviewed by the Financial Aid Appeal Committee. Visit the Financial Aid website at www.westga.edu/finaid.
ACADEMIC PROGRESS PRIOR TO SPRING 2011
What are the academic requirements to receive financial aid?
You must meet several academic criteria to receive financial aid. They are as follows:
- You must complete all required developmental studies and CPC (College Preparatory Curriculum) courses in no more than thirty hours. After you attempt thirty hours of developmental studies and/or CPC courses, you will lose your financial aid eligibility until you have completed these course requirements.
- You must have a 2.0 UWG Institutional Grade Point Average (GPA) after four or more semesters of enrollment at UWG. A semester that you withdraw from your classes does count as a semester of enrollment. Your financial aid eligibility can be reinstated when your UWG Institutional GPA reaches a 2.0.
- You must earn passing grades in at least 67% of all hours for which you enroll during Summer through Spring terms in order to remain eligible for aid during the next award year. Please be aware that the calculation for the 67% course completion is NOT rounded up. You must complete at least 67.00% each academic year. Anything below 67.00% is not considered to be making satisfactory academic progress. Grades of A, B, C, D, and S are considered passing; grades of F, W, WF, IP, I and U are considered unsatisfactory and are not passing for the purposes of this review. If you lose eligibility for aid under this provision, you may re-establish your eligibility for future awards by completing 12 hours of class work at UWG with a 2.0 GPA and receive no unsatisfactory grades of: F, W, WF, I, IP and U. Any unsatisfactory grade or less than a 2.0 term GPA will exclude all classes that term from being used toward the 12 hour requirement.
- You must declare a major before 60 earned hours to continue to receive financial aid. If you do not declare a major by 60 earned hours, you will no longer be eligible for aid until a major is declared. You must go to the department of your major to declare a major. The department will fill out the necessary paperwork and forward it to the Registrar's Office. The Registrar's Office will update your record to reflect the declared major.
- You must complete your program within a certain number of attempted hours, including all transfer hours. Once you meet or exceed the maximum hours set for your program, you will be notified that your financial aid has been canceled for the following semester. The limits are as follows:
120 Hour Bachelor's Degree - 170 attempted hours allowed
36 Hour Master's Degree - 54 attempted hours allowed
27 Hour Specialist Degree - 41 attempted hours allowed
APPEALING ACADEMIC PROGRESS SUSPENSION
Can I appeal if I fail to meet one of the requirements listed above?
If there were extenuating circumstances, such as a death in the immediate family, a personal illness or injury, or other circumstances beyond your control that affected your ability to meet the academic progress requirements, you can submit a written appeal. You will need to request an appeal form from the Financial Aid Office and provide supporting documentation such as a doctor's excuse, medical bills, etc. The deadline to submit a complete appeal for any term is 12:00pm on the second day of drop-add. If your appeal or supporting documentation is submitted after the deadline you will be responsible for paying your own fees before the fee payment deadline until a decision can be made.
Beginning Spring 2011, you have 3 appeal attempts beginning with your first appeal and ending with graduation or leaving UWG.
UWG's Letter of Appeal for can be found at On-Line Forms.
Please Note:
You must meet all of the requirements listed above (NEW Academic Progress Policy) to remain eligible for any form of federal and state aid, including HOPE and loans. Eligibility for short-term loans and scholarships is not affected by these requirements.
- It is your responsibility to notify the Financial Aid Office when you have met the requirements to have eligibility reinstated. Get the Request to Clear Satisfactory Academic Progress form from On-Line Forms.
- We cannot release any academic progress holds on your file until your grades have been checked. This may mean that you will have to pay advance registration fees initially and be reimbursed once we can verify that you completed the requirement(s) to have your aid reinstated.
- The Director of Financial Aid may, at any time, cancel the remainder of your award if he/she becomes aware that you are not actively pursuing your coursework. You may also make a written appeal to the Financial Aid Office regarding a decision, which affects awards or the ability to receive aid.