Satisfactory Academic Progress
In addition, students must maintain “satisfactory academic progress” to remain eligible for financial aid. Loss of good academic standing means that a student has failed to meet the standards outlined on page 33 and as approved by the commissioner of education. The academic records of financial aid recipients are reviewed at the end of the fall and spring semesters to verify compliance with these standards. Please read and be familiar with this chart.
To receive New York State Aid (Aid for Part-Time Study [APTS], Child of Veteran Award [CV], Veterans Tuition Award [VTA], Regents College Scholarship [RNS], Empire State Mathematics and Science Teacher Scholarship [ESMSTS], Tuition Assistance Program [TAP], etc.), a student must pursue a program and maintain satisfactory progress as defined by the New York state commissioner of education.
These standards, set by the commissioner, are as follows: “...institutions should be guided by the knowledge that the commissioner will not approve a standard which allows a student more than ten semesters... to accumulate 120 credits, with a grade point average of 2.0, in a typical baccalaureate degree program.” The maximum timeframe for an undergraduate program measured in credit hours is a period no longer than 150 percent of the published length of the program.
The requirements of this policy follow:
Program Pursuit:
The regulations define program pursuit as receiving a passing or failing grade in a certain percentage of a full-time course load (for TAP), as follows:
1st year— Must pass or fail 6 credits per semester.
2nd year— Must pass or fail 9 credits per semester.
3rd year— Must pass or fail 12 credits per semester.
4th year— Must pass or fail 12 credits per semester.
A passing or failing grade is defined as the grades A through F or any grade that indicates that the student:
- Attended the course for the entire semester or payment period; and
- Completed all the necessary requirements.
- An S for developmental coursework would be acceptable.
- A grade of W would not count as a pass or fail (toward Program Pursuit).
- A grade of Incomplete would be acceptable only if it is automatically changed to a standard passing or failing grade before completion of the next term of study. (Incompletes require submission of the Keuka College Incomplete Form.)
Academic Progress:
The academic progress part of this policy, as defined by the commissioner, must include:
- The minimum number of credits earned, or courses successfully completed at each interval; and
- The minimum cumulative GPA or similar measure at each interval.
Note: Keuka College certifies a student’s eligibility for TAP and APTS before each payment (in other words, each semester); therefore, the above must be checked and standards developed for each semester.
The policy must include treatment of transfer, full-time (for students receiving TAP), and part-time (for students receiving APTS) students.
Note: The federal and New York state financial aid funds listed in this section could be reduced or withdrawn based on the approval of proposals in the federal and New York state budgets.