Academic Standing and Progress
Students must meet certain standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to maintain eligibility for federal and institutional aid.1 Randolph-Macon College is required to measure students’ progress using a qualitative standard (GPA) and a quantitative standard (progress toward a degree). Additionally, students must complete all degree requirements within 150% timeframe that the College has determined it should take to earn that degree. This requirement is measured in credit hours. Recipients of federal student and/or institutional aid are expected to make reasonable progress toward their degree as a condition of receiving and continuing to receive aid.
Program Pursuit (Quantitative Standard)
To remain in good academic standing for federal and institutional aid, a Randolph-Macon College undergraduate student must successfully complete 67% of all credit hours attempted. Classes in which the student earns grades of F, W, I or U are not considered successfully completed. Transfer credits accepted by the College are included in this calculation. A student’s program pursuit is reviewed at the end of each spring semester once final grades have been posted.
GPA Requirements (Qualitative Standard)
To remain in good academic standing for federal and institutional aid, a Randolph-Macon College undergraduate student must have earned a cumulative grade point average of at least 1.67 by the end of their first year of study. A cumulative grade point average of 2.0 is required for all subsequent years. Randolph-Macon College reviews cumulative grade point average at the end of the spring semester each academic year after final grades have been posted.
| AT THE END OF EACH ACADEMIC YEAR | Completed credit hours: | Attained cumulative GPA of: |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | 1.67 |
| 2 | 48 | 2.0 |
| 3 | 75 | 2.0 |
| 4 | 102 | 2.0 |
| 5 | 129 | 2.0 |
The first time a student fails to meet the SAP requirements, the student will be placed on Warning for the subsequent semester. Warning allows the student to continue to receive their financial aid for one semester even though they do not meet the SAP standards. Some students may not be eligible for warning because of a prior SAP status.
If a student has used Warning already and still is not meeting SAP standards, they will be ineligible for federal and institutional financial aid until the appropriate standards are achieved. The student may request a one-time waiver of these eligibility standards if they are unable to meet them due to an extenuating circumstance or personal hardship.
The following are examples of hardship and/or circumstances that may be deemed appropriate for a waiver request: injury or illness of the student, injury, illness or death of an immediate family member or other family difficulty, fire, flood or other catastrophic event, other circumstances beyond the student’s control that occurred during the term in which the student was not able to meet the academic progress requirements.
To request a waiver of these eligibility requirements, the student may submit a Satisfactory Academic Progress Waiver Form to the Financial Aid Office. The information should include the following:
- The reason the student was unable to meet the minimum academic standards.
- Documentation of any circumstance that may have contributed to the student’s inability to meet the standards.
- An explanation of what has changed in the student’s situation that will allow them to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress at the next evaluation.
- A plan for meeting the standards in a reasonable timeframe. This plan should include an academic plan that the student creates with an academic advisor.
Requests are reviewed by the Satisfactory Academic Progress Committee and the student is notified of the outcome via their RMC email. If granted a one-time waiver, a student’s federal and institutional aid may be reinstated for a period of one or two semesters. At the end of each waiver period, the student must be meeting the minimum SAP requirements. If the student is not meeting the minimum standards, they will be ineligible for federal and institutional aid until they are meeting minimum SAP requirements. All decisions made by the Satisfactory Academic Progress Committee are final and cannot be appealed.
Students who are denied a waiver will be ineligible for federal and institutional aid until they are meeting minimum SAP requirements.
Students who do not apply for a waiver will be ineligible for federal and institutional aid until they are meeting minimum SAP requirements.
Federal regulations prevent a student from submitting the same appeal two semesters in a row. However, there is no limit to the number of appeals a student can submit if they can document there are new circumstances preventing the student from meeting SAP standards.
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Academic scholarships may have different academic progress requirements from other institutional funding.