Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) refers to the academic standards Solano uses to determine students’ eligibility for financial aid.
Nearly all forms of financial aid require you to be meeting SAP standards. The two exceptions are the CCPG, which has its own set of academic eligibility standards which are nearly identical to SAP standards, and EOPS.
What are the SAP standards?
You generally will be SAP eligible if you meet three criteria:
- GPA: You have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or above
- Pace of Progression: You have passed 67% or more of the units you have attempted
- Maximum Timeframe: You haven’t attempted more than 150% of the units in your program length (for most associate’s degrees, that is 60 units x 1.5 = 90 units)
Federal rules are complex. There are many exceptions and variations depending on the details of your program, transfer status, and types of courses you’ve taken. All of those details can be found in the full SAP policy.
What happens if I'm not eligible?
If you do not meet the GPA or Pace of Progression criteria at the end of a term, you will be placed onto “Warning” status for the following term. If you are still not meeting SAP standards at the end of your Warning term, you will be placed into “Ineligible” status and will be barred from receiving financial aid.
If you do not meet the Maximum Timeframe standard at the end of a semester, you will be placed directly into Ineligible status—you will not have 1 term as a warning period.
To become eligible for financial aid again after being deemed Ineligible, you must submit a SAP appeal. (Alternatively, students may reestablish their eligibility by taking classes without receiving Title IV aid and meeting all qualitative and quantitative SAP standards listed above.)
If your SAP appeal is accepted, you will be placed on Probation status for the remaining number of semesters on your comprehensive SEP (i.e., you will be on Probation until you graduate). If you fail to meet SAP standards for a term while you are on Probation status, you will be placed into Ineligible status on the next term—you will not have 1 term of Warning status as you may have had previously.
If you find yourself having trouble in class and you’re worried about whether you’ll continue to be eligible for financial aid, we have resources to help:
- Go to the Academic Success and Tutoring Center (ASTC) for FREE tutoring
- Talk to a counselor about your options
- Reach out to your professors about the challenges you’re facing
- Contact the Financial Aid Office to find out how your financial aid may be affected