DePaul University > Admission & Aid > Financial Aid > Maintain Eligibility > Satisfactory Academic Progress > Definitions and Terminology

Definitions and Terminology

​​Terminology Related to Academic Credit

All credit-bearing course hours, including:

  • Transfer credit (regardless of whether you received aid for the courses, and regardless of their treatment in your current DePaul degree requirements)
  • Credit earned through study abroad consortium or other consortium agreement is treated as transfer credit
  • Test credit
  • Other types of academic credit (such as military, PLA, AP)
  • Repeated courses

The policy requires that you maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) in order to remain eligible for financial aid. 

  • Undergraduate Students:  The minimum cumulative GPA requirement is 2.0.
  • Graduate/Professional Students:  The minimum cumulative GPA is 2.0, or higher if required by your graduate degree.

The quantitative component (or “pace”) requires you to complete at least two-thirds (66.67%) of all attempted credit hours. For example, if you attempt 12 credit hours a term, you are expected to complete at least 8 credit hours.

If you are assigned a financial aid probation status, or are completing a financial aid academic plan, you are expected to maintain a minimum term GPA of at least 2.5.  In some cases, a higher term GPA may be stipulated in order to meet SAP. Your specific term requirements are located on the “View My FA Academic Progress” panel within your Financial Aid tile in Campus Connect.

Any course with a passing grade (A, B, C, D or PA) is considered to be successfully completed.

Any course with a non-passing grade (F, W, WA, FX, R, IN or M) is considered to be not successfully completed.

  • Incomplete (IN), Missing (M) and Research (R) grades: Grades of IN, M and R are considered to be not successfully completed until the final grade is submitted, in accordance with university grading policy.  We review your SAP status quarterly, immediately following the submission of the final grade. Students must notify the SAP Committee of grade changes by emailing OFA_SAP@depaul.edu.
  • Withdrawal grades (W, WA, and FX): All withdrawal grades are considered to be not successfully completed, and negatively impact quantitative (pace), maximum timeframe, and GPA measures. W and WA grades are not calculated in the grade point average; an FX, is calculated in the GPA as an F.
  • Pass grades (PA): PA grades are not calculated into your GPA. If you are below the minimum required GPA and you are on SAP warning, probation, or special SAP plan, you must take letter graded courses to improve your GPA to meet the minimum SAP standard. Aid may be suspended the following term if your GPA does not improve because you requested PA grades. Students should refer to their View My FA Academic Progress panel in Campus Connect for GPA requirements.

Repeated courses are counted in the “hours attempted” calculation for financial aid purposes. The repeat grade is treated in the cumulative GPA in accordance with university policy. Refer to your Academic Catalog for more information on how repeated grades are calculated in your cumulative GPA.

Treatment of Repeated Coursework for Financial Aid Disbursement.

Audited courses do not earn academic credit and are not eligible for federal, state, and institutional financial aid. They are not evaluated in the review of the your satisfactory academic progress.

Non-credit development courses do not earn academic credit and are not eligible for federal, state, and institutional financial aid. They are not evaluated in the review of your satisfactory academic progress.

Terminology Related to Satisfactory Academic Progress Statuses

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You are eligible to receive aid in this status.  Financial aid “warning” is assigned when you have fallen below the minimum thresholds of SAP:

  • cumulative GPA is below 2.0 (or higher if required by your graduate degree), or
  • completion rate is below 66.67% (you have completed fewer than 66.67% of attempted hours).

Failure to meet the minimum standards after your warning term will result in financial aid suspension.

You are not eligible to receive federal, state, and most institutional aid in this status. “Suspension” status is assigned if:

  • you fail to meet your progress requirements after a warning, probation or academic plan status
  • you are a readmitted student or first-time aid applicant whose prior coursework does not meet SAP thresholds
  • you are an undergraduate student who exceeds the maximum timeframe
  • you are an undergraduate student who is unable to demonstrate that you can complete your undergraduate degree within the 150% timeframe

The Office of Financial Aid reserves the right to suspend your aid if you withdraw completely or fail to complete all of your courses in a term.

If you are assigned a suspension status, you can appeal this status in Campus Connect.

A SAP appeal is a written request from a student submitted after aid is suspended.

Please review the Appeal Financial Aid Suspension section for more information.

If your SAP appeal is approved, you will be placed on a probationary status.

During probation, which lasts one term, you are expected to successfully complete all courses and earn the minimum term GPA required by the SAP committee. 

If you successfully meet SAP at the completion of your probationary term, you will maintain your aid eligibility.

If you are not meeting SAP at the completion of your probationary term, but met the probationary academic plan requirements, you will maintain your aid eligibility and continue onto Academic Plan 1 and, if needed, Academic Plan 2. During these two terms, your are eligible to receive aid if you continue to meet the requirements of your academic plan. By the end of the Academic Plan 2, you must meet the minimum SAP requirements or you will be suspended.