Students who complete less than the minimum requirement while receiving aid may incur a unit deficiency. A unit deficiency is the difference between the student's minimum unit requirement and the units the student completed during the term. For example, an undergraduate student receiving full-time financial aid must complete a minimum of 10 units during the semester. If he/she successfully completes only 6 units, he/she will incur a 4 units deficiency for that term. If a student withdraws from all classes, the Financial Aid Office will apply a repayment formula to determine if the student must repay any financial aid.
Therefore, within an academic year a student who completes less than the minimum unit requirement during one semester may avoid a unit deficiency by completing more than the minimum number of units during the other semester. For example, an undergraduate student receiving full-time financial aid who successfully completes only 6 units in the fall semester must successfully complete 14 units (6+14=20) in the spring semester.
Unit deficiencies at the end of the academic year are added to any unit deficiencies from previous academic years to determine a student's cumulative unit deficiency at SFSU. If a student's cumulative unit deficiency does not exceed the unit deficiency tolerance level, he or she will remain eligible for financial aid. For undergraduates the unit deficiency tolerance is 9 units; for graduates the tolerance is 6 units. Once a student's cumulative unit deficiency exceeds the tolerance level, he or she will not be eligible to receive financial aid until the cumulative unit deficiency has been reduced to within tolerance.
The quality of the student's academic performance will also be monitored. In order for units to be recognized as successfully completed, the grade must be one of the following: A, B, C, D, or CR. Grades not accepted as units successfully completed are: F, NC, U, W, AUD, RD, I or SP. If a grade is changed after the official posting for a semester, it is the student's responsibility to bring verification of the grade change to the Office of Student Financial Aid. Repeat courses do not count.
Financial aid recipients are monitored for the length of time needed to complete their degree by measuring their total units completed. Undergraduate students will be eligible to receive financial aid only until they receive a degree or earn a maximum of 175 semester units. Graduate students are eligible to receive financial aid only until they earn their degree or earn 75 semester units. Students who change their majors/minors, who are pursuing double major/minors,who are attempting second baccalaureates, or transfered units from another school will be held to the same maximum time frame. The Office of Student Financial Aid will attempt to notify a student when it appears that he or she will exceed the unit maximum. Unless a student can provide information which would justify why the degree has not been granted, his or her financial aid will be canceled.
Financial aid recipients must be in good academic standing with the University. The Office of Student Financial Aid will adhere to the University's academic standards. Students are ineligible to receive financial aid if they are disqualified by the University based on the quality of their performance and progress toward their degree objective. Please refer to the
University Bulletin.
Failure to meet the above standards results in ineligibility for financial aid. As stated above, students who have exceeded the maximum units allowed may not receive further aid. Students who have been disqualified by the University are also ineligible for aid until they have been reinstated by the University. Students who have exceeded the unit deficiency tolerance may requalify for aid by reducing their cumulative unit deficiency in one of the following ways:
- completing more units in one semester than the minimum unit requirement;
- completing winter or summer session classes; or
- completing classes without receiving financial aid simultaneously.
- completing units at another accredited institution if:
the student did not receive financial aid for those units
and if:
the student made his/her unit contract at SFSU for that particular semester. In another words, if your SFSU unit contract is
10 units as a full time student and you complete less than 10 units,
the units from the other school for that same semester can not be accepted by the financial aid office
to reduce your deficiency.
to the above policy will only be considered for students who can document extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control. If a student feels that he/she can document extenuating circumstances, he/she may submit an appeal packet to the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals Committee (SAPAC). The appeal packet consists of an appeal letter, a Graduation Plan, an EOP Contract (if EOP), an unofficial grade transcript, an Academic Progress Record (APR), an Advanced Standing Evaluation (ASE), and any documents needed to explain the special circumstances. The Committee, comprised of staff, faculty, and student members will not review incomplete appeals.
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All financial aid recipients should speak to a financial aid counselor to discuss the impact of any proposed changes in enrollment such as dropping a course, repeating a course, or withdrawing from the University. Any of these changes may affect his/her satisfactory academic progress and future eligibility for financial aid.
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