This policy provides the framework for monitoring academic progress and eligibility determination for all federal, scholarship, campus budget work study and other aid programs. All students receiving any type of Federal/State Financial aid, Campus Budget Work-Study, or Scholarships from UNO must abide by this policy, as well as any specific requirements for scholarships/exemptions as applicable. This policy applies to all new, transfer, re-entry, re-admit with transfer work, and continuing students at UNO.

General Guidelines

Students must be in enrolled in an eligible curriculum as a degree-seeking student.  Students must also maintain a Cumulative and UNO GPA, as well as, total earned hours/attempted hours ratio in accordance within the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy, in order to retain their financial aid eligibility.

Maximum Attempted Hours for Undergraduate and Post Baccalaureate Students

To establish a quantitative measure, a time frame is set for students to finish a program of study within an allotment of attempted hours.   Students enrolled in an eligible undergraduate curriculum may receive financial aid up to a total of 180 attempted hours.  Federal regulations require that if a SAP review determines a student cannot graduate within the allowable 180 attempted hours, eligibility must be suspended immediately regardless of how many hours the student has pursued during their academic career.  Attempted hours include all hours as they appear on the transcript, including those with “W,” “P,” “S,” “U,” “I,” “U/W,” “X/F,” and audit courses.  Attempted hours also include any suspended, non-credit remedial, repeated, transfer, and scholastic amnesty hours.  All hours that appear on the transcript are counted as pursued, even those for semesters in which the student did not receive aid.  However, while scholastic amnesty hours will count towards the maximum hours attempted, they will not be considered in determining a student’s earned/attempted ratio and GPA Standard.  All repeat/deleted and grade suspended courses will count towards cumulative number of attempted hours.

Although a student may be allowed to attempt a double major or multiple degrees by their College, students are limited to the 180 attempted hours until they officially graduate and are admitted to an eligible Post Baccalaureate program.  Federal Student Aid is limited to those classes required to complete the first degree attempt.  Students cannot receive Federal Student Aid for course work that does not apply towards their degree attempt.  Undergraduate and Post Baccalaureate students taking a Graduate level course cannot receive Federal Student Aid for the graduate level course and the course will count for SAP purposes for both their Undergraduate and Graduate SAP eligibility reviews.

Students seeking a second baccalaureate degree in an eligible curriculum may receive financial aid up to a total of 225 attempted hours, which includes all undergraduate course work attempted for the first degree.   For example, if a student completed their undergraduate degree with 200 attempted credit hours, then he or she will only be eligible to receive financial aid for 25 credit hours if it is determined that they will be able to receive their second degree before reaching 225 credit hours.

Pace and GPA Standard for Undergraduates and Post Baccalaureate Students

The Federal Dept. of Education requires that students continue to progress throughout their academic program to ensure that they graduate before reaching the maximum allowable attempted hours.  Pace is calculated by dividing the hours earned by the cumulative hours attempted throughout the student’s academic history.   Transfer students will be monitored for an overall completion ratio and the work attempted at UNO to ensure they continue to meet Pace requirements in completing their degree before reaching 180 credit hours.

Students must successfully complete 70% of all course work attempted throughout their academic history.   This includes all work attempted at UNO and course work attempted at other schools,  regardless of whether or not Federal Student Aid was received for the course work or how long ago the course work was attempted.  Students must continue to successfully complete 70% of the course work attempted at UNO.

 Post Baccalaureate students must successfully complete 70% of the course work they attempt as a Post Baccalaureate student.  A few examples of unsuccessful course work are Ws, Fs, X/Fs, Us, Permanent Incompletes, U/Ws.  Undergraduate work attempted as a graduate student cannot be used to raise your Post Baccalaureate ratio percentage or GPA for Federal Student Aid purposes. 

Please note that repeat/deletes and grade suspensions will affect your completion ratio negatively by lowering your percentage.  Both course attempts will count towards attempted hours, but only one course may count towards successful completion.

Below is an example of the pace a student should make each semester in order to graduate before reaching the maximum hours for a degree that requires 120 credit hours. We do not round up completion ratios to qualify student for Federal Student Aid.

Example of total hours attempted and the marked percentage to the limit:

Students must maintain both a UNO and Cumulative GPA of at least a 2.0.  If either the UNO or Cumulative GPA is below a 2.0, the student is not meeting the qualitative requirement.  We do not round up GPAs to qualify students for Federal Student Aid.

Students cannot be on academic probation.

Incompletes with Credit Hours:

In order for our office to complete the required Federal SAP eligibility review for the purpose of Federal Aid, an “I” grade will be considered as an “F.”  Students who continue to meet the minimum SAP requirements will continue to receive their eligible funds.  Students who do not meet the minimum SAP requirements will be given an opportunity to submit a SAP Appeal through the allowed published deadline dates.

If a student resolves the incomplete grade and the grade is posted on WEBSTAR, the student must submit a SAP Re-Calculation Review Form to our office to request a second review.  The request must be received by all applicable financial aid processing deadline dates.  A second SAP review request is manually processed and may take up to 7-10 business days to complete. The review request will be processed in the date order received by our office.

Financial Aid Warning Period

Continuing undergraduate students may qualify for one warning period, which allows them to continue to receive their eligible financial aid for one semester.   The warning period will be for one semester only, including summer sessions.  If a student received prior academic or financial aid probation or if a student fell below the GPA or ratio requirement at any time during their prior academic history, they cannot qualify for a warning period.  If the student does not meet all the SAP requirements at the end of the warning period, the student will lose his/her eligibility until he or she meets the SAP requirements.  If a student resigns, receives two or more X/F’s, U/W’s, or does not successfully complete any of his or her courses at the end of an evaluation period, the student will not qualify for a warning period and must submit a SAP Appeal to have his/her eligibility considered for reinstatement.   If it is impossible for a student to meet the SAP requirements by the end of the payment period, he or she will not qualify for the warning period and must submit an appeal.

Post Baccalaureate students and students who have received Scholastic Amnesty will not qualify for a warning period.  Students who have reached the maximum allowable hours or will not be able to complete their degree before reaching the maximum allowable hours will not qualify for a warning period.

Scholastic Drop

A student who is Scholastically Dropped from UNO is not making satisfactory academic progress.  A student who is dropped by UNO or by his/her previously attended school will have to submit a Federal Student Aid Appeal to have his/her eligibility considered for reinstatement even if the student is re-admitted to UNO on academic probation for the semester he/she was dropped.  A student can only regain his/her eligibility through an approved appeal or by meeting the SAP requirements; sitting out for a period of time will not allow a student to regain eligibility for Federal Student Aid.

Scholastic Amnesty

Students who enter UNO on full Scholastic Amnesty will not have their prior work reviewed for the GPA or ratio requirements, but all hours attempted are required to be counted toward the 180 or 225 limits on attempted credit hours.   If the student cannot complete his/her degree requirement before reaching the 180 attempted hours limitation (with the amnesty hours included), the student must submit an appeal to have his/her eligibility reviewed for reinstatement.  If approved, the student will have to complete the academic plan required for SAP Appeals (See sections on Appeal Procedures and Academic Plan) Students admitted on Partial Scholastic Amnesty will have to meet the SAP Policy on the remaining work that is not included in the amnesty hours and be able to complete degree before reaching 180 attempted hours.  A student’s eligibility cannot be reinstated with regards to SAP until our office receives the student’s updated information from the Admissions office.  Scholastic Amnesty processed after the initial Admissions process will be considered for subsequent semesters only and is not to be used to retroactively receive Federal Student Aid for any prior semester.  Students on Scholastic Amnesty who fail to meet the SAP Policy once again will not qualify for a warning period and will immediately lose their eligibility. 

Transfer Students

Transfer students must enroll at UNO with at least a 2.0 GPA to qualify for Federal Financial Aid. A transfer student is one who has not attended UNO prior to transferring into the University.  Students admitted on academic probation for the first time may qualify for their eligible Federal Student Aid on Financial Aid Warning for the term which they are admitted to UNO if it can be documented that they will be able to meet the GPA requirements in one semester.  This documentation will come from the students Transfer Counselor in Admissions or College Academic Advisor.  If the student will not be able to meet in one semester, then he/she must submit an appeal to our office to have their eligibility considered for reinstatement. 

For those students who may qualify for the Financial Aid Warning period, upon the next payment period, the student must meet all SAP eligibility components or the student will lose his/her eligibility for financial aid.  Students who do not meet our Federal completion ratio requirement or have met the total attempted hours’ limitation must submit a Federal SAP Appeal to have their eligibility considered for reinstatement.

Re-entry (Returning) Students

Returning UNO students will be evaluated for SAP eligibility upon re-admission to the university and upon the receipt of the current year’s FAFSA.  If the student is returning to UNO with additional attempted hours from another school, the student will have to meet the 2.0 UNO and cumulative GPA, and the 70% completion ratio requirement on UNO work and those hours attempted at the other school(s), without exceeding the limit of attempted hours.  Official transcripts for all schools attended must be received and processed by the Admissions office before a SAP evaluation can be completed on a student returning with additional credit hours. Students who do not meet the requirements upon returning to UNO will not qualify for Federal Student Aid. 

Evaluation Period

A student’s academic progress will be evaluated at the end of each semester prior to the next payment period to determine a student’s eligibility. Continually enrolled students are also reviewed each semester for academic probation/warning, and Return of Title IV (resignation).  Students who do not meet the SAP requirements will lose their eligibility effective the following semester and any pending Federal Student Aid or College/Budget Work Study will be cancelled.  If a student has a grade change and would like to have another SAP Review completed on their behalf, he or she must submit a SAP Re-Calculation Form once the grade is posted on WEBSTAR. The request must be received by all applicable financial aid processing deadline dates.  A second SAP review request is manually processed and may take up to 7-10 business days to complete. The review request will be processed in the date order received by our office.

Appeal Procedures

Students who have traumatic, extenuating circumstances that affected their academic pursuits may submit an appeal for the fall or spring semester to explain and document the circumstances.  Summer appeals will be reviewed for graduating seniors-only and documentation must be submitted to our office demonstrating summer graduation.  All appeals must be accompanied with supporting documentation and examples are given on the appeal form.  An appeal will be denied if sufficient documentation is not submitted with the appeal or if the appeal does not reflect the student’s entire academic history. The student must address each semester he/she did not make progress and state what action he/she has taken to resolve the issue(s). Appeal forms are available on our website at finaid.uno.edu/forms and at our Financial Aid Help Desk.  All directions and appeal deadline dates are given on the appeal form.  Students submitting an appeal should seek academic advising from their College. Students cannot submit an appeal after the published deadline dates have passed for the semester and appeals are approved for current or subsequent semesters only; appeals cannot be for prior semesters.  Students are limited to a maximum of two financial aid appeals for their degree attempt. The Committee members are anonymous and their decision on each appeal is final.  If a student has any questions about the appeals process, they should contact the SAP Committee Chairperson in the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships.

• Students cannot submit an appeal to receive aid for course work that will not be applied to complete their degree.
• Students cannot submit appeals to receive aid to raise their GPA if all course requirements have been met for the degree.
• Students cannot submit an appeal to extend the maximum allowable hours for multiple majors, minors, or degrees if the     student has completed all requirements for first undergraduate degree. 
• Students cannot submit an appeal to increase aggregate limits for any type of aid.  Federal regulations regarding aggregate limits are set by the Federal Dept. of Education and once the student meets the Federal regulatory limits, the student is not eligible for any further assistance in that program.

Academic Plan

If a student is granted an approved appeal, he/she must attend an in-person SAP counseling session to go over the assigned Academic Plan (AP) prior to any award being generated for the student.  The AP requires the student to complete an in-person counseling session with the SAP Chairperson in the Financial Aid Office.  An AP will state the approved appeal conditions the student must meet each semester of enrollment in order to continue to receive Federal Student Aid while he or she does not meet the SAP eligibility requirements.  The conditions will be based on the student’s prior academic performance and what is needed to meet the SAP eligibility requirements. Students with approved appeals who cannot graduate within the maximum attempted hours limit will remain on the Academic Plan until graduation as long as he or she continues to meet all conditions of the approved appeal.   All students with approved appeals must participate in SAP in-house counseling, and sign their Academic Plans by the published deadline date given in the appeal notification.