Satisfactory Academic Progress

Standards
For a student to receive financial aid, regulations require that he/she maintain satisfactory academic progress toward a degree. The following are the satisfactory academic progress standards for students seeking federal or institutional financial aid at Fairfield University.

Definitions
The satisfactory academic progress policy must include a qualitative and quantitative measure of the student's progress. The qualitative measure must establish a minimum grade point index standard. The quantitative measure must establish a maximum time frame for a student to complete his/her program and a minimum number of credits a student must satisfactorily complete each year.

For financial aid purposes, satisfactory grades are defined as: A, A-, AB, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, P, S, and T. Unsatisfactory grades are defined as: NG, Q, F and I.

The Standards
The Office of Financial Aid will review students' academic records at the end of each spring term. Below is a description of the qualitative and quantitative requirements of the Fairfield University Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards.

Qualitative:
Undergraduate students are expected to maintain an overall average of C (2.0 grade point index). A student may be placed on probation or withdrawn for academic deficiency when the index for any semester is less than 1.80. Graduate students must maintain good standing as defined in the Graduate Catalog.
Quantitative:

1. Whether a student has received aid or not, a student must earn his/her first bachelor's degree in 6 years of full-time attendance or its equivalent. All graduate degrees must be completed within 3 years of full-time attendance or 6 years of part-time attendance.
2. To meet the time limits defined in #1, all students must complete for credit 67% of hours attempted.
3. Academic withdrawal or one semester of no progress (no credit points earned) will result in automatic suspension from financial aid. If a student is readmitted to the University, he/she must appeal for reinstatement of financial aid.

Notification
It is the responsibility of the student to determine when an appeal for reinstatement of financial aid eligibility is appropriate. The University grade report will provide the student with the number of hours completed each term and the grade point index attained.

Reinstatement of Aid
To have financial aid eligibility reinstated, a student may make up the credit hour and/or grade point index deficiencies in a subsequent term without receipt of federal aid for that term. The student must then submit a written request for reinstatement of eligibility. The request should be forwarded to the Office of Financial Aid, Fairfield University, Kelley Center, 1073 N. Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824.

Appeal Process
A student who believes his/her failure to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards was due to extenuating circumstances beyond his/her control may appeal in writing to the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Committee. Some examples of extenuating circumstances are:

• A student's serious illness or accident.
• Death or serious illness in the student's family.
• Cancellation/discontinuance of a class by the University.
• Other unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the student that caused the student to fall below the satisfactory progress standards.

Reasons for the appeal must be documented, i.e., sickness, accident, death, etc. Official documentation must be attached to the letter of appeal when it is turned into the Office of Financial Aid.

Appeals must be written by the student and submitted to the Office of Financial Aid, Kelley Center, 1073 N. Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824. You will be mailed a written response from the Committee within 10 working days of the committee's decision.

Appeal Deadline
Appeals must be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid within three weeks of the first day of classes in order to receive aid for that term (fall or spring semester). If reinstatement of aid is sought for summer sessions, the appeal must be submitted prior to the first day of classes for that term. It is the responsibility of the student to initiate an appeal before the specified deadline.