Aerial view of campus with Williamsport, the Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Mountain as a backdrop

Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements for Financial Aid Recipients

(Effective August 14, 2026, starting with 2026-2027 academic year)

Federal regulations (General Provisions 34 CFR 668.16(e), 34 CFR 668.32(F), and 34 CFR 668.34) require that Lycoming College regularly reviews the academic progress of students before they receive federal title IV financial aid to assure the student has met and continues to meet the basic academic progress standards set by the College. The three standards that the Office of Financial Aid must evaluate are as follows:

Maximum Timeframe Standard
Qualitative Standard
Quantitative Standard

NOTE: Financial aid programs subject to the following Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Requirements include all Federal Title IV (federal) aid (Pell, FSEOG, Work-Study, Perkins Loan, Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, TEACH Grant) and all Lycoming College (institutional) grants, scholarships, and loans.

Frequency of Evaluation

Financial aid recipients are required to be in good academic standing and maintain satisfactory academic progress toward their degree requirements. The Office of Financial Aid will evaluate all students in a bachelor’s degree or Teacher’s Certificate (stand alone certification) program for SAP requirements, as described below, annually at the end of the spring semester. Active students on financial aid Suspension and Probation statuses will be re-evaluated each subsequent semester (fall or spring) until all SAP standards are met. Active students placed on an academic plan after a successful appeal will be evaluated on the terms of their academic plan each subsequent semester (fall or spring) until all SAP standards of the policy are met. Failure to maintain satisfactory progress will result in the suspension of both federal and institutional financial aid eligibility. The Office of Financial Aid will notify active (enrolled or on a leave of absence) students who do not meet the satisfactory academic progress requirements by email to their Lycoming email account.  Any students who were in a withdrawn (withdrawn, suspended, or dismissed) status at the time of notification will not receive notification unless they are later reinstated to the college as a readmit. When the Office of Financial Aid is notified that a student will be re-admitted to the college, they will notify the student by email at that time if they failed to meet SAP requirements in their previous evaluation.

Satisfactory Academic Progress for financial aid eligibility should not be confused with the College’s academic progress policy. These are two distinct and totally separate policies that students must be aware of. It is entirely possible to fail to meet minimum standards of one policy and pass the minimum standards of the other.

Undergraduate students receiving financial aid must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average and make steady progress toward the completion of their degree as described below.

Non-degree-seeking visiting students are not eligible for federal financial aid and are not evaluated for SAP. These students will continue to receive any institutional financial aid awards/credits provided by the college, regardless of grades, unless otherwise stated in other college policies regarding those awards/credits.

Maximum Timeframe Standard

Students must complete their degree within 150% of the published length of the degree program as defined by Lycoming College. A student will no longer be eligible for financial aid at the point that they either a. reach 150% of the published length of their academic program and have not completed their degree requirements or b. reach the point where they cannot mathematically complete their degree requirements within 150% of the published program length. For example, a typical Bachelor’s degree requires 128 credits: 128 x 150% = 192 credits. Students who attempt, or will need to attempt, more than 192 credits to complete their degree program will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension and will be ineligible for both federal and institutional financial aid. Students enrolled in a stand-alone Teacher’s Certificate program will be evaluated for the maximum timeframe standard solely on the attempted and completed credits related to their enrollment in that program and the length of that program, unless the student is simultaneously enrolled in a Lycoming bachelor’s degree program.  Students simultaneously enrolled in both programs will be evaluated for the maximum timeframe standard based off the attempted and completed credits related to both programs and the length of their bachelor’s degree program.

Qualitative Standard

Students are evaluated by a qualitative standard that consists of both a cumulative GPA requirement and a semester GPA requirement. If a student does not meet one of these requirements at the time of evaluation, even if they meet the other requirement, they do not meet the qualitative standard of this policy. Students must graduate with a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 or higher.

Cumulative GPA Requirement
Completed Credits Minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average
0 - 16 1.50
16.5 - 32 1.85
32.5 - 48 1.95
48.5 or more 2.00
Semester GPA Requirement

In addition to the cumulative GPA requirement, students are required to meet a semester GPA requirement. In order to remain in good standing for SAP, students must not have a semester GPA of 1.25 or under in any one semester of the standard evaluation period (fall and spring semesters).  A student’s first semester at Lycoming College is excluded from this requirement, and this criterion applies to all subsequent semesters. Semesters in which a student withdraws completely or takes a leave of absence are excluded from this requirement because there is no GPA earned in the semester.

Quantitative Standard

Students receiving federal and institutional aid must successfully complete the percentages, outlined below, of their cumulative attempted credit hours as recorded by the Office of the Registrar on the student’s transcript:

Cumulative Completed Credits Cumulative Credit Completion Requirements
0 - 16 50% of attempted credits*
16.5 - 32 60% of attempted credits*
32.5 - 48 65% of attempted credits*
48.5 or more 67% of attempted credits

Examples of Credit Completion Requirements

  1. A student who has successfully completed a total of 16 credits must have done so with no more than 32 attempted credits (16 / 32 = 50.00%).
  2. A student who has successfully completed a total of 32 credits must have done so with no more than 53 attempted credits (32 / 53 = 60.37%).
  3. A student who has successfully completed a total of 48 credits must have done so with no more than 74 attempted credits (48 / 74 = 64.86%).
  4. A student's Lycoming transcript reflects 24 transfer and/ or AP credits. If the student has successfully completed a total of 46 credits of Lycoming coursework, the student must have done so with no more than 104 attempted credits, including transfer and AP credits (70 / 104 = 67.30%).

* Calculations not resulting in whole numbers are rounded to the nearest whole credit for all students who have completed 48 or fewer credits.  For students who have completed more than 48 credits, calculations will not be rounded.

Treatment of W, I, X, P & F Grades, Transfer/AP credits, and Repeated Coursework

  1. Course withdrawals (W) after the drop/add period are not included in the GPA calculation but are considered a non-completion of attempted coursework.
  2. Incomplete (I) grades are not included in the GPA calculation but are considered a non-completion of attempted coursework until the incomplete grade is replaced with a permanent grade and academic progress can be reevaluated.
  3. An audit (X) grade is not considered attempted coursework. It is not included in the GPA calculation or completion rate determination.
  4. A satisfactory (P) grade is treated as attempted credits earned, but it is not included in the GPA calculation.
  5. A failing grade (F) is treated as attempted credits not earned; it will be included in the calculation of the GPA and the minimum completion rate.
  6. Transfer and/or AP credits accepted by Lycoming College will be treated as attempted credits earned. Pre-approved transfer credits accepted by the college after becoming a matriculated student will also be counted in the GPA calculation in alignment with the transfer credit policy.
  7. The most recent course grade for a repeated course will be included in the calculation of the GPA and every repeated attempt will be included in the completion rate determination.

Financial Aid Suspension

Important - Please Note: A successful appeal of academic suspension is unrelated to financial aid suspension and does not result in reinstatement of a student’s financial aid eligibility. Appealing one’s financial aid suspension status is a separate process.

Students who fail to meet the Maximum Timeframe Standard, or the Qualitative Standard, or the Quantitative Standard will be placed on a Financial Aid Suspension status. Students on Financial Aid Suspension status are not eligible to receive federal and institutional financial aid.

Reinstatement of aid after Financial Aid Suspension

Reinstatement of financial aid after a student is placed on Suspension is achieved as follows:

  • The student submits a written letter of appeal (see Appeal Process below) in accordance with the appeals process and the Financial Aid Appeals Committee grants the appeal. The student is then placed on Financial Aid Probation, allowing an additional semester (payment period) of federal and institutional financial aid.
    1. If the Financial Aid Appeals Committee determines that a student cannot meet all satisfactory academic progress requirements within a single semester (payment period), they may place a student on an academic plan. The student must agree to the academic plan in writing (by email or signing the Office of Financial Aid’s copy of the plan) and meet the terms of the academic plan in order to receive any subsequent semesters (payment periods) of federal and institutional financial aid while on Probation. Failure to meet the terms of the academic plan in any applicable semester will result in a student being placed on Suspension.
  • The student attends Lycoming College during the Suspension semester, pays for tuition and fees without the help of both federal and institutional financial aid, and does well enough in the coursework to satisfy all SAP standards. The student must notify the Office of Financial Aid if they plan to attend Lycoming College without the assistance of both federal and institutional financial aid; or
  • The student attends summer school to eliminate the deficiency in credits and/or GPA. The student must notify the Office of Financial Aid if they are planning to take classes during the summer to eliminate the deficiency and request re-evaluation of their academic progress after the completion of those classes.

Students who have been placed on Suspension cannot merely skip a semester to regain eligibility. No financial aid will be disbursed during subsequent semesters for students on Suspension. If an appeal is granted and the student subsequently fails to attain the minimum standards after one semester, or fails to meet the individualized requirements that were specified by the appeals committee in their academic plan, eligibility for financial assistance will be cancelled automatically for future semesters and the student will be placed back on Suspension.  

Appeal Process

The appeal letter must address:

    1. The extenuating circumstance(s) as to why satisfactory academic progress was not made.
    2. What has changed in the student’s situation that would allow the student to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress at the next evaluation (i.e. after the probationary semester if an appeal is granted)?

    Extenuating circumstances can include, but are not limited to, illness or injury; death of a family member; family difficulties; financial difficulties, etc.

    Appeals of Financial Aid Suspension must be made in writing by the date specified in the Suspension notification letter. Upon receiving an appeal, the Financial Aid Appeals Committee will re-evaluate the student to determine if there are any grade changes, such as an incomplete grade becoming complete, since the time that academic progress was initially evaluated. If the student meets all academic progress standards upon re-evaluation, they will be removed from the Suspension status and their financial aid will be fully reinstated for the academic year. The Financial Aid Appeals Committee will review the appeal and notify the student in writing to the student’s Lycoming College email account within 5 business days of their decision. All decisions made by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee are final and not subject to further review.

    If a student does not meet the academic progress standards after their Probation or they do not meet the requirements of an academic plan, subsequent appeals may be considered and reviewed on a case-by-case basis. These appeals will be reviewed by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee and at least one representative from the academic community (e.g. Office of Student Success, Registrar’s Office, or Provost’s Office). Students may submit a maximum of 3 appeals for academic progress during their academic career at Lycoming College.

    Appeals may be emailed to Finaid@lycoming.edu, or mailed to:

    Lycoming College
    Office of Financial Aid
    Attn: Financial Aid Appeal Committee
    One College Place
    Williamsport, PA 17701