Satisfactory Academic Progress
Students must maintain satisfactory academic progress in order to continue to qualify for federal and institutional financial aid. Satisfactory academic progress includes a qualitative component (GPA) and a quantitative component (credits earned vs. attempted).
To maintain satisfactory academic progress:
1. Students must earn sufficient credits to advance one grade level each academic year, as follows:
- First-year students must complete 26 credits
- Sophomores must complete 58 credits
- Juniors must complete 92 credits
2. Students must earn a grade point average (GPA) of the following per academic year:
- First-year students: 1.8
- Sophomores: 1.9
- Juniors/Seniors: 2.0
3. Students must complete at least 10 credit hours in a single term (when enrolled as a full-time student)
4. Students must successfully complete at least 67% of cumulative credits attempted. **
If, at the end of an academic year, a student fails to advance a grade level according to the above schedule, they will be placed on financial aid probation. They will be eligible for only one additional term of financial aid unless this probation is removed. A student may remove financial aid probation in either of these ways:
1. A student may take coursework during the summer at another institution to make up the deficiency. The student must verify that such coursework will be accepted by Hollins. Further, an official academic transcript documenting summer work must be received by the Hollins University registrar.
2. During the term of financial aid probation, a student must earn at least one-half of the credits necessary for her to advance to the required grade level by the end of that academic year. For example, assume a first-year student completed 24 credits during her first year. In order to attain junior grade level at the required time, she would need to complete 34 credits during the upcoming school year to reach the required 58 credits for junior status. Further, she would need to complete one-half, or 17, of these credits during the fall term. Failure to do so would make her ineligible for financial aid effective with the spring term.
Failure to meet satisfactory academic progress will impact a student’s eligibility for financial aid, as follows:
Students will be warned in writing of their probation status for their first semester not meeting SAP. This notification will alert students that they have the forthcoming semester to meet satisfactory academic standing and is considered their “financial aid warning semester.” Students who are placed on academic probation for their second consecutive regular term are immediately ineligible for financial aid. This places the students on “unsatisfactory academic progress” (UAP) probation status for financial aid. Such students will be notified of their status in writing by the Office of Scholarships and Financial Assistance.
Students may reapply for financial aid after they have removed themselves from probation. Students who feel that they have extenuating circumstances may appeal this financial aid decision once with a possible additional allowance for special circumstances as determined by the Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid and the Associate Provost for Student Success.
Unsatisfactory Academic Progress Appeals:
Students who lose eligibility for federal and institutional financial aid, due to their unsatisfactory academic progress (“UAP”) status, may appeal to have their federal and institutional financial aid reinstated. Students may appeal once during their academic career at Hollins University. A UAP appeal form will be sent to students eligible to file an appeal. Appeals should be based on extenuating circumstances beyond students’ control, such as illness, a family emergency, or unavoidable circumstance. Additionally, students will be asked to explain why they failed to
meet satisfactory academic progress and what has changed in their situation that will allow them to succeed in the upcoming semester. Completed UAP appeal forms should be submitted to the Associate Provost for Student Academic Success (studentsuccess@hollins.edu) prior to the start of the following semester. The Associate Vice President, along with the Director of Scholarships and Financial Assistance, will review all appeals and notify students of their decision via email. In the case of a split vote, one vice president will be asked to join the review committee and cast the deciding vote.
Students who received academic scholarships will need to maintain the GPA specified below:
Batten Scholar: 3.25 or the GPA referenced in your letter from Admissions
Artemis Scholar: 3.00, be Pell-Eligible, and remain in STEM major
Hollins Scholar: 2.00
All other scholarships: 2.0
**Transfer credits accepted from another institution are counted as both attempted and earned credit hours in the quantitative measure of SAP. However, grades earned from any transferred courses are not factored into students’ Hollins University grade point average. A repeated course is counted as a separate course for SAP purposes and will not replace the original course’s grade. Incomplete grades are counted as attempted credits, but they are not considered earned credits. As a measure of quantitative progress, incomplete courses may negatively impact student’s SAP status. Therefore, it is beneficial for students to have grade changes submitted for incomplete coursework as soon as possible after the conclusion of a term. Additionally, incom.plete grades will convert to failing grades for students who do not submit all required coursework to their professors by the established deadlines. After the first four weeks of the term and through the eighth week, students may withdraw from a course(s). After eight weeks, a student may request a medical withdrawal with proper medical documentation to be submitted and approved by the Associate Provost for Student Academic Success. This normally constitutes a withdrawal from all classes. Exceptions to this policy may be considered on a case-by-case basis. When a student withdraws from a course a grade of “W” will appear on the academic transcript, which will not affect their GPA, and no credit is earned. Withdrawn courses do impact the quantitative component of SAP