Policies for Undergraduates

Effective July 1, 2011, new Federal Regulations require that, in order to be eligible for assistance from any Federal Higher Education Act Title IV student aid program (Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG, Federal Work-Study, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loan, Federal PLUS Loan) a student must be making satisfactory academic progress toward the degree. Eligibility for GU Scholarship will also require students to adhere to this policy.

Please note that these standards do not replace or supersede GU’s academic regulations or individual schools’ regulations and procedures. GU’s student financial aid SAP policies for undergraduate students are similar, but not identical, to the university’s Academic Regulations published in the Undergraduate Bulletin. Students should review both sets of policies and ask for clarification as needed. Questions regarding the student financial aid SAP policy should be directed to the Office of Student Financial Services; questions regarding the university’s academic regulations should be directed to the student’s respective Dean’s Office.

The Federal SAP standards for undergraduate students require the following components:

1. Qualitative SAP Standard: Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0.

2. Maximum Time Frame for Degree Completion: Students must be completing credit units at a rate that which would enable them to complete the requirements for the degree bachelor’s degree or eligible certificate program in a maximum time frame of 150% percent of the published length of the academic program, as expressed in attempted credit hours. For example, for programs that require 120 credit hours for graduation, the maximum time frame for degree completion is calculated as 120 credit hours multiplied by 150 percent. The resulting maximum time frame in this example is 180 attempted credit hours and the student’s pace of enrollment in this example must enable the student to complete the program within 180 attempted credit hours.

3. Quantitative SAP Standard: Students must complete at least two-thirds of courses attempted. At GU, standard enrollment is 12-15 credits per semester. Transfer credits and AP credits that have been accepted as part of the degree program will count as both attempted and completed hours toward degree completion. Incompletes (until resolution), withdrawals (after the add/drop period), and failing grades all count as attempted but not completed credit hours.

Satisfactory academic progress of financial aid recipients is tracked from the first date of enrollment regardless of whether or not financial aid was received. Additionally, transfer credits and repeated courses are counted as attempted courses and also count toward the maximum time frame to complete the degree.

Satisfactory academic progress is reviewed at the end of each semester. If students meet the SAP standards, they remain eligible for federal and university financial aid. Otherwise, they may be placed in either a “Financial Aid Warning” status or a “Financial Aid Ineligible” status.

SAP Statuses

Financial Aid Warning: Students who do not meet the SAP standards for the first time will be given a Financial Aid Warning for their next semester of enrollment. Students will be notified via their GU email address of this status within a month of the end of the semester. Students are not required to take any action during this warning semester. The Financial Aid Warning status is for one semester. Students who do not meet the SAP standards for a second semester become ineligible for Federal Title IV financial aid and university aid unless they request an appeal and the appeal is approved.

Financial Aid Ineligible: Students who do not meet the SAP standards during the Financial Aid Warning semester and do not have an approved appeal will enter a Financial Aid Ineligible status. Students in this status are not eligible for Federal Title IV financial aid or university aid. In some cases, financial aid may have disbursed prior to the notification of Financial Aid Ineligible status. When this situation occurs, the financial aid will be canceled and removed from their Georgetown billing account.

Appeal Process: Students have the right to appeal any decision of ineligibility to continue to receive financial assistance based on failure to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards. However, a SAP appeal may not be made based solely upon a student’s financial need for assistance or a student’s lack of knowledge that assistance was in jeopardy. A successful SAP appeal is typically based upon some unusual situation, condition, or other mitigating circumstance that prevented the student from passing courses or necessitated that a student withdraw from classes. Examples of possible situations include: Documented serious illness, severe injury, or death of a family member. A detailed explanation of what changes have taken place that will enable the student to meet the required SAP standards in the future must be provided. SAP Appeals can only be approved if the Financial Aid Reconsideration Committee in the GU Office of Student Financial Services (OSFS) determines:

• That the student will be able to meet minimum SAP standards after the next payment period; or
• That the student has agreed to follow an academic plan established by his/her academic Dean’s Office that if followed, will ensure that the student can meet minimum SAP standards by a specific point in time.

The form required to submit an undergraduate SAP Appeal can be found here (new window). Students are notified via their GU email account regarding the outcome of an SAP Appeal.

Financial Aid Probation: Students whose SAP appeals are approved will receive financial aid on a conditional basis. The conditions will be outlined in a letter emailed to the student at his/her GU email address. The Financial Aid Reconsideration Committee in the Office of Student Financial Services (OSFS) will review each student’s record at the end of the following semester to determine his/her SAP/eligibility status for future semesters. Students who fail to meet the conditions outlined in their individualized academic plans during their conditional semesters will revert to an ineligible status for their subsequent semesters.

If you reported on your financial aid application that your sibling(s) will be enrolled in college, that enrollment must be verified. If Georgetown needs your assistance to verify sibling enrollment, we will email you a form that must be completed by the school(s) at which your sibling(s) is/are enrolled. To be included in the number in college for the academic year, sibling(s) must be enrolled at least half-time in an undergraduate degree-granting college/university. Siblings in graduate-level programs are considered independent and should not be included in the number in college.

If the enrollment status of your sibling(s) is different from what you originally reported on your financial aid application, your financial aid award may be revised.

Based on the information you provide on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), your financial aid application may be selected for a process called federal verification. If you are selected, we may request additional information from you, which will be used to confirm the information reported on the FAFSA. The required documentation will be listed in MyAccess . Click on the requirement link in MyAccess to find out what steps you need to take to complete the request.

We recommend that you submit your verification documents as soon as possible after being notified. If you are a first year or transfer student, your financial aid will not be disbursed until federal verification is complete. If you are a returning student, you will not receive your financial aid offer until federal verification is complete. Verification must be completed no later than 120 days after the last date of enrollment for the academic year in order to be considered for a late disbursement. New Direct Loans may not be offered after ceasing enrollment or dropping below half-time.

The U.S. Department of Education determines each student’s dependency status, for the purpose of federal financial aid funding, based on the information an aid applicant provides on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students may submit a request to have their dependency status overridden from “dependent” to “independent” for the purpose of determining eligibility for federal financial aid funds. Such requests for reconsideration of dependency status can only be approved in certain limited unusual circumstances and are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. An applicant’s dependency status for the purpose of eligibility for federal student aid programs may differ from the status for receiving need-based Georgetown Scholarship assistance, where the requirement for parent information is typically not waived absent very limited special circumstances. Applicants who believe they may qualify for a dependency override may contact a counselor in the GU Office of Student Financial Services (OSFS) for additional information. 

Students receiving federal student aid should be aware that U.S. Department of Education regulations govern the refund and repayment of federal student aid when a student withdraws before completion of the semester for which federal student aid has been received.

Federal student aid eligibility is based on the percentage of time the student is enrolled for the semester. Depending on the date the student withdraws, the student’s aid will be adjusted according to the Federal Return of Title IV formula and institutional policy. Tuition may be adjusted, and the student may owe money to the University if the student withdraws.

Return of Federal Student Aid (Title IV)

Federal Regulations require the University to calculate a return of federal student aid funds for students who withdraw (officially or unofficially) from all classes on or before the 60 percent attendance point in the semester and for students who withdraw from any module-based courses.

If the student officially withdraws, the determination date is the date Georgetown University determines the student began the withdrawal process. If the student does not provide official notification of his/her intent to withdraw, the determination date will be determined by Georgetown University administration. For an official withdrawal, Georgetown University uses the date the student provided official notification to withdraw as the withdrawal date. For unofficial withdrawals, the last date of academically related activity as given by a professor may be used as the withdrawal date.

The Return of Title IV funds calculation determines a student’s earned and unearned Title IV aid based on the percentage of the enrollment period completed by the student. The percentage of the academic period (e.g. semester) that the student remained enrolled is derived by dividing the number of days the student attended by the number of days in the academic period. Academic period is counted in Calendar days (including weekends); however, breaks of at least five days are excluded from both the numerator and denominator.

Until a student has passed the 60 percent point of an enrollment period, only a portion of the student’s aid has been earned. If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the institution would be required to return a portion of the funds and the student would be required to return a portion of the funds. When Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe a balance to the institution. If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to them, the institution would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement, which must be paid within 120 days of the student’s withdrawal.

The institution must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 30 days after the date of the determination of the date of the student’s withdrawal. The unearned portion of federal student aid funds will be returned to the appropriate aid program(s). The funds are returned in the following order:

Unsubsidized Direct Loan

Subsidized Direct Loan

Direct Grad PLUS Loan

Direct Parent PLUS Loan

Pell Grant

Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant

FSEOG

TEACH Grant

Students withdrawing from classes are responsible for paying any balance due after the required return of federal student aid funds. In addition, the University’s refund policy and return of Title IV funds procedures are independent of one another. A student who withdraws from a course may be required to return unearned aid and may still owe the University for that course. Students who stop attending all classes without officially withdrawing will be subject to a return of federal student aid funds at the end of the semester based on the last documented date of attendance as determined by Georgetown University administration. Students should contact a financial aid representative if they have any questions about how their withdrawal may impact their financial aid.