Standards of Academic Progress
Students are required to maintain standard academic progress and to remain in academic good standing to continue eligibility for financial assistance. In addition, students who are applying for financial assistance are expected to be enrolled full time each semester during the academic year. Students enrolled less than full time must notify the Financial Aid Office. Students enrolled less than full time will be subject to reductions in assistance due to a reduced cost of education. Full-time enrollment is defined as registering for 12 credits or more per semester; however, attempting only 12 credits may not satisfy Greensboro College's standards of academic progress.
Federal regulations require an institution's standard of academic progress to include both quantitative and qualitative measures of performance. The quantitative standard that a full-time student must maintain parallels the College's definition of class standing. In order to meet quantitative standards of progress a full-time student must:
- Successfully complete 28 semester hours by the end of the first year.
- Successfully complete 60 semester hours by the end of the second year.
- Successfully complete 92 semester hours by the end of the third year.
- Successfully complete 124 semester hours by the end of the fourth year as required for graduation.
Grades of W (Withdrawal), WF (Withdraw Failing), I (Incomplete), CO (Carry-Over), WC (Writing Challenge) or NR (Not Reported) are not considered satisfactory completion of a course. An I, CO, or WC grade can become acceptable only if the course requirements are completed within the time prescribed by the College.
The qualitative standard requires that a student must earn a cumulative grade point average of at least 1.6 after attempting 0-28 semester hours, a cumulative grade point average of at least 1.8 after attempting 28-60 semester hours, and a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 thereafter. (Semester hours attempted includes all transfer work, courses taken Pass/Fail, and repeated courses.)
The quantitative and qualitative standards are cumulative and include all periods of a student's enrollment, even those for which the student did not receive financial assistance. The first time a student fails to meet these standards of progress, a warning letter is sent stating that the student is not meeting the required standards and requiring the student to make efforts to correct the deficiency. The Financial Aid Office will send progress reports to students at the end of the fall semester regarding status for academic progress.
The Financial Aid Office will notify students at the end of the spring semester who are failing to meet the standards. A student who is not meeting standards will be on probation and given the next year to meet the policy requirements. If a student fails to meet the guidelines at the end of that probationary year, the student will no longer be eligible to receive financial aid. Standards of Academic Progress will be checked at the end of each semester.
