Academic Standing and Progress

Students must meet certain standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to maintain eligibility for federal and institutional aid. The College is required to measure students’ progress using a qualitative standard (GPA) and a quantitative standard (progress toward a degree). Additionally, students must complete all degree requirements within 150% of the timeframe that the College has determined it should take to earn that degree (measured in credit hours). Recipients of federal student aid and/or institutional funding are expected to make reasonable progress toward their degree as a condition of receiving and continuing to receive that aid.  

Program pursuit (quantitative standard)

To remain in good academic standing for federal and institutional aid, an Ithaca College graduate student must successfully complete 67% of all credit hours attempted. Classes receiving grades of F, W, I or U are not considered to be successfully completed. Transfer credits accepted by Ithaca College are included in this calculation. Program pursuit progress is reviewed for all students at the end of each semester.

GPA requirements (qualitative standard)

To remain in good academic standing for federal and institutional aid, an Ithaca College graduate student must earn a cumulative grade point average of 3.0. Ithaca College reviews cumulative grade point average for all students at the end of each semester.

A student who fails to meet one or both of the above requirements will be ineligible for federal and institutional financial aid until the appropriate standards are achieved. The student may request a one-time waiver of these eligibility requirements if they were unable to meet them due to an extenuating circumstance or personal hardship. 

The following are examples of hardship and/or circumstances that may be deemed appropriate for a waiver request:

• Injury or illness of the student;
• Injury, illness, or death of an immediate family member or other family difficulty;
• Fire, flood or other catastrophic events; or
• Other circumstances beyond the student's control that occurred during the term in which the student was not able to meet academic progress requirements.

To request a waiver of the College’s SAP standards, a student must submit a Waiver Request Form to the Office of Student Financial Services. The information submitted should include the following information:

1. The reason why the student was not able to meet the minimum academic requirements.
2. Documentation of any unique circumstance that may have contributed to the student’s inability to meet the standards.
3. An explanation of what has changed in the student’s situation that will allow them to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress at the next evaluation.
4. A plan for meeting the standards in a reasonable time frame. This plan should include an academic plan that the student creates with an academic advisor.

Waiver requests are reviewed by the Satisfactory Academic Progress Committee and the student is notified of the outcome via email or postal mail. Deadlines to complete a waiver can be found on the Student Financial Services website. If granted a one-time waiver, a student’s federal and institutional aid may be reinstated for a period of one semester. At the end of the waiver period, the student must be meeting the minimum SAP requirements. If the student is not meeting the minimum standards, they are ineligible for federal and institutional aid until they are meeting minimum SAP requirements. All decisions made by the Satisfactory Academic Progress Committee are final and cannot be appealed.

Students denied a waiver will be ineligible for federal and institutional aid until they are once again meeting the College’s Satisfactory Academic Progress standards or until they can be approved for a waiver. 

Students who do not apply for a waiver will be ineligible for federal and institutional aid until they are once again meeting the College’s Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.