2.9 Academic Standing and Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress

Board Policies
Chapter 2 -Students

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Part 1. Introduction
Measurement of student satisfactory academic progress toward achievement of an academic award is an important activity in higher education. Measurement provides feedback to students and ensures responsible action by colleges and universities regarding effective use of state resources.

Student academic progress must also be monitored to ensure effective and responsible management of federal and state student financial aid. Students within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are often enrolled in more than one institution and they frequently transfer. Therefore, college and university financial aid satisfactory academic progress policies should be as uniform as possible, consistent with individual college and university missions.

Part 2. Definition

Academic amnesty/renewal
 Attempted credits and grades earned that are not used in the calculation of a student’s grade point average. Also known as academic renewal, academic forgiveness, and fresh start.

Part 3. Academic Standing Policy
Each college and university shall develop a policy requiring students to maintain good academic standing and describing the academic performance standards students must meet to maintain good academic standing. The policy must apply to all students, whether receiving financial aid or not. Each college and university shall ensure that their Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy and Academic Standing Policy have the same grade point average requirement and percentage of completion requirement.

Academic Amnesty/renewal (a.k.a. academic forgiveness, fresh start, etc.) may be offered under the Academic Standing Policy but is never allowable under the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy. Other aspects of the Academic Standing Policy and the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Policy including maximum timeframe, recognition of academic amnesty/renewal, and other elements, may vary, provided that the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Policy must be as strict as, or stricter than, the Academic Standing Policy.

College and university policies may provide for reinstatement to enroll in classes following academic suspension under conditions different from those required for financial aid reinstatement.

Part 4. Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
Each college and university shall develop a satisfactory academic progress policy that applies to all students receiving federal or state financial aid and conforms to the requirements of System Procedure 2.9.1.

Part 5. Annual Review and Report to the Board
The chancellor or designee shall annually review each college and university financial aid satisfactory academic progress policy and procedure to ensure continued compliance with System Procedure 2.9.1. Significant exceptions must be reported to the Board of Trustees.

Related Documents:

Policy History:

Date of Adoption: 09/20/95
Date of Implementation: 09/20/95
Date of Last Reivew: 03/17/21

Date & Subject of Amendments:

03/17/21 – Added new Part 2 definition section and definition of academic amnesty. Clarified academic amnesty in Part 3, and added “designee” in Part 5.

05/18/16 - Amended to better clarified the policy language to align with federal rules and applied the new formatting and writing styles which resulted in multiple technical edits.

Additional HISTORY

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