Satisfactory academic progress for US Federal Aid recipients

Overview

All students receiving US Federal Financial Aid (Stafford Subsidized, Unsubsidized and/or PLUS) at The University of Queensland must progress satisfactorily towards completion of a chosen academic program.

UQ is required by US Federal Law (34CFR 668.16) to define and enforce standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for students receiving US Federal Funding.

The guidelines have been established to encourage students to complete successfully academic programs for which US Federal Financial Aid is received and to be competitive in the US work place when they graduate.

Students are required to meet and also satisfy the US Financial Aid SAP requirements which require a higher standard of academic performance and are independent to the UQ academic progression rules.

Students receiving US Federal Financial Aid will be evaluated at the end of each semester. This evaluation process will consider the students' progress under the following categories:

  1. Academic Standing
  2. Maximum Timeframe 

Students receiving US Federal Financial Aid must also meet UQ academic progression rules.

In order to receive US Federal funds, students must meet minimum standards for the above mentioned components, and adhere to University Enrolment and Academic Progression rules and to Australian Immigration / visa legislation.

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Academic standing 

To remain eligible for the William D. Ford Direct Loan (DL) program:

  • Effective from Semester 1, 2013, students enrolled in all undergraduate and postgraduate coursework programs must achieve and maintain a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.25 out of 7.00 or greater.
  • Students enrolled in postgraduate research programs and research higher degree programs will be monitored at each milestone where students must achieve satisfactory progress as awarded by the Academic Organisational Unit (AOU).

The University of Queensland represents its grades in a scale of 1, being a fail, to 7 as the highest possible result. This website allows you to manually calculate your UQ GPA. 

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Maximum timeframe

An undergraduate student is entitled to receive aid for 150% of the allocated course time frame, providing they achieve the required GPA.

  • 3 year degree – eligibility for aid 4.5 years
  • 4 year degree – eligibility for aid 6 years
  • 5 year degree – eligibility for aid 7.5 years

Students should be advised that whilst federal eligibility may allow them to continue – individual academic progress rules and student visa restrictions may impact on the students’ ability to continue within the program.

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Remedial, non-credit courses and incompletes

Non-credit courses will not be countered in assessing full-time hours. A student is required to achieve a grade on any deferred or supplementary assessment within 6 months of completing a course.

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Notification

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) will be assessed for each student at the end of each semester, to determine your eligibility for continued awards of aid. You will be notified in writing if you are placed on Financial Aid Probation or Suspension. 

The University of Queensland can not waive the US Federal Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirement for any students receiving financial aid. However if your funding is suspended, an appeal procedure for verifiable extenuating or unforeseen circumstances is available.

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Financial Aid Probation and Suspension

The policy for Financial Aid Probation and/or Suspension is as follows:

  1. Students who fail to achieve the required cumulative GPA commensurate with the longevity of their academic program, and their program level will be placed on Financial Aid probation for 1 semester/ 1 disbursement period. 
  2. Students who have been placed on probation and subsequently meet the cumulative GPA requirements in the following semester will return to normal Financial Aid (SAP) standing. 
  3. Students who have been placed on probation and do not meet the cumulative GPA requirements in the following semester will have their next Financial Aid disbursement suspended and will be ineligible to receive aid until they achieve the required cumulative GPA. 
  4. Students may appeal their Financial Aid suspension via written appeal to the UQ Financial Aid Director. Students who appeal will be informed of the FA Director’s decision in writing, which is final.

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Appeals

Students who have been placed on Financial Aid Suspension may appeal the decision if one or more of the following circumstances apply:

  1. Death of a family member (parent, spouse, sibling, dependent child, etc); 
  2. The extended illness of the student – extended illness as defined as a documented chronic or recurring medical or emotional illness that causes the student to be absent from class at least 15 days or more; 
  3. The extended illness of a family member that places hardship on the student. Immediate family member includes parent, spouse, sibling, dependent; or 
  4. Mitigating circumstances as determined by the Financial Aid Appeals committee. 

All appeals must be received within ten (10) days of receipt of the Notice of Suspension letter. 

Students should submit an appeal to:

Financial Aid Director
The University of Queensland
UQ International
Level 2 JD Story Building (61)
Brisbane QLD 4072

Email: financialaid@uq.edu.au

Students must indicate in writing to the FA Director the reason (s) for failure to meet the necessary Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements and why financial aid should not be suspended. All documentation to support the appeal is required at time of appeal submission.

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Financial Aid and UQ's Refund Process

The following information is an addendum to The University of Queensland refund guidelines (link is not working) for students receiving US Federal Student Aid funds.

If a student who receives US Federal Financial Aid withdraws from The University of Queensland and is entitled to a refund of tuition fees paid for that period of enrolment, a determination will be made as to whether any of the refund money must be returned to the US Federal Financial Aid program.

Pro-rate refund calculations apply for any international student who is attending UQ and who withdraws within 60% of the payment period. If it is determined that refund money must be returned to the US Financial Aid program, the distribution of funds will be as follows:

  1. Federal Stafford Unsubsidized
  2. Federal Stafford Subsidized
  3. Direct PLUS

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IAS approved 11/09/2012 

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