Academic Progress

Federal, state and university financial aid programs were developed to help qualified students achieve a college degree. To insure that these funds are used as efficiently as possible, policies have been established that require a financial aid recipient to progress toward a degree within a reasonable period of time. A student's progress is monitored for all periods of enrollment regardless of whether or not he or she is receiving financial aid for that same period. Some university aid programs require higher standards for renewal. Satisfactory academic progress is measured by credit hours earned and cumulative grade point average as explained below.

Academic Progress Policies

The University of Indianapolis will monitor all students at the end of each term of enrollment (including summer) for course completion, grade point average (GPA) and maximum time frame.

Credit Hours Earned

Hours of incomplete, failing, audit, unsatisfactory and withdrawal do not constitute successful course completion and do not count toward the course completion requirement. Successful completion of repeat courses and non-credit remedial courses will be counted toward the earned hours requirements. Please note that students who have repeated a course twice, with a passing grade each time, can no longer receive aid for that class if it is repeated for a third time. Grades of passing, satisfactory, deferred and credits earned for lecture/performance series constitute successful completion. Transfer hours accepted from another institution that are applicable toward the student’s current degree program at the University of Indianapolis are not considered in computing the cumulative grade point average but are included as hours attempted and earned in determining course completion percentage and maximum timeframe.

Course Completion Policy

For course completion, at the end of each term that a student is enrolled, the student's cumulative completed hours divided by cumulative attempted hours must equal at least 67%. (The University will round up from 66.5%.)

GPA policy

For GPA, a student must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher by the end of his or her fourth term of enrollment. UIndy uses a sliding scale up to the 4th term.

For graduate students: Cumulative 3.0 at end of each term

Incomplete, failing, audit, unsatisfactory withdrawals, and deferred hours do not calculate a GPA; therefore, will not be included in the GPA calculation.  If a grade is later entered or changed, then GPA can be reevaluated.  If improved to required GPA, then that could take a student off of warning or denial status.  When a course is repeated and a student gets a better grade, the Registrar's Office will recalculate GPA based on the higher grade.  Students will need to self-report to the Office of Financial Aid if a change is made so that we can reevaluate.

Note: Students who receive a merit scholarship may need to maintain a higher cumulative grade point average to keep their merit aid. Students are notified of the required cumulative grade point average at the time of receiving the award.

Maximum Time Frame for Degree Completion

Regulations also govern the maximum length of time a student may receive financial aid. Students working toward a bachelor's degree may not receive aid beyond 150% of the length of their program of study. For a student pursuing a bachelor's degree, this time frame is defined to be 180 total credit hours attempted (150% of 120 hours to graduate). For a student pursuing an associate's degree, this time frame is defined to be 90 total credit hours attempted (150% of 60 hours to graduate).  Withdrawals are counted in attempted hours. 

Some programs, like state grants and University merit aid, may restrict the student's eligibility for aid to less than the above time frame.  Transfer hours count toward the number of hours but could be evaluated on an individual basis if the student is changing majors or working on a new degree upon enrolling at UIndy.

If a student changes their major, the Office of Financial Aid can change a student's maximum time frame based on their new major.  We can decide to start over with a new 150% or we can check to see how many hours are needed for the new major and use 150% of those hours.  The same would be true with enrolling in a second degree program.  A student who has completed all of the coursework for his or her degree but has not yet received the degree cannot receive further financial aid from that program. 

The maximum time frame for graduate students is 150% of the length of their specific program.

Schedule for Monitoring Progress

Course completion

Each financial aid recipient's progress relative to credit hours earned will be monitored at the end of each term, including summer.

Grade point average

Federal regulations mandate that each student's cumulative grade point average be monitored at the end of each term. See our GPA scale above.

Warning Period and Denial of Financial Aid

Students who do not meet the minimum standards for satisfactory progress will be notified in writing and will be granted a financial aid warning period for the subsequent term of enrollment. Students will be eligible to receive financial aid during this warning period. The student's progress will be reviewed again at the end of the warning term. If the student fails to meet the course completion and/or cumulative grade point average requirements at the conclusion of his/her warning term, the student will be denied financial assistance (including student and parent loans) for subsequent enrollment periods.

Reinstatement

If a student is denied aid due to lack of progress, or if an appeal is denied, courses must be taken at the student's expense until the cumulative grade point average meets the requirement and/or the student has earned sufficient credit hours to meet the 67% completion rate. The deficiency also may be made up by credits earned from another regionally accredited college or university, or tests such as CLEP and DANTES, as long as the credits are acceptable by the University of Indianapolis and earned after the denial of aid occurred (refer to the UIndy catalog under Academic Information & Policies). Once the student's cumulative earned hours are at least 67% of cumulative attempted hours, aid can be reinstated. For GPA, the classes would need to be taken at UIndy as a student's GPA from another university will not transfer in.

Appeals

If a student was denied aid and experienced unusual circumstances affecting his or her academic progress negatively, an appeal may be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid. 

The appeal process is mainly reserved or situations largely outside the student's control, such as family catastrophe, illness, divorce, etc.  The appeal must outline the student's unusual circumstances and plans for restitution.

Supporting documentation may be required, such as physician's statement, clergy or family member's statement, academic advisor statement, etc.  It is the student's responsibility to ensure that the appeals form and supporting documentation are received by the required deadline.

Appeals are reviewed by the Appeals Committee of the Financial Aid Policy Committee.  All documentation is reviewed and the appeals committee may reinstate aid, deny aid, or place additional conditions on the student's academic performance for continued eligibility.  The decision of the committee is final. 

For all approved appeals, an academic plan is required.  A probationary period is not an option.  The student's progress will be monitored at the end of each term of the plan to make sure the requirements of the plan are being met.  If not, the student's aid eligibility would be revoked.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form

Class Attendance Policies

Class attendance is an important part of the academic process. Students are expected to attend classes regularly and to manage their schedules in order to meet the demands of their courses and other activities. In addition to jeopardizing course grades, failure to attend classes may adversely affect a student's financial aid, eligibility for athletic competition, or other cocurricular programs.

Faculty may establish, publish, and enforce specific attendance policies for their classes. Students should pay careful attention to such stated policies, as they may vary from course to course. Faculty may request reasonable documentation or verification of claims regarding absences. Students may be withdrawn from class administratively for failing to meet such course requirements.

Sometimes students will miss classes as a result of their involvement in University-sanctioned activities such as athletic or speech contests, theatrical or musical performances, or academic field trips. Students engaged in such activities are responsible for alerting faculty in advance of their absences. Students are likewise responsible for arranging makeup work, assignments, and tests to be completed prior to the absence or immediately upon return to class. Faculty are expected to make reasonable accommodations for makeup work for students engaged in such activities.

Students should report absences that result from illness directly to the professor and arrange to make up work, tests, and other assignments.

The Student Health Center does not issue absence notes or verify the extent of an illness or the appropriateness of a student missing classes. The Center can provide verification of an office visit or other appointment, however.

Funerals, jury duty, and military duty, while not University-sponsored activities, are nonetheless reasonable absences, and students should be afforded the same consideration given to those involved in sanctioned activities.