Students who receive financial aid from any federal, state, or institutional source must adhere to specified minimum standards of academic performance to encourage the completion of their degree requirements in a timely manner. These minimum standards are measured in both quantitative and qualitative terms, as defined below.

Quantitative Standards

Full-time students are normally expected to complete their degree requirements within four years.  The following chart defines the minimum number of credits which students must earn each year in order to remain eligible for continued financial aid disbursements:

After year one:  24 earned hours are required for need-based aid and performance scholarships and 24 earned hours are required for Merit Scholarships.

After year two:  48 earned hours are required for need-based aid and performance scholarships and 54 earned hours are required for Merit Scholarships.

After year three:  74 earned hours are required for need-based aid and performance scholarships and 84 earned hours are required for Merit Scholarships.

After year four:  100 earned hours are required for need-based aid and performance scholarships and 120 earned hours are required for Merit Scholarships.

After year five:  120 earned hours are required for need-based aid.  Merit Scholarships are not available.

Need-based aid includes all federal, state and institutional need-based assistance such as Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG, Federal  Work-Study, Federal Perkins Loan,  Federal Stafford Loan, and Federal PLUS Loan. Performance scholarships encompass institutionally-funded Scottish arts or athletic scholarships. Merit and leadership scholars are eligible for scholarship aid to assist with the tuition cost of no more than 136 attempted credits, provided the student is not in violation of the course completion requirements described above. In addition, merit scholars will be granted no more than eight semesters to take the maximum number of allowable attempted credit hours. Scholarships may be applied to the tuition cost of no more than 34 attempted credits in any given academic year.

Qualitative Requirements

In addition to the above, financial aid recipients must also maintain a minimum grade point average for continued aid eligibility. These requirements are as follows:

Freshmen (0 - 29 Hours) 1.75

Sophomores (30 - 59 Hours) 1.90

Juniors (60 - 89 Hours) 2.00

Seniors (90 + Hours) 2.00

Merit scholars must maintain the minimum grade point necessary for the category of academic scholarship received.

The College uses a 4-3-2-1-0 grading scale and bases grade point on the total number of courses completed. If a student repeats a course, however, only the highest grade recorded shall be used in computing the GPA.

Part-Time Students

Part-time students are also required to make satisfactory academic progress towards the completion of their undergraduate studies. Their progress will be evaluated under the same guidelines as full-time students, with the maximum time allowable for degree completion being based upon the equivalent ratio of part-time to full-time status. Part-time students are also subject to the same qualitative measures of satisfactory progress as full-time students. For specific details concerning financial aid eligibility on a part-time basis, please contact the Financial Aid Office.