Belmont Abbey College

The Catholic College of the South

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Financial Aid and Satisfactory Academic Progress

Academic Requirements for Receiving Financial Aid

For a student to be eligible to receive financial assistance from Title IV Federal funds (Federal Direct Student Loans), he/she is required to make satisfactory academic progress.

When is Satisfactory Academic Progress Evaluated?

Belmont Abbey College evaluates satisfactory academic progress at the end of each semester. Students will be notified via their Abbey email account if after their evaluation, they are determined to not be making satisfactory academic progress.

Criteria for Determining Satisfactory Academic Progress

A student must complete 67% of the cumulative credit hours attempted AND must have received a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA.

Additionally, a student must be making progress toward graduation as follows:

  • Degree Completion: Graduate degrees at Belmont Abbey College consist of 30-37 credit hours (varies by degree) – a maximum of three and a half years or 7 semesters to complete 30-36 hours and receive Title IV federal student aid. Progress will be measured by dividing the cumulative number of hours you have completed by the cumulative number of hours you have attempted. This calculation includes any hours you transferred in. Students must progress at a pace of 67% per semester.
  • Any part-time hours will count in the maximum time frame calculations above.
  • Hours are counted for all terms, even terms in which the student did not receive financial aid

It is important to understand how various grades and enrollment decisions impact your Satisfactory Academic Progress calculations.

Withdrawing, Dropping a Class, Incompletes, Transfer of Credits

  1. Withdrawing from a class – This could cause the student to fail to make Satisfactory Academic Progress by reducing the number of hours completed. Please see the Financial Aid Office for advice prior to withdrawing from a class.
  2. Dropping a Class – Dropping a class and not replacing it with another class could cause the student to fail to make Satisfactory Academic Progress. Please see the Financial Aid Office for advice prior to dropping a class.
  3. Incompletes – Incompletes must be completed with an assigned letter grade by the end of the following semester. Failure to do so could result in a student failing to make Satisfactory Academic Progress.
  4. Transfer of Credits – Any credits transferred into Belmont Abbey College will be used to calculate progress toward graduation (see above).
  5. Summer Courses – Summer Session hours attempted and earned will be included in the calculation of Satisfactory Academic Progress as for any other term.

Note: No credit is given for W or I grades. The grading system and calculation of GPA are explained in the Academic Catalogue.

What are the consequences of not meeting the Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements listed above?

If a student fails to meet any one of the requirements stated above at the end of a semester, he/she will be considered not making Satisfactory Academic Progress and will not be eligible for financial aid for the upcoming semester unless the student successfully appeals to the Financial Aid Review Committee and is put on Financial Aid probation.

Once a student is placed on financial aid probation, they have one semester to attain Satisfactory Academic Progress or they will forfeit all financial aid the following semester. Students are allowed one Satisfactory Academic Progress appeal.