Keeping Your Financial Aid - Current Students

  Satisfactory Academic Progress

Undergraduate Students:

A student must make satisfactory progress toward the completion of his or her course of study in order to maintain eligibility for financial assistance in future semesters. It is important to note that scholarships may have their own standards.

A student is considered to be making satisfactory progress if he or she has maintained good academic standing as defined in the CSM Bulletin:

  • successfully completed a minimum of 12 credit hours each semester not including Field Term or Summer Session: if enrolled for fewer than 12 credit hours, he or she must pass all of the credit hours for which he or she has enrolled (at least 6 credit hours)

  • achieved a minimum grade average of 2.0 each semester

  • achieved and maintained a cumulative GPA of 2.0 by the end of his/her sophomore year and thereafter

  • completed all course work for graduation within 216 attempted credits (150% of the minimum graduation requirement of 144 credit hours); all transfer credits counted toward the completion of degree requirements will also be counted toward the maximum of 216 attempted credits.

  • If a student does not meet the first three requirements, he or she will receive a warning via CSM e-mail and will have one additional semester of eligibility in which to return to satisfactory standing. If the student has not returned to satisfactory standing after this additional semester, he or she will be suspended from further financial assistance until the satisfactory progress standards are met.

  • If a student does not meet the fourth requirement, or withdraws from all courses, or receives the grade of "F" in all courses during a semester, he/she will be immediately suspended from financial aid eligibility.

  • When mitigating circumstances occur, such as prolonged illness, a death in the immediate family, etc., the student may appeal in writing to the Office of Financial Aid. The Appeals Committee will act on the appeal in a timely manner, and if approved, financial assistance eligibility may be reinstated for one additional semester after which the student must have returned to satisfactory standing. A student may appeal the termination of eligibility only twice during his or her career at CSM.

    Graduate Students:

    A student must make satisfactory progress toward the completion of his or her course of study in order to maintain eligibility for financial assistance in future semesters.

    A student is considered to be making satisfactory progress if he or she has:

    • successfully completed a minimum of 9 credit hours each semester, not including Field Term or Summer Session: if enrolled for less than 9 credit hours, they must pass all of the credit hours for which they have enrolled;

    • maintained a minimum 3.000 cumulative GPA

    As stated in the CSM Graduate Bulletin, PRG and NC grades count toward successful completion of credits.

    Upon completion of a graduate degree program and enrollment in another degree program, students will begin a new SAP status of "pass", e.g. MS to PhD program.

    If a student does not meet the two requirements, he or she will receive a warning via CSM e-mail and will have one additional semester of eligibility in which to return to satisfactory standing. If the student has not returned to satisfactory standing after this additional semester, he or she will be ineligible for further financial assistance until the satisfactory progress standards are met. In addition , if students withdraw from all courses during a semester, or receive grades of all F or PRU, their eligibility for further assistance will be immediately terminated.

    When mitigating circumstances occur, such as prolonged illness, a death in the immediate family, etc., the student may appeal in writing to the Office of Financial Aid. The Appeals Committee will act on the appeal in a timely manner, and if approved, financial assistance eligibility may be reinstated for one final probationary semester after which the student must have returned to satisfactory standing. If students who have previously been placed on termination subsequently fail to meet either of the two standards, future eligibility will be immediately terminated.  The student may also appeal this termination.  A student may appeal the termination of eligibility only twice during his or her career at CSM.

    Scholarships

    Academic Requirements

    To maintain a CSM scholarship, most require passing a minimum of 24 credits each year with a minimum 2.50 cumulative gpa, but some, such as named (donated) scholarships, athletic and ROTC may have other requirements.

    If a student fails to meet the academic progress requirements for two consecutive semesters, scholarship eligibility will be canceled and may not be regained. However, you may appeal this decision to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee. Approval will be based on the demonstration of unusual or mitigating circumstances, such as personal illness, serious family difficulties, etc. which affected your academic performance. Students are permitted only one (1) appeal during their time at CSM to regain a scholarship.

    Though outside scholarship requirements may differ from those of CSM, donors will be notified when a student fails to maintain the federal financial aid guidelines of 12 credits per semester with a minimum 2.00 term grade point average.