Home > Financial Aid > Satisfactory Academic Progress

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for Financial Aid

These standards are different from any academic review, which means you may be on probation for academics but not for your financial aid and vice versa.

The requirements are different for FEDERAL Aid and STATE Aid. The following charts indicate the minimum standards you are expected to achieve (effective June 2011). Be sure to contact the One-Hop Shop Student Service Center with any questions you may have.

Beginning with the 2026-2027 aid year, the following changes have been implemented for Federal SAP:

1. Warning Term - Student may now receive additional warning terms, provided they are not in consecutive terms.
2. Federal Aid Appeals - Students may request up to two federal aid appeals, as long as each appeal is based on different extenuating circumstances.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Guidelines - FEDERAL AID

(Federal Direct Loans, Federal Direct Parent Loans, Federal Work-Study, Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG Grants)

Students receiving financial aid are required to maintain minimum qualitative (cumulative GPA) and quantitative (PACE) standards in order to continue to receive federal aid assistance. This review will occur at the end of each payment period; at SUNY Canton this is the end of each semester. Use the chart below for your degree program to determine your minimum requirements. (Transfer credits will be considered to determine placement on the chart).

Minimum Aid Requirements

Status	ATTEMPTED CREDITS/REQUIRED GPA
	1-23	24-35	36-47	48-59	60-71	72+
Minimum cumulative GPA Requirement (Qualitative)	1.25	1.5	1.75	2.0	2.0	2.0
PACE - Percentage of Attempted Credits Successfully Completed (Quantitative)	50%	50%	66.7%	66.7%	66.7%	66.7%

Additionally, there is a maximum time frame for degree completion. Students are required to complete their degree within 150% of a normal timeframe of the published length of the program. The maximum time frame at SUNY Canton is measured in attempted hours. The allowable number of attempted credit hours will vary based on the enrolled academic program, see examples below:

Total attempted hours include Grades of "W", transfer "TR", incomplete "I" or pass/fail regardless of any program changes that have occurred (switching majors, etc.). Repeated courses that were previously passed count each time towards attempted hours but earned hours are counted only once. Remedial courses do count in the total attempted hours but not in total earned hours.

Failure to Meet Federal Minimum Standards

(Please be aware that these are not the same as Academic Recovery & Suspensions given out by the Dean’s Offices.)

Financial Aid Warning

A student who does not meet the required minimum standards, is not meeting SAP for Financial Aid.  Students will automatically be given a warning semester for the subsequent term of attendance. This gives the student an opportunity to meet minimum standards without losing federal aid eligibility during the warning term. If a student withdraws from the college, after the start of the warning term, they have not met academic progress requirements for the subsequent term.

A student who meets both the cumulative GPA and PACE standards at the end of the Financial Aid Warning term is again considered to be meeting SAP for financial aid as long as they have not met the maximum time frame.  This will allow for federal aid to continue in the subsequent semester of attendance.

A student who does not meet standards or exceeds the maximum time frame requirement at the conclusion of the Financial Aid Warning term is not meeting SAP for financial aid and they are ineligible for federal aid.  Eligibility can only be regained once they are meeting the minimum SAP standards or have an approved financial aid appeal and plan on file. The student is notified through their SUNY Canton email if they are not meeting satisfactory academic progress and the appeal process.

A student may have more than one Financial Aid Warning term; however, they may not be consecutive.​

Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal

If failure to meet SAP standards is due to extenuating circumstances beyond a student’s control, students may submit an appeal. All appeal requests must include three (3) things: completed appeal form, detailed personal statement by the student explaining the extenuating circumstances that caused them to not meet academic progress standards and how the situation has been resolved to the point that it should not reoccur, and appropriate supporting third-party documentation. The application, personal statement, and supporting documentation will be reviewed by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee. Approval is not guaranteed. If approved, the student will be required to work with appropriate staff to develop an academic plan to maintain eligibility. The student is then considered to be on financial aid probation.

Subsequent Appeals - A student that does not meet the requirements of their academic plan or becomes ineligible at any point after an initial appeal, is permitted to submit one additional appeal. The additional appeal must be based on new extenuating circumstances that have occurred since the first appeal was approved and are outside the student's control. There is a limit of two federal SAP appeals.

The decision made by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee is final.

Questions should be directed to the One Hop Shop.

New York State Aid

(TAP Grant, SUSTA Grant, Part-Time TAP)

Students receiving New York State financial aid are required to maintain a minimum cumulative GPA, credits accrued (earned credits) and meet pursuit of program (percentage of credits completed) requirements to continue to receive assistance. Use the chart below to determine your minimum requirements. Note: Eligibility for all EOP funds is determined separately by the EOP Office.

• If you received TAP at another college, be sure to include that in the calculation in the number of TAP payments you have received.

The charts below are based on full-time enrollment. If you are a part-time student, please reach out to Financial Aid directly. A full-time TAP award is equivalent to 6 TAP payment points per semester when a student is enrolled in 12 or more credits applicable to their program of study. Students receiving TAP for part-time enrollment may be in enrolled in 3-11 credits and TAP payment points earned are prorated based on the number of applicable credits a student is enrolled. Part-time students earn TAP payment points at a reduced rate; therefore, they may receive TAP for one or more terms before being evaluated for the next SAP level.

Certificate/Associate Degree Programs (Remedial Students*)

Before being Certified for this Payment	Credit Accrued	Cumulative GPA	Pursuit of Program
1	0	0	0
2	3	0.50	50% or 6 credits
3	9	0.75	50% or 6 credits
4	18	1.30	75% or 9 credits
5	30	2.00	75% or 9 credits
6	45	2.00	100% or 12 credits

* Remedial Students are EOP Students or any student required to take at least 2 remedial courses with the first two semesters.

Certificate/Associate Degree Programs (Non-Remedial Students)

Before being Certified for this Payment	Credit Accrued	Cumulative GPA	Pursuit of Program
1	0	0	0
2	6	1.30	50% or 6 credits
3	15	1.50	50% or 6 credits
4	27	1.80	75% or 9 credits
5	39	2.00	75% or 9 credits
6	51	2.00	100% or 12 credits

Bachelor Degree Programs (Remedial Students*)

Before being Certified for this Payment	Credit Accrued	Cumulative GPA	Pursuit of Program
1	0	0	0
2	3	1.10	50% or 6 credits
3	9	1.20	50% or 6 credits
4	21	1.30	75% or 9 credits
5	33	2.00	75% or 9 credits
6	45	2.00	100% or 12 credits
7	60	2.00	100% or 12 credits
8	75	2.00	100% or 12 credits
9**	90	2.00	100% or 12 credits
10**	105	2.00	100% or 12 credits

* Remedial Students are EOP Students or any student required to take at least 2 remedial courses with the first two semesters.

Bachelor Degree Programs (Non-Remedial Students)

Before being Certified for this Payment	Credit Accrued	Cumulative GPA	Pursuit of Program
1	0	0	0
2	6	1.50	50% or 6 credits
3	15	1.80	50% or 6 credits
4	27	1.80	75% or 9 credits
5	39	2.00	75% or 9 credits
6	51	2.00	100% or 12 credits
7	66	2.00	100% or 12 credits
8	81	2.00	100% or 12 credits
9**	96	2.00	100% or 12 credits
10**	111	2.00	100% or 12 credits

Students receiving TAP under ADA provisions may be enrolled in 3-11 credits and TAP payment points earned are prorated based on the number of applicable credits a student is enrolled.

ADA students earn TAP payment points at a reduced rate, they may receive TAP for one or more terms before being evaluated for the next SAP level.  TAP payment points are used to evaluate SAP.  A full-time TAP award is equivalent to 6 TAP payment points per semester when a student is enrolled in 12 or more credits applicable to their program of study.

Failure to Meet NYS Minimum Standards

If a student fails to meet New York state academic progress requirements for financial aid as outlined above at the end of the semester, they will lose eligibility for the next term they attend. Eligibility will be regained once they meet the above standards. Additionally, students who stop attending for more than one year may regain eligibility upon return for one semester (if over 4 prior semesters of TAP you must have a 2.0 overall GPA). Then you must meet academic progress criteria each subsequent semester.

• If a student withdraws from college after the start of the term, they have not met academic progress requirements (automatic).

Waiver Requests

If failure to meet standards is due to extenuating circumstances beyond a student’s control and there is a reasonable expectation the student will meet these requirements in the future term, they may apply for a one-time waiver. All waiver applications must include completed appeal waiver form, detailed personal statement by the student explaining the extenuating circumstance that caused you to not meet satisfactory academic progress standards and how the situation has been resolved to the point that it should not reoccur, and appropriate supporting third-party documentation. The application and documentation will be reviewed by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee. Approval is not guaranteed.

The decision made by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee is final.

Important things to keep in mind:

• Remedial courses that are not credit-bearing will not count in the total earned hours.
• Repeated courses that were previously passed do not count as additional passed or earned hours for the semester
• Repeating any course in which a passing grade has already been received (D or above) will not count toward full-time status, unless the College Catalog states a higher grade is required for the current curriculum.

Questions should be directed to the One Hop Shop.