Acceptable Academic Progress & Academic Progress for Federal Aid
In accordance with federal regulations, the Financial Aid Office must monitor each student’s progress toward the completion of a degree or certificate.  In order to receive financial aid in subsequent years, students must demonstrate satisfactory academic progress with respect to both the number of credits completed and the cumulative grade-point average earned (GPA).
The Financial Aid Office will review each student’s academic progress once annually after the completion of the spring term. 

Credit Requirement
The requirements below refer to new credits.  A new credit is defined as a credit for which a passing letter grade was not previously earned. 
• Students enrolled full-time must complete a combination of 24 new credits if enrolled full-time during both the fall and spring terms or 12 new credits if enrolled full-time for only one term.
• Students enrolled half-time (6-11 credits) must complete a combination of 12 new credits if enrolled half-time during both the fall and spring terms or 6 new credits if enrolled half-time for only one term.
• Students enrolled less than ½ time (1-5 credits) must complete all attempted credits each term.

• Course Drop/Semester Withdrawal- After the add/drop period has ended, credits for a course which a student drops or a semester from which the student withdrawals are not considered completed; therefore, students who have not earned the minimum number of required credits based upon enrollment as the result of the drop or withdrawal will not be in acceptable academic progress.
• Failing/Incomplete Grades- Credits for a course in which students receive failing (“F”) or incomplete (“G” or “I”) grades are not considered successfully completed; therefore, students who have not earned the minimum number of required credits based upon enrollment as the result of failing or receiving an incomplete grade will not be in acceptable academic progress.  Students who receive a letter grade for an incomplete grade must notify the Financial Aid Office of the grade change by October 15 in order to have their academic progress status reevaluated
• Repeated Courses- Credits for repeated courses in which a letter grade other than “F” was previously earned do not count as “new” credits earned toward the defined credit requirement; therefore, students who repeat courses and, as a result, fail to earn the minimum number of required credits will not be in acceptable academic progress. 

GPA Requirement
The minimum GPA requirements are determined by the total number of post-secondary credits that you have attempted, as well as any credits that have transferred into Pitt-Johnstown.  If, upon completion of the fall term, the student’s cumulative GPA reaches the accepted requirement, the student may contact the Financial Aid Office and request a reevaluation of academic progress.   
 
• Students who have attempted up to 24 credits must have earned a 1.5 cumulative GPA.
• Students who have attempted 24.5 or more credits must have earned at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. 

Student Aid Programs Impacted
• Federal Pell Grant
• Academic Competiveness Grant (ACG)
• National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (SMART)
• Federal Stafford Loan
• Federal Perkins Loan
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
• Federal Work-Study
• Federal PLUS Loans
• some alternative loans (check with your lender)
• most University aid

Please note that the academic progress requirements for the PHEAA State Grant are the same as the credit requirements defined above for full and half time enrollment.  PHEAA, however, does not have a GPA requirement built into their academic progress requirements. Contact the Financial Aid Office or visit www.pheaa.org for more information.

Pitt-Johnstown’s Eligibility Timeframe
Pitt-Johnstown will generally provide financial aid up to 12 full-time semesters or up to 180 attempted credits, whichever is first, provided the student is making satisfactory academic progress and is in acceptable academic progress.  This means that students are no longer eligible to receive financial aid after being enrolled for the equivalent of 6 years of full-time study or after attempting 180 credits. Please also note that the limits imposed by some financial aid programs are less than 12 full-time semesters.  

Provisional Period
Students who fail to meet the academic progress standards defined above will be given a one-time provisional period to reestablish eligibility and will continue to receive financial aid.   The provisional period is defined as the academic year directly succeeding the academic year in which the deficiency occurred.  

If you reestablish eligibility by completing summer classes, having grades posted for incomplete coursework or study abroad, or having a grade changed, you must complete the “Academic Progress Exception Form” and send a copy of your final grade transcript to the Financial Aid Office.  If coursework was completed outside the Pitt system, you must include a copy of that grade transcript as well.  The deadline for submitting this exception is October 15—no exceptions.  By reestablishing your eligibility, your provisional period will not be exhausted.
 
If you do not meet a criterion which warrants completion of the “Academic Progress Exception Form”, you do not need to complete any additional paperwork; however, you must meet the following standards during the next academic year in order to be considered in acceptable academic progress:   full-time students must earn 24 credits, half-time students must complete 12 credits, and less than half-time students must complete all the credits for which they enroll.  A cumulative 2.0 GPA must be earned in order to regain eligibility for federal aid for the following year.  Students who fail to reestablish eligibility or do not meet the academic standards in future academic years are not eligible for a second provisional period.

Reestablishing Eligibility
If you reestablish eligibility by completing summer classes, having grades posted for incomplete coursework or study abroad, or having a grade changed, you must complete the “Academic Progress Exception Form” and send a copy of your final grade transcript to the Financial Aid Office.  If coursework was completed outside the Pitt system, you must include a copy of that grade transcript as well.  The deadline for submitting this exception is October 15—no exceptions.

If the deficit was a result of not meeting the cumulative GPA requirement, and upon completion of the fall term, the student’s cumulative GPA reaches the accepted requirement, the student may contact the Financial Aid Office in writing and request a reevaluation of academic progress.  Otherwise, no adjustments will be made.  

Summer Redemption  
Students who fail to meet the academic progress standards may reestablish acceptable academic progress by enrolling in summer courses. Enrolling in classes at any Pitt campus can increase the student's GPA and total number of credits completed. If the student attends another institution, the credits completed will be counted only if the credits transfer to Pitt-Johnstown; the GPA from those credits taken outside the Pitt system is NOT transferrable. Discuss the specifics with your academic advisor before enrolling elsewhere.

Students who successfully completes summer classes which places them back in acceptable academic progress should complete a “Academic Progress Exception Form” and submit a copy of their grade transcripts to the Financial Aid Office by October 15 for reconsideration. 

Written Appeal for Academic Progress
Students who have used their one-time financial aid provisional period and have not achieved progress for a second time may appeal.  Appeals will be granted only in extreme circumstances due to events beyond the student’s control.  Examples of mitigating circumstances include a serious illness or injury to the student that required an extended recovery time or the death or serious illness of an immediate family member, but do not include poor time management or class difficulty.  If such mitigating circumstances can be documented for the specific term(s) when the deficiencies occurred, the student should submit an appeal, along with all required documentation.  Incomplete forms and requests without proper documentation will be automatically denied.  

The completed appeal form and the required documentation must be returned to the Financial Aid Office within 30 days of the date appearing on the “Progress Letter” or by October 15, whichever is earlier.  The appeal form and the required documentation will then be forwarded to the Financial Aid Appeal Committee for review.  The decision of the Appeal Committee is final and is valid for the entire academic year.  Students will receive written notification of the committee’s decision.