Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards ensure students are successfully completing CSUSM coursework and can continue to receive financial aid.

Federal law requires CSUSM to assess the academic performance of each student at the end of each term. This review determines the progress the student has made toward their degree and determines their eligibility to continue receiving financial aid. The financial aid programs affected include:

Federal Direct Stafford Loan
Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan
Federal Work Study
Pell Grant
State University Grant
Institutional and Athletic Scholarships
Middle Class Scholarship
California State Grants

How do I maintain financial aid eligibility?

The SAP requirements vary from undergraduate to graduate students. Please review the policy you fall under.

Undergraduate Policy Graduate Policy

What if I don't meet the SAP requirements?

Students who fail to meet SAP requirements will be notified by the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships that they are at risk of losing their financial aid eligibility. The student is given one term to improve their academic standing, they will receive financial aid during this warning period.
Students who fail to improve their academic standing over the course of the warning period will lose their financial aid eligibility.
The loss of aid will continue until the student has met the SAP requirements established. An email notification will be sent from the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships on the status of your eligibility.

The following three components are evaluated at the end of each academic year:

Undergraduate students must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0.
You must successfully complete a cumulative 2/3 (67%) of all credits for which you attempt:
- “Attempted” coursework includes all classes that appear on your official transcript, including those with a DR (dropped) or W (withdrew) grade notation.
- “Completed” coursework includes all classes with a passing grade (D or above). Credits that are dropped, failed, or incomplete will negatively impact your completion rate.
You may not enroll for more than 150% of the number of credits needed to complete your degree. Transfer credits and prior degree credits are included in this evaluation.

Evaluation of SAP takes place after the academic semester ends and final grades have been reported.

If you do not meet any one or more of the three requirements, you will be notified via e-mail – typically a week after grades were finalized – and the notification will include details on why you didn’t meet the requirements and your options to move forward. No financial aid can be offered or disbursed to a student that has not met a component of SAP.

If any financial aid was offered to you prior to the official SAP evaluation, the funds will not disburse until you have an approved appeal. Not meeting SAP means you are not eligible for financial aid without an approved appeal and financial aid is not retro-active if you choose not to appeal or your appeal is not approved before the semester ends.

If you do not meet SAP, you’re given the opportunity to appeal the loss of financial aid by addressing the cause and issues with your academic progress as well as working with a financial aid advisor to create an academic plan to make sure you see success in the future!

If you have justifying circumstances that led you to not meeting minimum academic requirements, we would encourage you to appeal. Examples of justifying circumstances include, but are not limited to:

Medical illness or injury
Death of a family member
Personal difficulties
Military Services
Family circumstances
Financial difficulties
Difficulties managing priorities

Required Appeal Documents

Submit the SAP Student Appeal eForm in your MyCSUSM Student Center. Once in your Student Center, select the ToDo Item for SAP Appeal Please click the link to open the appeal in our secured document software.
You should feel free to meet with an academic advisor to discuss resources and create an academic plan to guide your future academic success.

Not meeting SAP means you are not eligible for financial aid without an approved appeal and financial aid is not retro-active if you choose not to appeal or your appeal is not approved before the semester ends. We will notify you of the results of your appeal within 2-4 weeks of the receipt of BOTH student and advisor forms.

We encourage you to appeal, but if you feel there’s a barrier to the appeal process, you have the following options:

If you did not meet the GPA requirement, bring your cumulative GPA up to a 2.0.
If you did not meet the 2/3 completion rate, enroll and complete a high enough percentage of your classes to bring your cumulative rate up to 2/3 (67%).

If you continue to enroll in classes while not meeting SAP, you are responsible for paying any expenses on your own. There are a few private loan lenders that will loan to students on SAP but pay careful attention to their conditions.

More about SAP loans

II. Minimum Standards for Undergraduate Students

CSUSM's institutional requirements for minimum SAP requirements for undergraduate financial aid recipients are defined as follows:

Minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA).
The student must maintain a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA:

Priority deadlines to file an appeal are as follows:

Fall: September 15
Spring: February 15
Summer: June 15

Effective Date

This Policy is effective May 30, 2024 and will be first calculated for students at the conclusion of the Spring 2024 semester.