Academic Amnesty: UVF does not practice academic amnesty.

Evaluation of Academic Progress: Matriculating student’s academic progress will be evaluated at the end of each semester. The total (cumulative) academic record at UVF is considered when academic progress is evaluated (not just terms when financial aid was received). Students who are not successfully completing courses at the minimum Pace and GPA levels as outlined are placed on financial aid warning for the following semester.

Academic Plan: Students will be required to meet with the Associate Director of Student Success Center, to receive their academic plan as established by the Financial Aid/Academic Advisory Committee and must be signed by the student’s Academic Advisor. The academic plan will outline the student’s semester GPA or pace requirements to regain satisfactory academic progress. The student is also required to meet with the Student Success Center to monitor their Academic Plan.

Repeated Courses: Classes in which the student received a grade of F and is repeating will count toward determination of enrollment status and will be eligible for financial aid. Classes in which the student received a passing grade of D- or higher will count toward determination of enrollment and will be eligible for financial aid only one time. Repeated courses will be counted each time in the Pace (completion) calculation. If a student repeats a course, only the highest of the grades received for the course will be used in the calculation of the grade point average.

Withdrawn Courses: Withdrawn courses neither earn credit nor influence grade point average; however, they do affect the Pace (completion) rate. Students may retake courses they have withdrawn from. The courses will count toward determination of enrollment status and will be eligible for financial aid.

Incomplete Courses: Incomplete courses do not earn credit but influence grade point average as an “F” in the semester they are listed as “Incomplete”. Incomplete courses either turn into an “F” grade if not completed or into a different letter grade when completed.

Pass/Fail Courses: Pass/Fail courses are not calculated in the cumulative grade point average but will be included in credits earned and will count toward determination of enrollment status.

Audit Courses: Audit courses neither earn credit nor influence grade point average. They are not eligible for financial aid.

Remedial Courses: Remedial courses will count toward determination of enrollment status, will influence grade point average, and will be eligible for financial aid.

Financial Aid Warning: Students may receive financial aid during the semester they are on warning. However, they are not permitted to enroll for more than 13 credits. If they fail to meet the necessary SAP requirements at the end of their warning semester, the student must submit an appeal to be considered for probation status. If the student does not appeal or if their appeal is denied, they will no longer be eligible to receive financial aid.

Financial Aid/Academic Advisory Committee: The members of this committee are the Vice President of Finance, Executive Director of Enrollment Management, Director of Financial Aid, Registrar, and Associate Director of Student Success Center.

Financial Aid Probation: Students may receive financial aid during the semester they are on probation. However, they are not permitted to enroll for more than 13 credits. At the end of the probation period, students must be meeting SAP. If the student is not meeting SAP but is successfully following the established academic plan, the student would continue to remain on probation and be eligible to receive financial aid. If the student has not successfully followed the established Academic Plan, the student may appeal by following the appeal process listed above to continue to receive federal aid. If approved, the student will receive a new Academic Plan.

Transfer Students: The credits that are transferred to UVF are calculated into the overall credits earned total, but are not factored into the cumulative grade point average when a student transfers to UVF. Therefore, new transfer students will come at a satisfactory academic progress level.

Returning/Suspended Students: All students returning to UVF will enter under the same SAP status they had the semester they left. If, however, the student was here long enough that grades were issued (census date), the student’s status would be reevaluated based on that semester.

Appeal Process: Students who fail to meet SAP during their warning semester must appeal to continue receiving federal aid. Appeals should be received by the Financial Aid/Academic Advisory Committee within 30 days of notification of status. Reasons for appeal might include:

• Medical, family or emotional difficulty
• Learning disability
• Other special, significant or unusual circumstances.

Students must submit all of the following three items:

1. A detailed statement of their reason for not meeting SAP requirements and what has changed that will enable them to meet SAP standards.
2. Third party documentation supporting their statement (letter from doctor, minister, counselor, instructor, hospital records, death certificate, etc.).
3. An Academic Plan signed by the student’s advisor.

Appeals should be submitted to:

Financial Aid/Academic Advisory Committee

University of Valley Forge

1401 Charlestown Road

Phoenixville, PA 19460

610-917-2069 (fax)

financialaid@valleyforge.edu

Students will receive a letter from the Financial Aid Office within 30 days from the receipt of the appeal stating the decision of the Financial Aid/Academic Advisory Committee.

Summer Semester: The summer semester is treated the same as the fall and spring semesters.

Amendments to Policy: This policy will be amended whenever applicable federal or state law or regulations are changed. Upon approval of the Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Financial Aid/Academic Advisory Committee, the Financial Aid Director is authorized to incorporate and implement changes required in this policy by federal law or regulations. The Financial Aid/Academic Advisory Committee will review other amendments to the policy, not required by changes in law or regulations, annually.