Belleville Catalog 2016-2017 > Admission, Application, and Fees and Financial Assistance > Maintaining Financial Aid Eligibility

Maintaining Financial Aid Eligibility

In order to maintain eligibility for financial aid, students must maintain satisfactory academic progress, which requires a student to earn a minimum number of credit hours over a maximum number of enrollment periods and achieve a minimum cumulative grade point average for each period of attendance. The cumulative requirements are outlined below.

Undergraduate Students

Full time Semester Undergraduate Satisfactory Academic Progress

Part-time Semester Undergraduate Satisfactory Academic Progress

Part-time undergraduate students must successfully complete at least 50 percent of their attempted credit hours and be in good academic standing at the point in the program that is consistent with the requirement for graduation outlined above. 

Full time Quarter Undergraduate Satisfactory Academic Progress

To be considered a full-time student at the undergraduate level, a quarter student must be enrolled in 9 credit hours of coursework. At the end of each term of enrollment, students must successfully complete a minimum number of credit hours toward graduation. The table below indicates the minimum number of credit hours that must be completed for a student to demonstrate satisfactory progress.

For each full-time quarter term after 8, a student must complete a minimum of 6 credit hours each term and maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 not to exceed a maximum of 20 full-time terms. Before each payment period, the student’s academic record will be checked for satisfactory academic progress. Failure to maintain minimum academic progress will result in a student being ineligible to receive Title IV financial assistance following one term of Financial Aid Warning. 

Part-time Undergraduate Quarter Satisfactory Academic Progress

Part-time undergraduate students must successfully complete at least 50 percent of their attempted credit hours and be in good academic standing at the point in the program that is consistent with the requirement for graduation outlined above. 

Graduate Students

Full time Quarter Graduate Satisfactory Academic Progress

Full time Semester Graduate Satisfactory Academic Progress

If a student fails to meet the minimum requirements outlined in the Satisfactory Academic Progress table, the student will be placed on financial aid warning for the subsequent term of enrollment. If by the end of the financial aid warning term, the student does not meet the minimum requirements for satisfactory academic progress, the student will be placed on financial aid suspension and will not be eligible for financial aid reinstatement until the minimum cumulative requirements of the policy are attained. Institutional grants awarded to students later placed on financial warning or suspension will also be reevaluated. Financial aid warning and suspension are calculated and applied independently from academic warning or academic suspension.

Notes: (1) Transfer credit hours accepted by Lindenwood University will be included in the calculation of satisfactory academic progress and will count as both “attempted” and “completed” hours.

(2) Students wishing to apply for and receive Title IV assistance must meet specific academic progress requirements in order to maintain Title IV financial aid eligibility. Failure to maintain minimum academic progress will result in a student being ineligible to receive Title IV financial assistance following one financial aid warning term (semester or quarter).

Financial aid will be reinstated only after the student achieves the minimum cumulative requirements for satisfactory academic progress outlined in the table.

Note: Withdrawal from the University has no effect on the student’s satisfactory progress upon readmission.

A student has the right to appeal the suspension of financial aid if the student feels that the requirements of the satisfactory academic progress were met and that the suspension of aid is inappropriate, or if the student believes that undue hardship (death of a relative, injury, or illness, or similar special circumstances) directly affected academic performance.

To appeal the suspension of financial aid, the student must submit a letter of appeal, along with any relevant supporting documentation to the Director of Financial Aid. If the appeal is granted, the student will be placed on financial aid probation and will be given one subsequent term of enrollment to meet the minimum satisfactory academic progress requirements. If the appeal is denied, the student will be ineligible to receive Title IV aid until the academic requirements are met.

In some cases, students can combine enrollments in two or more concurrent terms to attain the minimum enrollment for financial aid eligibility. Terms may be combined as follows:

Note: Spring Quarter and Summer Quarter may not be combined with any other term.