Satisfactory Academic Progress and Financial Aid

To be eligible for federal, state or institutional aid students must make satisfactory progress, as defined by federal regulations, toward completion of their program of study. Portland State University monitors the student's course completion rate, which is the percentage of credits taken at PSU, or PSU plus transfer courses which have passing grades, according to the student level; grade point average for PSU courses, or PSU plus transfer courses, according to student level; and maximum time frame for PSU courses plus accepted transfer credits. The maximum time frame for undergraduate students is 270 attempted credits. The maximum time frame for post-baccalaureate students is 90 attempted credits. The maximum time frame for graduate students is established according to the student's degree or program.

Repeated coursework: students may only receive aid once for repeating a previously passed class; students may receive aid for multiple repeats of failed classes as long as they maintain compliance with satisfactory academic progress requirements.

Multiple withdraws: financial aid recipients who withdraw from all their classes, or who receive all non-passing grades twice within the school year, will have their financial aid eligibility suspended.

Graduate students must take courses at the appropriate level; at least 67% of all credits enrolled in during each academic year must be graduate level courses.

Students who do not meet all requirements of the satisfactory academic progress policy during a term will be placed on Financial Aid Warning; students who do not meet all requirements of the satisfactory academic progress policy during a second term will have their eligibility for financial aid suspended. Students whose eligibility is suspended may submit a written appeal. Students who appeal successfully will be placed on Financial Aid Probation and may need to submit and follow an academic plan.

The full policy is online at www.pdx.edu/finaid/eligibility. Printed copies can be found at the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships.