Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy

To maintain eligibility for financial aid a student must meet standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress. Merryfield Academy publishes in its catalog, its policy on measuring Satisfactory Academic Progress. Our policy outlines the Quantitative Progress which is the clock hours achieved divided by the clock hours attempted and Qualitative Progress a measure using the student’s cumulative grade point average (GPA). The minimum acceptable GPA is 2.0 which is applied to all programs and for all students

A student can complete his or her program in 150% of the allotted initial timeframe. For example, a program of 40 weeks in length, allows for 60 weeks in attempted weeks for completion. SAP standards must be the same for students not receiving financial aid. SAP must be verified for every new payment period prior to disbursing aid. If a student is not meeting the minimum requirement for satisfactory progress, the student will be placed on probation, but will continue to receive financial aid. Once a student is not meeting SAP and in placed in probationary status, the system automatically generates a form for the student to document their mitigating circumstances. The administrator will work with that student and assist with resolving any mitigating circumstances.

There are two SAP requirements. One is qualitative and one is quantitative.

Qualitative -a student must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better in order to remain in school and be considered in good academic standing at each evaluation point of 300 and 600 scheduled hours. The School Director may permit a student to retake a failed examination. A passing grade on the retaken examination would replace the original failed grade. The school maintains all student progress records. If a student’s cumulative GPA is below a 2.0 at the evaluation point of 300 scheduled clock hours, if a student is not meeting the minimum requirement for satisfactory progress, the student will be placed on probation, but will continue to receive financial aid

Quantitative – Attendance is checked at each evaluation point. A student must have at least 67% attendance at the 300-clock hour evaluation period, If a student is not meeting the minimum requirement for satisfactory progress, the student will be placed on probation, but will continue to receive financial aid.

Official Leaves of Absence, withdrawals, and other official interruptions of training are not computed in the maximum time-frame.

Examples Mitigating Circumstances:

Immediate family member (parent, spouse, sibling, child) that required extended recovery time

Death of an immediate family member

Significant trauma in student’s life that impaired the student’s emotional and/or physical health

Withdrawal due to military service

Other unexpected circumstances beyond the control of the student

Voluntary Withdrawal

Students who have voluntarily withdrawn from the school or who were terminated for reasons other than failure to maintain satisfactory academic progress may apply for re-admission to the School Director. If approved for re-admission the student must sign a new enrollment agreement and will start in the next scheduled start date and will return in the same status as prior to withdrawal or termination.

The point in time that a student returns to school will depend on the previous class training that the school credits the student.

Note: Circumstances related to the typical adjustment to college life such as working while attending school, financial issues related to paying bills and car maintenance/travel to campus is not considered as extenuating for purposes of appealing suspension of financial aid.