Satisfactory Academic Progress Regulations
Medical University of Gdansk
GRADUATE PROGRAMS
The Department of Education and Student Financial Assistance Programs require institutions of higher education to develop and apply a consistent standard of academic progress in determining student eligibility.
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) means the student is proceeding in a positive manner toward fulfilling degree requirements. SAP includes two standards; qualitative and quantitative. Students must meet both standards to continue receiving financial aid.
Medical University of Gdansk adheres to this regulation by maintaining a satisfactory academic progress policy for the awarding of Title IV funds and institutional financial aid. Medical University of Gdansk awards assistance based on demonstrated financial need.
Qualitative
In order to maintain eligibility for financial aid with the qualitative standard, a student must maintain the academic standing necessary to remain at the Medical University of Gdansk. The Financial Aid Office will conduct a review at the end of each academic year to determine the students successful progress toward obtaining a degree by comparing the cumulative grade average to the hours earned. Additional review will be conducted at the end of the winter semester. A student must maintain an overall minimum 60% grade average out of 100% or grade of 3.0, to remain enrolled in the program or to continue receiving aid. Grades of 5.0, 4.5, 4.0, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, P, F, are considered qualitative measure . Grades of 5.0, 4.5, 4.0, 3.5, 3.0, P, are considered to be satisfactory grades. All other grades such as 2.0, F are considered unsatisfactory grades.
In order to meet the university’s requirement for graduation, a student must have a minimum grade average of 60% or 3.0 except for certain courses where the requirement is different. Please refer to the didactic rules of the specific course as posted on the extranet or contact the head of the department for details.
Students may be dismissed by the Dean’s Office at the end of any semester if they have not made sufficient academic progress to warrant continuance of study. Students who fail to maintain sufficient academic progress will be dismissed from the program. A student must maintain a 60% overall grade average or 3.0 regardless of their eligibility for or participation in the Title IV program. Termination of students will follow policies and procedures adopted by the Deans’ Office and reported to the Dean. Dismissal by the Dean’s Office may be appealed to the Dean and if that appeal is unsuccessful, the student may then appeal to the Rector’s Office. The dismissal decision by the Rector’s Office is final and may not be appealed by the student. Students who are re-admitted to the program may be issued a one-time waiver to continue receiving financial aid. The details are specified below.
Quantitative
The quantitative measure for all students can be summarized as the total number of ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) hours successfully completed divided by the total number of ECTS hours actually attempted. For example: If a student has attempted to take 50 ECTS hours but only successfully completed 40 out of those 50 ECTS hours, the completion rate would be at 80% (40/50 = 80%). When these measures are applied, federal regulations require that a student’s entire academic history be considered. This includes semesters during which federal aid was not received by the student as well as all applicable transfer hours.
Financial aid recipients must satisfactorily complete at least 67% of all cumulative ECTS hours attempted.
Financial aid is suspended if the quantitative measurement is not met and the student will remain ineligible unless the student follows the steps in the appeal process and the appeal is approved, or the student corrects his or her deficiency on their own.
A student is expected to complete a degree/certificate program within a prescribed time frame. For a graduate program the time frame cannot exceed specified by Deans’ Office 150 percent of the published length of the program measured in academic years or terms, ECTS hours attempted, or clock hours completed as determined by the Medical University of Gdansk. In extenuating circumstances the Dean may grant an additional year of study.
Financial aid is suspended if the maximum time frame for a program is exceeded and the student will remain ineligible unless the student follows the steps in the appeal process and the appeal is approved, or the student corrects his or her deficiency on their own.
Graduate students in the Ph.D. program are required to take an additional courses above the graduate MD level. Ph.D. students may take up to four years to complete their degree requirements.
Medical University of Gdansk evaluates Satisfactory Academic Progress at the end of the winter and summer semesters. Withdrawals and incompletes are not included in the overall grade average. Students must complete all required courses by the end of the degree. Students who achieve a passing grade may not repeat a course. Students who fail a required course must repeat the course and obtain a passing grade before completion of their degree. Students who repeat a course may receive financial assistance more than once for enrollment in the same course.
When a student repeats a course and achieves a passing grade, the original grade will not be counted in the grade average. There are no noncredit remedial courses. Scheduled awards for the next academic year for students who are not making Satisfactory Academic Progress will be canceled.
Academic Forgiveness
ECTS for courses previously taken, for which academic forgiveness is granted, count in calculating percentage completion, maximum ECTS attempted and cumulative GPA for financial aid satisfactory academic progress.
Financial aid will be disbursed in accordance with federal regulations in the first few days of each semester. Students who withdraw after that will have their eligibility to retain part of their financial aid calculated on the percentage of the semester attended. Students who attend more than 60% of the term may retain all of their aid. See the section on Return to Title IV (R2T4) below.
Transfer Students
Transfer students’ transcripts will be evaluated by the Dean. Those courses which are applicable to the degree requirement will be accepted and will be used to measure the quantitative SAP requirement.
Therefore, we will only count those transfer credits that Medical University of Gdansk accepts. Only those grades earned at Medical University of Gdansk will be used to compute the qualitative requirement.
Concurrent Degrees
Although it is unlikely to occur, students may pursue two graduate degrees concurrently. They are charged the tuition for each program and the Cost of Attendance for one degree will be adjusted to reflect the two tuition charges. Students must meet the Satisfactory Progress requirements for both programs to retain eligibility. The two sets of courses will be viewed as one program. Loans will be processed to the maximum yearly eligibility for graduate students.
Additional Degrees
Students who have completed a graduate degree program and wish to pursue another degree must apply for admission to that program as would any other applicant and meet he admission requirements for the new program. Federal loan eligibility will be limited to the aggregate program maximums under Federal Regulations.
Warning (WARN)
If during a semester a student fails to meet the requirements for either the Completed courses, or Semester GPA or Cumulative GPA that student may be placed on financial aid warning. A student on warning status, may continue to receive financial aid for one payment period only. Financial Aid warning status may be assigned without an appeal or other action by the student. A notice will be posted on each student’s account and an e-mail notice will be sent to the student, when an e-mail address is available, indicating that the Satisfactory Academic Progress status have been updated.
Financial Aid Suspension: Students who fail to meet the minimum SAP requirements for one or more of the following reasons will have their U.S. Federal aid suspended.
Appeals
If the student feels there were extenuating circumstances to explain their probationary or disqualified SAP status they have the option to appeal to the Financial Aid Manager.
A student may follow the appeal process for mitigating circumstances. An appeal may require the student to meet with a counselor, seek tutorial assistance, correct the difficulties that prevent success, and/or other suggested remediation to show possibilities of future SAP success. An approved appeal will give the student only one (1) additional semester (one payment period) of Probation and allow them to receive financial aid, pending availability at the time of approval.
The financial aid appeal letter should:Probation (PROB)
If during a semester, when the SAP status was any form of Warning, a student continuing to fail to meet the requirements for either the Completed courses or Semester GPA or Cumulative GPA, that student may be placed on Financial Aid Probation. A student on financial aid probation may receive Title IV funds for one semester. Student is required to fulfill specific term and conditions, such as described in the Rules of Study of the Medical University of Gdansk. At the end of the probationary semester the student must meet the University’s SAP or the requirements of the academic plan developed by University and the student in order to further qualify for Title IV funds. The student has a right to appeal the probationary status. See above for details. A notice will be posted on each student’s account and an e-mail notice will be sent to the student, when an e-mail address is available, indicating that the Satisfactory Academic Progress status have been updated.
Disqualification (Financial Aid Suspension) will be considered a status in which financial aid is cancelled and financial aid eligibility for the disqualified semester forward will be cancelled, until SAP has been demonstrated or an appeal approved. A notice will be posted on each student’s account and an e-mail notice will be sent to the student, when an e-mail address is available, indicating that the Satisfactory Academic Progress status have been updated.
Reinstatement
If a student is in a Probation or Disqualified status, and he/she attends a following semester at halftime or more, and the/she meets the SAP requirements he/she will be considered to be making SAP for the semester after showing success. During the semester after showing SAP success the student would be in an eligible status and could be awarded, pending availability at the time of Reinstatement. It is the student’s responsibility to notify the Financial Aid Office of a successful semester.
Appeals and Waivers of SAP general rules
Dismissal by a Deans’ Office may be appealed to the Rector’s Office after all other avenues of appeal have been exhausted. The dismissal decision by the Rector’s Office is final and may not be appealed by the student.
Students who are readmitted to their program may apply in writing to the Financial Aid Manager for a one-time waiver to continue receiving financial aid. The student should specify the exceptional circumstances that lead to the poor academic performance and state the reasons why those circumstances will not affect future academic progress. Each case will be individually reviewed and the Financial Aid Manager will use his or her professional judgment to determine if the original situation has been resolved to the point where the student can reasonably be expected to succeed and issue a one time waiver of SAP for the next term. If the student still does not make satisfactory progress, then he or she will be ineligible for future aid. The decision of the Financial Aid Manager may differ from that of the Rector’s Office in that a student may be readmitted to the program but may not be eligible for financial aid.
Financial aid academic progress is assessed according to qualitative, quantitative and maximum time frame measures that are described within this policy. All measures must be met for continued federal aid eligibility.When evaluating Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), all terms of enrollment (semesters attended) will be evaluated regardless of whether the student received financial aid during those terms or not. Students failing to meet any single measure of satisfactory academic policy may request re-consideration through an appeal process. This policy assesses all students equally regardless.