Academic Standing

This is an archived copy of the 2016-17 Catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.norwich.edu/.

Minimum Grade Standards

Students enrolled in master’s degrees programs must maintain a grade point average of 3.0 and may not earn more than six (6) credits worth of C/C+ grades to remain in good standing.

Good Standing

A student in good standing is allowed to register without qualification. To maintain good standing and remain enrolled in and graduate from a master’s program, a graduate student must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0. If a student’s GPA falls below 3.0, the student will have one full semester to restore his or her GPA to a 3.0 or greater. In cases where the GPA falls below 3.0 in the final semester a student may need to take additional seminars or repeat seminars to attain a 3.0 GPA required for graduation.

Additionally, students may receive no more than six credits worth of C grades (C or C+) during enrollment in the program. If, at the conclusion of any seminar, the student has accumulated more than six (6) credits worth of C grades, the student will be dismissed from the program. Students in Prerequisite Seminars must achieve a grade of B or better in each prerequisite seminar to advance to the first seminar of the masters’ program.

Academic Warning

Students enrolled in master’s degrees in the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies must maintain an overall grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 and may not earn more than six credits worth of C grades (C or C+). Students earning a grade of C or C+ in any seminar, regardless of the credit value of that seminar, and whose overall GPA is 3.0 or better will be placed on Academic Warning as a warning that an additional grade of C or C+ will necessitate dismissal. Once placed on Academic Warning, students will maintain this status, if no other C or C+ grades are earned, until graduation and will receive an Academic Warning letter at the end of each grading period.

Placement on Academic Probation

Students who fail to earn the cumulative grade point average for good standing at the end of a semester are enrolled for the following semester on academic probation. The student will have one full semester to restore his or her GPA to a 3.0 or greater. In cases where the GPA falls below 3.0 in the final semester a student may need to take additional seminars or repeat seminars to attain a 3.0 GPA required for graduation.

Dismissal for Academic Deficiency

Students who fail to achieve the cumulative grade point average for good standing within one full semester of being placed on probation, or who have accumulated more than six credits worth of C/C+ grades shall be dismissed from the university.

Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy

Federal regulations require schools to have a Satisfactory Academic Progress policy to enforce the statutory requirement that a student must be making satisfactory academic progress toward degree completion to be eligible for Federal Student Aid Program funding.   The same measurements are used to determine eligibility for institutional grants and funds received through the student’s state, although specific rules may vary by state.

The policies described in this section are effective starting with the 2016-17 award year.   For CGCS online graduate students, this begins with the June 2016 Semester.  For all undergraduate and on-campus graduate students, this begins with the Fall/September 2016 Semester.

The policy is based on cumulative outcomes and includes any periods of enrollment during which the student did not receive aid from the Federal Student Aid Programs. Students applying for aid or receiving aid are subject to the regulations.   The Norwich University Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress policy includes the following:

  • Qualitative measure – the cumulative grade point average (GPA)
  • Quantitative measure of progress – the percentage of degree required attempted credit hours which are completed and a maximum time frame in which a student is expected to complete their program.

The Satisfactory Academic Progress policy at Norwich University has been developed to ensure that the financial aid program at Norwich University adheres to the requirements set forth by federal aid regulations. An assessment of the student academic progress will be made after each term of enrollment.

Qualitative Measures – Required GPA:

Course withdrawals, incomplete courses, and pass/fail graded courses are not counted in the student’s grade point average and are not counted in the qualitative measure of the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy.  Incomplete grades will be counted as failed grades for financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress review purposes after 30 days from the end of each term.  

Undergraduate programs require the following grade point average to be considered in good standing, based on progression of credits earned by the student.

Number of Credits Earned        Minimum Cumulative GPA
0-17                                           1.6
18-34                                         1.8
35+                                            2.0

Graduate program students must achieve and maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA requirement to remain eligible for Federal Student Aid Program funding.    Students may be expected to achieve and maintain a higher cumulative GPA (3.0 in most cases) to be considered eligible for continued enrollment in their academic program. Students who become ineligible for enrollment as a degree seeking student also become ineligible for financial aid funding regardless of cumulative GPA.

Quantitative Measures:

The quantitative measurement of Satisfactory Progress is monitored according to the following guidelines:

  • Maximum Time-frame: Students are eligible for Federal Student Aid Program funding for maximum time-frame lasting 150% of the normal time needed to complete their program of study.   This measurement is based on comparison of the number of credit hours completed in relation to number of credits attempted toward degree requirements.  The measurements are not based on calendar dates.
    • General examples:  Undergraduate students may receive aid for up to six years of enrollment toward attainment of a four year degree and graduate students may receive aid for up to three years toward attainment of a two year degree.
    • Specific example:   Undergraduate students in programs requiring 120 credits to graduate are eligible for aid for up to 180 attempted credits.
  • Pace of Progress:  Students must complete at least 67% of their attempt courses throughout enrollment to sustain a proper "pace of progress" toward degree attainment. This measurement is based on review of both cumulative and term-by-term attempted credit information.  This measurement indicates whether or not the student's academic outcome trajectory makes it possible for them to complete their degree requirements prior to attempting 150% of the total credits needed for program degree requirements (also see Maximum Time-frame).
    • Undergraduate students must maintain the 67% “Pace of Progress” throughout enrollment.
    • Graduate students must meet the 67% Pace of Progress after attempting 18 credit hours and they must maintain the 67% Pace of Progress throughout the remainder of enrollment beyond 18 attempted credit hours.   
    • Students with Pace of Progress trajectories indicating it is no longer mathematically possible to complete their degree within the 150% maximum time-frame requirement become ineligible financial aid regardless of GPA.
      • Example: For a program requiring 124 credits, the student must complete their program by the time they have attempted 186 credits. If a student in this program has completed only 80 credits of the first 150 attempted, they would no longer be eligible for aid because they have 44 required credits remaining (124 minus 80) but only 36 remaining credits of financial aid eligibility.
  • Course withdrawals and incomplete courses are counted in the credit hours attempted, but not credits hours earned.
  • Transfer-in credit hours are included in the review of quantitative SAP measurements.
  • An Attempted Credit is any credit hour that remains on the student's registration transcript at the end of the add/drop time frame for a term.
  • A Completed Credit indicates that the student attended the full term and received a grade other than Incomplete. A Completed Credit can be either a pass/fail grade or an A through F letter grade.
  • Pass/Fail graded courses count as attempted and/or completed credits for quantitative measurement purposes.  

When Students Fall Below Standards:

Students not meeting the qualitative or quantitative measurements receive information describing how their academic status impacts their eligibility for funding. Here are key terms related to our academic progress policy and procedures.

Good Standing

To be considered in Good Standing for financial aid SAP, students must be meeting both the qualitative and the quantitative SAP requirements for their academic program.   Students who withdraw from all classes during a term of enrolment are not considered to be in Good Standing.

Warning

After the first semester below standard on either qualitative or quantitative measurements, the student receives a “Warning Letter”. The purpose of this letter is to remind the student of Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements and to provide information about the campus-based resources available to help them succeed in the classroom. The student is not required to submit any documentation at this stage. Funds for the next term are disbursed at the standard times.

Students in Good Standing at the end of prior term who withdraw from all classes during a current term of enrolment are placed into SAP Warning status regardless of GPA or Pace of Progress considerations.

Suspension

A student in Warning status that does not return to Good Standing based on both the cumulative qualitative and quantitative measurements after enrollment in a subsequent term is placed into financial aid SAP Suspension status.  This may be due to being below either the cumulative or quantitative measurement at that time.   Students in Warning status who withdraw from all courses during their next term of enrollment are placed into SAP Suspension status.

Financial Aid SAP Suspensions are effective immediately. For example, if a student is suspended based on the review at the end of Fall Semester, their financial aid for the next term of enrollment (typically Spring) will not be disbursed.

Students placed into Suspension status are notified of the reason for their suspension.  The Suspension letter includes information related to academic progress expectations and describes the process for filing a Petition for Reinstatement if unusual circumstances have impacted the student’s ability to succeed in class.

Students in suspended financial aid status are considered to be “self pay” students for any period of enrollment they attend prior to receiving approval of their Petition for Reinstatement.

Petition for Reinstatement

Students placed into Financial Aid SAP Suspension are encouraged to file a Petition for Reinstatement as soon as possible after being notified of their status.

The Petition form directs the student to provide a signed statement indicating the reasons why they feel they are not meeting Good Standing expectations and what they have done to eliminate the barriers to success. The student must meet with their Academic Adviser or the Academic Achievement Center to discuss their academic support needs: an “adviser signature” is required on the form. The student must also obtain and provide a copy of an updated academic plan which describes the remaining required courses and other academic requirements for their degree.

If the student Petition is approved, the approval is effective immediately. This means that the student will be eligible for funding for the term during which the Petition is approved or for their next term of enrollment if they do not attend the very next term.

Not all Petitions are approved and our policy is to approve no more than two Petitions for any student throughout their enrollment. Students may not receive approvals for multiple Petitions which are based on the same rationale.

Probationary Period

Students with approved Petitions receive financial aid on a probationary basis.   They are provided individual outcome requirements that must be met each term in order to remain eligible for aid until returning fully to Good Standing. Students who do not meet the Probationary Period expectations are re-suspended and may submit an additional Petition for Reinstatement. An example of an individual probationary expectation is that a student may be expected to complete all of their attempted credits and receive at least a 2.0 undergraduate, or 3.0 graduate, GPA for each semester of enrollment until the student returns to “Good Standing” levels.

Regaining Eligibility

In addition to Petition for Reinstatement reviews, students may request reinstatement of eligibility when they return fully to Good Standing based on attendance as a self-pay student at Norwich University.

Students demonstrating ability to meet Good Standing expectations through completion of courses taken at another school which are transferable to their Norwich University degree may also request a reinstatement review, even if the student has had two prior Petition approvals as allowed by the SAP policy. These students are also encouraged to discuss their remaining eligibility with Student Financial Planning as it relates to maximum eligibility (150% of program) concepts.