Submitting a Successful SAP Appeal

SAP is measured after each semester at Cal Poly Pomona (Fall, Spring, Summer) and determines your eligibility to receive aid for the next semester of enrollment.

Step 1:

To view your SAP status, from the left navigation bar, select View SAP Status (under the Financial Section).

Step 2:

This will open your Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for the Receipt of Financial Aid page.

Understanding the SAP Status Screen

The SAP Status screen is broken down into specific sections, with an overview of your evaluation appearing at the top.  The overview contains information regarding when the evaluation was done, your academic program the evaluation was based on, and your overall status.

The remainder of the SAP Status screen has an Understanding Your Status section and the Details of SAP Evaluation.

Understanding Your Status:

This section provides information about your Overall SAP Status and eligibility for financial aid.

• If your status is Not Meets, information about your eligibility to submit an appeal will be displayed.
• If you submitted an appeal and it was approved, information about remaining eligible will be displayed.
• To view a complete description of the SAP standards at Cal Poly Pomona, click on the Cal Poly Pomona SAP Standards for the Receipt of Financial Aid link within this section. This will take you to the Understanding SAP Page on the Financial Aid website.

Details of SAP Evaulation

The Details of SAP Evaulation section provides your status under each of the three SAP Standards (either Meet or Fail), as well as details about how you are measuring within each specific standard.

The GPA Standard:

A qualitative measure of progress as measured by your cumulative grade point average (GPA). This field displays the minimum GPA required by Cal Poly Pomona and your current cumulative GPA.

The Pace Standard:

A quantitative measure which calculates the pace at which you are progressing toward program completion.

The required percentage is displayed as is your current percentage of units completed.  You can also see the informaion about units attempted and units completed that were included in the calculation.

You must satisfactorily complete at least 67% of the cumulative credit hours attempted through your academic career in order to be able to complete your program within the Maximum Timeframe.  For a detailed description of the types of units that are counted or are excluded for Pace, please refer to the Cal Poly Pomona Understanding SAP page.

The Maximum Time Frame Standard:

A quantitative measure to determine if you are completing the academic program within a reasonable overall time frame based on attempted units. This field displays the maximum attempted units allowed for your academic program and the maximum units you have remaining.

Please note: Remaining Units Attempted Allowed refers to the units remaining for the term in which SAP has been evaluated. Current units in progress are not deducted from the remaining unit total until the next SAP evaluation. For a detailed description of the types of units that are counted or are excluded for Maximum Time Frame, please refer to the Understanding SAP page.

The SAP - Statement of Appeal form is required for all SAP Appeals.

The Statement of Appeal form contains four separate pages and helps you identify the obstacles that prevented you from meeting SAP.  Additionally, the form provides you with the framework to work collaboratively with our office in developing a Success Plan to overcome each obstacle and any challenges that may arise.

Before submitting your SAP Statement of Appeal, be sure to review your SAP email (Aid Disqualification) to see if any other forms are required with your appeal.

If you were disqualified after having been on Financial Aid Probation or for not following a previous academic plan, you will need to work with our office to complete the SAP - Academic Plan form.

• Your Academic Plan should be specific in regards to what you should do to make academic progress, such as taking specific coursework, obtaining minimum grades in specific coursework, limitations on number of units to take per semester, changing of major, and regular meetings with advisor or tutoring.
  
  
• Your Academic Plan must cover as many semesters as necessary for you to either meet the SAP standards (GPA and Pace) or graduate from your degree program, whichever is earliest.

If you were disqualified for exceeding the Maximum Time Frame (maximum number of attempted units allowed for aid eligibility for your program), you will need to have your advisor complete the SAP - Maximum Time Frame Academic Plan form.

• Your Maximum Time Frame Academic Plan identifies the impact of any changes of major or excess transfer units have had on your Maximum Time Frame.  In addition, your advisor must provide a listing of all remaining required courses (including GE’s) that you must completed in order to complete your primary program.
  
  Any extension of financial aid eligibility is limited to only those courses that are required to complete your current degree program (eligibility cannot be extended to allow for pursuit of minors or additional objectives)

You must meet with a member of our team to review your Statement of Appeal prior to submitting the form.  The Statement of Appeal was designed as a collaborative tool for you and Cal Poly Pomona to identify obstacles that have impacted your academic progress - and to develop solutions to overcome them.  Additionally, we can work with you in identifying any resources or support that you may need in order to follow through with your Success Plan.

The member of our team will sign off on your Statement of Appeal form - you must indicate when you will check in with us to discuss your progress.

• If you were required to submit an SAP - Academic Plan with your appeal, you will need to  work with us in developing your plan and completing that form as well.

Once you have completed all required items for your SAP Appeal, you must submit the forms through the Financial Aid Student Forms Portal.

Once all items have been uploaded and you have submitted the appeal for review, your appeal will be routed to our Appeals Committee.  It may take up to two weeks for your appeal to be reviewed and a decision to be made.

The SAP Appeal Committee will work to review appeals as quickly as possible, however, appeal decisions may not be available until after classes have begun for the appeal semester. Students are responsible for payment of all Cal Poly Pomona tuition and fees regardless of the outcome of their appeal.

Students will be notified via their official CPP email account once the committee has reached a decision.

• Students with an approved SAP Appeal will be placed on Financial Aid Probation and will be granted one semester of financial aid (if otherwise eligble).  At the end of the Financial Aid Probation semester, the student must be meeting the SAP Standards or will again be subject to Financial Aid Disqualification.
  
  
• Students who have been placed on Financial Aid Probation and are following a SAP Academic Plan may continue to be eligible for aid provided they adhere to the terms of their Plan (even if not meeting the SAP Standards).
  
  
• Students who are granted an Extension of Eligibility (Maximum Time Frame appeal approved) will be considered to be Meeting SAP based on the extended time frame.  These students will remain eligible for aid as long as they adhere to their SAP - Maximum Time Frame Academic Plan.
  
  
• Students whose appeal is denied may submit a written request for a 2nd review of the appeal to the Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships.

Appeal Form:  SAP - Statement of Appeal

The SAP - Statement of Appeal form is required for all SAP Appeals.

The Statement of Appeal form contains four separate pages and is designed as a tool for you to use collaboratively with your advisor to create a Success Plan to help you return to making progress toward your degree and meeting the SAP Standards.

• Page 1 requires you to provide information about your current academic information, including details about where you are with each SAP Standard and the reason for your appeal (Failed Pace, Failed GPA, etc.).

The next three pages provide a structure for identifying obstacles that you may be facing and developing a strategy to address them.

• Page 2 outlines obstacles that you may experience during your eductational journey. You can select from the obstacles provided or add your own to reflect your uniqe situation.
• Page 3 provides a template to facilitate a conversation with our team about how to overcome each obstacle and the challenges that exist to doing so. You may need addtional pages to create targeted plans to overcome your obstacles.
• Page 4 is designed to faicilitate a conversation about what resources are available to support you.  Think about WHAT support you may need to follow through on your success plan.

Appeal Form:  SAP - Academic Plan

Cal Poly Pomona is committed to helping you succeed.  Your SAP - Academic Plan represents a contract between you and the university to assist you in achieving your academic goals and maintaining eligibility for finanial aid.

The SAP - Academic Plan is required for students who:

• Did not meet the SAP Standards at the end of their Financial Aid Probation term, or
• Did not meet the terms of a previous Academic Plan, or
• Are appealing their financial aid disqualification but it is determined that even if their appeal is approved, it will take more than one term of attendance for the student to meet the GPA or the Pace Standard
  

The SAP - Academic Plan form contains three separate pages and is designed as a tool for you to use collaboratively with us to create an Academic Plan to help you return to making progress toward your degree and meeting the SAP Standards.

• Page 1 provides an opportunity for you to work with us to develop specific targets for academic improvement. These targets should ensure that you will be able to meet the Cal Poly Pomona (CPP) SAP Standards by a specific point in time.
• Page 2 is where you and a member of our team will document your academic plan.  The minimum length for an Academic Plan is two semesters, however, your plan must cover as many semesters as necessary for you to either meet the SAP standards (GPA and Pace) or graduate from your degree program, whichever is earliest.  Your plan should reflect realistic and attainable goals.
• Page 3 provides our team to indicate any other recommendations we have made to help you return to making satisfactory progress.

Appeal Form for Undergraduate Students only: SAP - Max Time Frame Academic Plan - UGRD

Appeal Form for Credential and Grad Students: SAP - Maximum Time Frame Academic Plan

Once you have reached or exceeded the maximum allowable units attempted for your program, Cal Poly Pomona will consider extending your eligibility only for couress that are required to complete your current degree program.

This form must be completed by your Academic Advisor.

Any extension of financial aid eligibility is limited to only those courses that are required to complete your current degree program.  Eligibility cannot be extended to allow for pursuit of minors or additional objectives, or for taking classes in preparation of future degree plans.

NOTE: The Maximum Time Frame Appeal does not impact the aggregate / lifetime limits for the various financial aid programs (Pell Grant, Direct Loans, Cal Grant, State University Grant). Once the aid program limits have been reached, no further funding from those programs can be received.  Review our Understanding Aid Program Limits page for information on the limits for the various aid programs.

SAP is based on your cumulative / overall academic history - not just your most recent term of attendance.

• Review your Unofficial Transcript to identify the semesters where you failed to complete classes or received low grades. 
  • Which terms / years did you experience obstacles to your success (a grade received, or unable to successfully complete a course)? 
  • What caused those obstacles?
  • Create a timeline of events to review with your advisor.
• Review your Degree Progress Report to identify which program requirements have been satisfied and which ones still must be completed. This will help in determining how to best plan your enrollment and development of any academic plans.

Provide specifics

Be as specific as possible in your Success Plan.  SAP is a cumulative review of your academic performance; review your enrollment activity for all terms you have attended. 

• What are specific examples of changes that you will make or resources that you will use to ensure those challenges don't occur again - and to ensure your future academic success (e.g., EOP advising, counseling, tutoring, etc.).
  
  • Instead of  I plan to study more, attend all my classes, and try harder
  • State I am meeting with my professor once a week for chemistry. I have started keeping a planner to mark out assignment deadlines. I will be getting tutoring for my engineering courses. I have reduced my hours at work to 15 hours per week, and will only work on days I don't have class.
    
    
  • Instead of I will continue to do my best.
  • State I have an accountability partner that will check with me weekly. I will meet with my academic advisor the first Tuesday of every month. I am meeting with a counselor at from CAPS to talk about my parent’s divorce.

Failure to adequately explain your strategies for success may result in your appeal being denied.

Attach any relevant supporting documentation

Supporting documentation is not required, however based on your situation or circumstances, you may wish to include documentation to further support your appeal and increase the likelihood of approval.

Some examples of supporting documentation include:

• Doctor's statement on official letterhead
• Copy of hospital/urgent care/physician's bill
• Obituary, funeral notice or death certificate
• Changes to work schedule
• Notice of accomodations from Disability Resource Center

The documentation you submit will depend on your individual situation (some situations may not have documentation).