Once you have received your funding, you must continue to progress in your studies in order to maintain those awards. It’s something that is referred to as Satisfactory Academic Progress. If you do not make Satisfactory Academic Progress toward a degree, you could lose your federal financial aid.

The measures used to determine Satisfactory Academic Progress are mandated by federal law, and your progress is evaluated annually to make sure you qualify. If you don’t meet the standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress, you’ll be given a year of financial aid probation and advised how to improve your progress in order to maintain your federal aid.

Bear in mind that some HMC scholarships carry their own requirements, such as full-time attendance (12 units per semester), and may be available for only eight semesters.  Thus, even if you maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress according to federal guidelines, you may not remain eligible for HMC scholarships since some of these awards are determined by a different set of standards. Consult the requirements for each HMC award regarding renewal requirements.

Satisfactory Academic Progress for federal aid is measured by:

Qualitative Progress (GPA)
Quantitative Progress (timely completion of course credits)
Other Considerations

Qualitative Progress
Qualitative progress refers to the quality of the work you’re doing in your classes, as indicated by your cumulative grade point average (GPA). According to federal regulation, by the end of your second year (measured in time, not grade level), your cumulative grade point average must be consistent with HMC’s requirements for graduation. In most cases, this is a 2.00 GPA.

At HMC, qualitative progress is tracked by the Committee on Scholarly Standing, which evaluates transcripts each semester to ensure students are progressing toward graduation. This same assessment is used by the Office of Financial Aid in our yearly evaluation of eligibility for federal aid.

If the Committee on Scholarly Standing places a student on probation at the end of an academic year, that student will also be placed on a one-year financial aid probation. During probation, students continue to receive financial aid. Students who fail to meet progress requirements during probation will no longer be eligible for federal financial aid.

Quantitative Progress
To remain eligible for federal aid, you must also take an appropriate number of courses to ensure a timely graduation. At HMC, we expect that it will take four years (eight semesters) to complete the degree requirements.  Our entire academic plan and our support services for students are centered on this expectation. In a few cases, it may take longer—if, for example, you decide to take a leave of absence from the college. In almost all cases, you’d need to petition in order to take a 9th or 10th semester at HMC. Five academic years (or 10 semesters) is the maximum amount of time for completing the undergraduate program.

To graduate in 10 semesters with 128 units, you must complete an average of 25.6 units per academic year, or 12.8 units per semester.

Students who do not meet the 25.6 units per academic year requirement will be placed on a one-year financial aid probation, during which they will continue to receive financial aid. The student must complete an average of 25.6 units per year at the end of the probationary year, or lose ineligibility for further financial assistance.

If you withdraw from all courses in a semester (so that no GPA can be calculated), the Office of Financial Aid is obligated under Federal law to consider the credits attempted when considering quantitative progress towards a degree.

Other Considerations
HMC also takes into consideration the following when determining satisfactory academic progress:

• When we monitor your quantitative progress, we calculate the average number of units completed. If you withdraw from a course (but remain enrolled in some HMC courses), we will not include that withdrawn course in the calculation.
• Credit for incomplete courses will not be included until the course has been completed and the Registrar has posted a grade.
• Credit for a repeated course will be included if the course is required to graduate.
• Summer school courses from outside of the Claremont Colleges and transfer courses to HMC will be included in satisfactory academic progress only with advance written permission from the chair of the HMC academic department in question. Permission must be requested prior to registration. Upon completion of the summer session, you should request the college to send a transcript to the HMC Registrar. The grade obtained in a summer school course is not counted in determining your cumulative grade point average at HMC.
• Once you’ve earned the number of credits required to graduate and met all other degree requirements, you may not continue to receive financial aid to continue studies at HMC. However, aid may still be offered if you have enough credits to graduate but have not yet met all degree requirements. If you change your academic major, you must still complete all degree requirements for the new major in the five year period of study at HMC.
• If you lose financial aid eligibility, you must meet the course unit requirements for the grade level prior to reinstatement of financial aid eligibility.
• If you lose financial aid eligibility, you may appeal for reinstatement of your aid eligibility. In such cases, it is important to document any extenuating circumstances such as illness, injury, death in the family, or other reasons.  The Office of Financial Aid will review appeals on an individual basis and reinstatement of aid eligibility is applicable to the semester in which the appeal is approved. Eligibility will not be retroactive. Therefore, make sure to include your Academic Plan in the appeal letter and forward to the Office of Financial Aid.

Last Updated: October 2009