Academic Performance and Your Financial Aid
Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid
Basic Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP): The Bloomfield College financial aid standards of SAP apply to all federal and state student aid programs unless specific higher renewal requirements are required. Students must demonstrate a progression toward completion of their degree program within an established timeframe. Progress is measured by Qualitative and Quantitative Standards. SAP is monitored annually at the end of the first summer term. Notifications will be mailed or emailed to students by July 15th every year.
Qualitative Standards
Grade Point Average – students must achieve a cumulative GPA of 1.7 or greater as a Freshman or Sophomore, 2.0 or greater as a Junior or Senior. Coursework taken outside of Bloomfield College does not count towards your Bloomfield cumulative GPA.
| Course Units Completed | Minimum Required CGPA |
|---|---|
|
Less than or Equal to 14 |
1.7 |
|
Greater than 14 |
2.0 |
Quantitative Standards
Completion Rate (Pace) – Undergraduates must complete 66.67% of the total course units attempted. Transfer courses accepted by Bloomfield count as both course units attempted and course units completed. Incomplete and Withdrawal grades also count as attempted course units, but not completed course units.
Completed Course Units / Attempted Course Units = Completion Rate
Allowable Timeframe (Maximum Timeframe) – The maximum timeframe for receiving financial aid for an Undergraduate degree is 150% of the required course units for that degree. For most full-time undergraduate students that is 6 years or 12 semesters. For example, an undergraduate degree program that requires 32 course units means the student cannot exceed 48 course units of attempted coursework. The time frame for progress towards degree completion will automatically be reevaluated if you change your major or pursue a double major. Also, in some circumstances students with appropriate disability documentation may qualify for full-time status with reduced course loads. However, these students are still held to the same academic expectations as stated above (Qualitative and Quantitative).
Failure to meet the above criteria qualitative and quantitative standards (GPA, Completion Rate, Maximum Timeframe) will place you on financial aid suspension.
Financial Aid Suspension
Students who fail to meet satisfactory academic progress are placed on financial aid suspension. You have the option to appeal the suspension. An appeal must be based on an extenuating circumstance that seriously affected your academic performance (e.g. death of immediate family member, illness, major life event, etc.). Appeal decisions will be mailed or emailed to you within 30 days of receipt of the appeal. Submission of an appeal is not an automatic approval. Submission of an academic suspension appeal is also not related to financial aid suspension appeals, and academic decisions have no bearing on the financial aid status.
The appeal should be submitted to the Financial Aid Office. The submission requirements are detailed in the notification letter sent to you. Below is an outline of what is required. Any original documents turned in will not be returned so please be sure to retain copies for your personal records.
- Typed personal statement explaining the extenuating circumstance and the actions you are taking to ensure future academic success.
- Supporting documentation of extenuating circumstance.
If the appeal is approved, you will be placed on Financial Aid Probation.
Financial Aid Probation
If the student appeal is approved the student will be placed on Financial Aid Probation. The probationary period is one (1) payment period/term. A payment period at Bloomfield is either a Fall, Spring, or Summer term, and is the next term of enrollment regardless if the student is receiving financial aid in that term or not. At the conclusion of the payment period/term, the financial aid office will review to ensure that the student is now meeting the SAP standards in order to qualify for further Title IV Funding. If they are not making SAP standards again at that time, they will be on financial aid suspension again and be required to turn in an academic plan.
Academic Plan
An academic plan is to be developed between student and academic advisor. The student must make academic plans for each term and meet the requirements of the plan. The plan should be an effort to get the student back to the qualitative and quantitative standards from the section above. Financial aid will monitor the progress of a student by reviewing the academic plan submitted and the degree audit for the student. If the student fails to meet the conditions outlined in their academic plan, the student will not be able to submit any further appeals or academic plans and will be on permanent financial aid suspension from the college.
Academic contracts can be obtained from the Bloomfield College Financial Aid Office.
Re-establishing Financial Aid Eligibility without Appeal
If the student is allowed to attend Bloomfield academically, they may continue at their own expense to attempt to improve completion rates and/or GPA issues. Once a student is back into compliance with SAP, they may contact the financial aid office to request that the office review their information and potentially reinstate their financial aid.
Repeat Coursework
Please refer to the Course Catalog, which can be found on Bloomfield College’s web site, for academic eligibility and limits on the number of course repeats allowed. Courses repeated will be counted into the quantitative evaluation of SAP. In addition, the grade replacement accepted by academic affairs, will be used in the qualitative evaluation. You may receive financial aid for repeated coursework. If you previously passed a course and wish to retake it, you are only eligible for aid on the second attempt. If you fail the course after a passing grade you cannot repeat for a third time.
Transfer Credits
Evaluation of transfer credits is completed by the Office of Advising and Registration at the time of admission to Bloomfield College. The evaluation is based on the students’ successful completion of coursework with a grade of C or better from another institution. Credits are converted to course units, by totaling the transfer credits accepted and then divided by four (4). The transfer equivalencies are communicated to both admissions, and the student, and also entered onto the Bloomfield College official transcript.
The transfer course units are used in the quantitative measurement of SAP. The GPA of transfer credits are not included on the transcript, and therefore not included in the qualitative evaluation.
Basic Course Unit Requirements
Students are expected to earn a minimum number of course units as determined for their enrollment status (e.g. full-time, three quarter-time, half-time) to maintain satisfactory academic progress. For a full-time student, a minimum of 6 course units must be earned in the academic year. Three quarter-time students must earn a minimum of 5 course units during the academic year, and half-time students must earn a minimum of 4 course units during the academic year.
State of New Jersey Standards of Academic Progress
The above qualitative and quantitative measurements are used in determining New Jersey financial aid eligibility and renewal.