Office of Student Aid : Parents of Students : Parents Guide to SAP

Parents Guide to Satisfactory Academic Progress and Students Rights and Responsibilities

In a nutshell, satisfactory academic progress for student financial aid purposes dictates that students must successfully complete a specific number of credits within a given period of time. Although the University's confidentiality policies do not allow us to release specific academic-related information to you without the written consent of your student, we encourage you to understand the student aid academic progress standard in general terms and be aware of your student's rights and responsibilities as a recipient of federal student aid.

All universities that award federal student aid are required by law to have academic progress standards in place for all federal student aid recipients. The Penn State Federal Student Assistance (Aid) Academic Progress Standard encourages students to work toward an educational objective while completing their program of study within Penn State's recommended time-frame. Students who do not meet the student aid academic progress standard are not eligible for most forms of student aid. It is very important to note that the Penn State Federal Student Aid Academic Progress Standard is not the same as the academic standards set in place by academic departments at Penn State.

Our office strives to make every student aware of our student aid academic progress standard. Comprehensive information is available to students on our Web site and in our print publications.