Students seeking financial assistance for educational purposes must meet and maintain the satisfactory academic progress (SAP) standards as established by federal regulations and institutional policy for eligibility at Lamar Institute of Technology. Such progress will be measured at the beginning of each semester for which a student is applying for assistance. Evaluation will be based on cumulative academic performance to determine if a student is eligible to receive Title IV Student Financial Aid.

To comply with the satisfactory academic progress standards and remain academically eligible for assistance, a student must be meeting established criteria:

• Be a regularly enrolled student in an approved degree or certificate program. Some certificate programs may not be approved for Title IV Funding. Students uncertain about declared majors should contact the LIT Student Financial Aid Office.
• Enroll in courses that are required for their declared degree or certificate program. Financial aid will not be approved for courses taken outside the approved program of study.
• A student may receive financial assistance for courses that must be retaken as a result of receiving less than a passing grade. A student may not receive financial assistance for coursework previously completed successfully, but repeated at the student’s discretion for the purpose increasing his/her grade point average.
• Transfer credits that are accepted toward a student’s declared program of study will be counted toward both attempted and completed hours.
 

Quantitative Standards:

• GRADE POINT AVERAGE – represents the average of all grades for a particular semester(s) and when calculated cumulatively for all grades from all semesters based on coursed completed up to a given academic term. GPA is calculated using the following formula:

GPA = total number of grade points earned divided by the
total number of semester credit hours attempted

Students with a calculated GPA of less than 2.0 are not considered to be maintaining satisfactory progress and are no longer eligible for financial assistance.

Failure to achieve satisfactory academic progress based on any of the previously defined criteria will result in Financial Aid Suspension and a loss of eligibility for all types of assistance.
 

Qualitative Standards:

• PACE – the rate at which a student is progressing toward declared program of study. This has formerly been referred to as “completion rate” and is calculated using the following formula:

PACE = total number of hours successfully completed divided by the total number of hours attempted over career

Students with a calculated PACE of less than 67% are considered to be “off-pace” with regard to completing the declared program of study and are no longer eligible for financial assistance.

NOTE: You DO NOT earn credit hours for the following grades: U, Q, F, NG, or I.

• MAXIMUM TIME-FRAME – for an undergraduate program, cannot exceed 150% of the published length of the declared program of study (degree or certificate). To determine if a student has exceeded the maximum time-frame allowed for receiving financial aid for the declared program of study the following formula is used:

MAX = Credit Hours Required for declared Program X 1.50

Attempted Hours must be ≤ MAX for declared program

A student’s academic history will be considered when determining maximum time-frame for eligibility for financial assistance. SAP Status “W” (warning) is assigned for students whose attempted hours are approaching 130% of declared program. Students reaching the 150% Maximum Time-frame are no longer eligible for financial assistance.