All Financial Aid recipients are provided a link to the satisfactory academic progress guidelines on their TigerWeb self-service account. Standards are published on this website.

Federal regulations require all colleges and universities monitor the academic progress of financial aid recipients to ensure they are advancing at an acceptable pace while maintaining an acceptable grade point average. Specifically, students must demonstrate Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) toward the completion of their degrees in order to continue receiving federal and state financial aid funds. Chattanooga State's Financial Aid Office determines eligibility by measuring academic performance against three SAP standards.

The Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy is comprised of three standards:

1. Cumulative GPA - A student must earn the minimum cumulative combined GPA below for the total number of semester credit hours attempted:

   Cumulative GPA

   Attempted Hours	Required Quality GPA
   0.0 - 12.0	1.00
   12.1 - 24.0	1.25
   24.1 - 36.0	1.50
   36.1 - 48.0	1.75
   48.1 - Above	2.00

   (Total hours attempted include collegiate hours)
2. Completion Rate - Completion Rate - Effective Fall 2014, students MUST maintain a cumulative passing rate of 67%.  Students will no longer be measured on the passing rate of an individual semester.  Cumulative includes ALL courses attempted at Chattanooga State CC regardless of the year attempted.  The following grades are not considered passing: F (failing); W (withdrawal from course); I (incomplete status); and AU (audited course for noncredit).  Refer to examples below:
   • Student A: Student attempted 12 hours in the fall semester. At the end of the fall semester the student earned B in all 12 hours, however, the student’s cumulative passing rate is 50% because the student attended 3 years earlier and failed 6 hours and withdrew from 6 hours. Even though the student was successful in the one semester, the student’s total success rate was 12 out of 24 hours.
   • Student B: A first-time student attempted 9 hours in the fall semester earning a C in one class (3 hrs) and withdrawing from the other 2 classes (6 hours). At the end of fall semester the student is in warning status for failing to earn a 67% cumulative passing rate (3 / 9 = 33%). The student attends in the spring earning a B in 2 classes (6 hours). At the end of spring semester the student is suspended because his/her cumulative passing rate remains below 67% (9 hours passed / 15 total attempted = 60%).
3. Time Limitation - students must complete their education within a maximum timeframe. Students may receive financial aid for attempted credit hours; however, the number of attempted credit hours cannot exceed 150% of the credit hours necessary to complete the program. For example, most associate degree programs require students to complete 60 credit hours of study; therefore, students can use financial aid funds to pay tuition and fees for 90 attempted credit hours. Calculations for maximum timeframe will incorporate credit hours transferred from another institution but will not include developmental classes.

Appeals for students exceeding 180 attempted hours for a General Transfer degree will not be considered.