Financial Aid

Satisfactory Academic Progress Standard

The Satisfactory Academic Progress standard is a separate policy from the College's academic standard monitored by the College Registrar's Office. 

In order to be eligible to receive financial aid from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), a student must be making satisfactory progress toward the completion of his/her degree in a manner that ensures that the degree will be achieved in no more than 6 years of full-time attendance (transfer credits are included in the 6 year calculation).  A student who is no longer maintaining satisfactory academic progress will no longer be entitled to the receipt of aid. 

In order to be deemed making progress, a student must: 

1)  Successfully complete 60% of their attempted credits (1-24) and have an overall minimum GPA of 1.75 after their first year (freshman year) at MCLA.

2)  Successfully complete 75% of their attempted credits (25-120) and have an overall GPA of 2.0 after attempting their second year or more, regardless of enrollment status.

 The following chart provides an example of MCLA's 75% credit requirement: 

A student's academic progress will be measured at the end of the spring semester or after they complete their financial aid application, whichever date is later.  Students beginning their attendance in January will be evaluated after the spring semester (1 semester of attendance) at the same time as other students and must meet the required credits and GPA standard as listed above.

MCLA students who earn credits at other institutions cannot have those credits calculated as "credits successfully completed" unless an Off Campus Study Approval Form has been processed by the MCLA Registrar's Office. 

Credit bearing skill courses, courses withdrawn from after the drop period ('W') and repeated courses are calculated in the determination of Satisfactory Academic Progress.  A semester (or course) in which the student withdraws is counted as an attempted semester (or course) and must be used in determining Satisfactory Academic Progress.

Incomplete & Pass Continue Status- Any student whose satisfactory progress is pending due to 'Incomplete' or 'Pass Continue' coursework, will have to complete the appeal process as described below.

Part-Time Students -The same standard (as shown above) is used for calculating satisfactory progress for part-time students as for full-time students.  Part-time students must be making satisfactory progress toward completion of his/her degree in a manner that ensures the degree will be achieved in no more than 12 years of part-time attendance.

Readmit Students -For those students who had a prior progress problem while at MCLA, withdrew and are readmitted to MCLA, at least six credit hours of transfer work must be accepted in order to be in compliance with the standard for that year.

Appeals - Any student who loses their financial aid eligibility because of the Satisfactory Academic Progress Standard may appeal to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee (composed of the Financial Aid Director, the Financial Aid Assistant Director, the Registrar, and one student representative) if he/she believes that exceptional circumstances led to their failure to meet the standard.  The appeal must be in writing and must be submitted to the Financial Aid Office within two weeks of the date the student receives notification of his/her loss of financial aid eligibility.  Appeals must include a detailed description of the circumstances that contributed to their failure to make progress along with any available supporting documentation and must include a description of what changed to allow the student to make satisfactory progress.  Students whose appeals are denied and those that did not appeal will be re-evaluated at the end of the academic year for the next year.  There is a limit of 2 appeals that can be approved during an academic program.