Undergraduate students seeking a 1st Bachelor’s Degree who are not in compliance with SHSU GPA and cumulative Minimum Completion Rate requirements will be given a warning semester. At the end of the warning semester, students who fail to regain compliance with the SAP policy are not eligible for financial aid. First-time transfer students are automatically denied if SAP is not met prior to entry semester, however, an appeal may be considered with mitigating circumstances and supporting documentation. Graduate students are not eligible for any warning semester.

If you do not meet the SAP requirements by the end of your warning semester, you will be placed on financial aid suspension. Once you are on financial aid suspension, you will not receive financial aid until you meet the requirements or have an approved SAP appeal.

You will be notified via your SHSU email in the event you are placed on financial aid suspension.

Schedule a virtual appointment or email your financial aid counselor.

Financial Aid and Scholarships will consider the following scenarios:

• Death of an immediate family member (Immediate family member is a parent, child, brother or sister);
• Illness or Injury which caused an inability to attend or prepare for class for an extended period;
• Extenuating circumstances beyond your control other than one of the above situations.

Important: Students who do not meet one of the above categories are not eligible for an appeal.

Note:

• Appeals based solely on financial and/or emotional needs without sufficient explanation or documentation will not be accepted.
• Work is not considered a hardship since financial aid is viewed as a supplement to the student’s income in order to help reduce the number of hours the average student would have to work in any given week.
• It is the responsibility of the student to successfully complete all classes enrolled. Please remember that dropping a class, failing a class, withdrawing from a class or repeating a class for which credit was previously earned is a personal decision made by the student.

Degree plan changes may be considered. Degree Works must accurately reflect your plan toward graduation.

Download a blank Financial Aid Appeal Form and fill it out. If you need assistance we have an example form.

Note: Signatures cannot be typed.

Deficient Completion Rate and/or Deficient SHSU GPA Appeal

Write a detailed explanation of your extenuating circumstance(s), either typed or legibly written, for all semesters that contributed to your inability to maintain SAP. This includes semesters attended at another university/college.

• Explain every semester you made a deficient letter grade
• Explain what has changed in your situation that will allow you to meet SAP requirements now

Max Time Frame Appeal

Write a statement explaining the following:

• Your change of major with previous and current degree sought
• The estimated number of credits remaining to complete your degree
• Your anticipated graduation date

An appeal for Maximum Time Frame will only be accepted once.

Supporting documentation is not required, skip to Step 4.

Provide supporting documentation of the cause and of any changes that will solve the issues for the term of appeal. Documents can be death certificates, birth certificates, statements from doctor or counselors, police reports and any other pertinent documents. The documents provided must support the timeframe being reviewed.

Correctly submit your documents to Financial Aid.