To be eligible for financial aid assistance, there are certain unit and curriculum requirements that must be met. A student is required to complete a minimum of six units during any one quarter to be eligible to receive financial aid for that given quarter. However 12 units is the minimum number of units that the School of Medicine has determined for a Family Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant (FNP/PA) student to be considered full time.

The health system financial aid office is required by law to ensure that students receiving financial aid are making satisfactory academic progress. Federal regulations (CFR 668--Student Assistance General Provisions), Sections 668.32(f), 668.16(e), and 668.34, state that a student is eligible to receive Title IV, HEA program assistance if the student maintains satisfactory progress in his or her course of study according to the institution's published standards of satisfactory progress. If a student does not meet minimum standards of academic progress, the student will not be eligible to receive financial aid assistance.

The following policy has been established in response to the Student Assistance General Provisions governing satisfactory academic progress:

A. Measures of Satisfactory Academic Progress:

1) The quantitative satisfactory academic progress standard that students must meet in order to be considered eligible for financial aid assistance is measured yearly. The maximum timeframe cannot exceed 150 percent of the published length of the program, thus cannot exceed three academic years. Academic progress will be monitored by the academic progress committee (APC) on a quarterly basis. Extension of the time allowed for satisfaction of the requirements for graduation beyond two years requires specific action and approval by the APC. Approval for an extension of time beyond three years would have to be documented as an unusual circumstance that hindered the student’s progress; for instance, serious illness or injury to the student or his/her immediate family member. Additionally, this extension would have to be a recommendation of the APC to the program director who has sole decision-making authority for approval or denial of this unusual type of program extension. The authority for extension of eligibility for financial aid rests with the health system financial aid office based upon individual student eligibility, university, state and federal regulations.

2) The qualitative standard by which students are judged to be making satisfactory academic progress mirrors the academic standards of the FNP/PA bylaws, policies and regulations as contained in the student manual of the FNP/PA Program. At the end of each curriculum quarter, student progress is evaluated according to those standards. Students not meeting the qualitative standards are considered as not maintaining satisfactory academic progress and are referred to the APC for review. Students on academic warning will be considered to be eligible for financial aid as determined by the financial aid office. Students on academic probation for more than one quarter will be determined by the APC not to be meeting the program standard of satisfactory academic progress and further eligibility for financial aid will be determined by the health system financial aid office based upon individual eligibility, university, state and federal regulations.

B. Probationary Period:

Students who fail to meet the satisfactory academic progress requirements will be referred by his/her faculty advisors/instructors of record to the APC for review. The APC may place the student on academic probation and prescribe appropriate remediation to be achieved within a specified period of time. During the quarters on probation, students meeting the remediation plan of the APC will continue to be eligible for financial aid based upon individual eligibility, university, state and federal regulations.

C. Appeals:

Students who fail to clear their quantitative satisfactory academic progress deficiency (the length of time it will take to complete the program) will be reviewed by the APC. The APC will separately determine: a) whether the student should continue the curriculum in an attempt to complete the program, and b) whether to recommend/not recommend to the health system financial aid office approval for continuation of financial aid assistance for those approved to continue the curriculum. Students who are approved to continue enrollment will be considered to have legitimate mitigating circumstances and may be eligible for continued financial aid assistance based upon individual eligibility, university, state and federal regulations.

Students who fail to clear their qualitative satisfactory academic progress deficiency will have their academic status reviewed by the APC. This automatic in-depth review will constitute the appeal process. Students who are not allowed continued enrollment will be denied access to all sources of financial aid funds. Students who are approved to continue enrollment will be considered eligible for financial aid based upon individual eligibility, university, state and federal regulations.

D. Incompletes, Withdrawals, Repetitions, Non-Credit Remedial Coursework:

The health system financial aid office is notified by the FNP/PA Program staff of dismissals, leaves of absence, withdrawals and changes in curriculum. The health system financial aid office then takes appropriate action depending on the type of change. Specific policies defining the effect of course incompletes, withdrawals, repetitions and non-credit remedial coursework on satisfactory progress are as follows:

· Partial Withdrawals: If a student reduces his/her courseload in a given quarter once the quarter has begun and financial aid was disbursed, the student is still required to complete six or more units to maintain eligibility for financial aid in that given quarter. If the student completes less than six units and received financial aid, the student may be required to return that quarter's aid in full. Students planning to complete less than six units in a quarter will need to discuss their situation with a member of the financial aid staff.

· Incomplete Grades: An incomplete grade must be replaced with a letter grade (or P or S) before the end of the third succeeding quarter (excluding summer sessions) of the student’s academic residence, or the grade will revert to an "F" (or NP or U.) For purposes of receiving financial aid assistance, an incomplete is treated as units completed.

· Withdrawals/ Dismissals/Leaves of Absence:  FNP/PA students are required to meet with the APC before they are approved for an academic withdrawal or leave of absence. Completion of paperwork will be required before approval. (Refer to the Planned Educational Leave Program.) The standard maximum length of an approved leave is one full academic year. Depending on the date of the approved withdrawal or leave, it will be determined whether the student is entitled to a full, partial, or no refund of fees. (Refer to the main campus registrar's policy regarding Leaves of Absence under "Leaving UC Davis.") If the student is receiving financial aid, federal and university regulations require that the institution recalculate the student's eligibility for any aid disbursed in a given quarter to determine whether any of the aid needs to be returned. This calculation is based on the percentage of time the student was enrolled for the quarter. The quarters that the student is not enrolled may be excluded from the maximum timeframe in which the student will be expected to complete the program.

· Repetitions: A student must retake a course in which he/she received a “D” or an "F" grade. Credit for a course will be given only once. The APC may require that a student repeat a course for which the student has received a passing grade. This might commonly happen for a student who miminally passed, took a planned leave and disrupted their coursework, is on academic probation, or who has been dismissed and then readmitted.

· Non-Credit Remedial Coursework: All remedial coursework recommended by the APC will be recognized for financial aid assistance purposes for credit.

 
Updated 8/22/11