Satisfactory Academic Progress

Q: How does academic progress affect my financial aid?

A: Undergraduate and graduate recipients of financial aid must maintain the same satisfactory academic progress as all UCSC students. 

Undergraduate Students
If you are an undergraduate student, the standards used to determine your eligibility for continued financial aid are based on your academic status. 

1. One standard is the number of courses you have passed while enrolled at UCSC. To meet current academic progress requirements, you must pass six courses in your three most recent quarters of enrollment. Cumulative academic progress requirements (along with all other requirements about progress toward your bachelor's degree) are described in The Navigator. 
    
2. Other measures of academic progress include the number of quarters of full-time attendance at UCSC (usually 12) and the number of courses taken (usually 36). Fifteen quarters of full-time attendance is the maximum for a first baccalaureate degree (keep in mind, however, that you must gain approval from your  academic preceptor to extend your enrollment beyond 12 quarters of attendance). Transfer and other credits may reduce your number of quarters at UCSC. Your college advisers can help you calculate your status and file an extension of enrollment petition if necessary. 

Extending Enrollment : If you feel there are mitigating circumstances that prevent you from completing your degree within the specified time frame, you can appeal for an extension of financial aid. You must petition the Financial Aid Office if you wish to extend your financial aid after 15 quarters, or the equivalent, of enrollment. Note that this process is separate from a college's approval of extended enrollment. To appeal for an extension of financial aid eligibility beyond fifteen quarters of enrollment, you must submit the following to the Financial Aid Office:

• A written appeal explaining your reasons for needing the extension. 
• A Petition to Extend Enrollment, which has been approved by your college. (Your college's approval of your Petition to Extend Enrollment is required, but it does not constitute extension of financial aid eligibility.) 

Additional information regarding the undergraduate appeal process.

If you are a graduate student, the standards used to determine your continued qualification for financial aid are based on your academic status. For additional information refer to the Graduate Student Handbook available from the Division of Graduate Studies.

• All students (except Ph.D. students who have advanced to candidacy) must enroll in a minimum of two upper-division or graduate-level full-credit courses per quarter. (Unless you have been approved for part-time status by the Division of Graduate Studies.)  After having been in attendance for three quarters, you must also have passed at least five five-credit courses. You must advance to candidacy within four years. Failure to meet these qualifications will result in disqualification for financial aid.  If you have advanced to candidacy, you must pass at least one five-credit course per quarter (usually Thesis Research). You must also complete your degree within three years of advancement. Failure to meet this condition will result in disqualification for financial aid. 
• The number of years for which you may be eligible for financial aid varies according to the program in which your are enrolled. Graduate Certificate students have one calendar year of eligibility. Master's degree students have 3 calendar years and doctoral students have 7 calendar years of full-time enrollment before their financial aid eligibility expires, (4 years without advancing to candidacy and 3 years after advancing).

If you have exceeded the limit, your financial aid may be reinstated if your written appeal to the dean of graduate studies has established that you encountered extenuating circumstances that hindered your academic progress and is approved. 

Additional information regarding the graduate appeal process.