Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

Tuition and Financial Aid

UNIVERSITY POLICY 02.60

Satisfactory Academic Progress

• Approval Date: April 23, 2004
• Effective Date: July 1, 2004
• Revision Effective Date: July 1, 2005
• Revision Effective Date: January 1, 2006
• Revision Effective Date: July 1, 2006

Policy Statement

Capella University and federal regulations require all learners to maintain satisfactory academic progress in their degree programs. Satisfactory academic progress is determined through two measures — grade point average (GPA) and course completion rate. In order to maintain satisfactory academic progress, learners must meet minimum requirements for both measures.

Undergraduate Programs

Undergraduate learners are required to maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or better and complete a minimum of two (2) out of every three (3) attempted credits (completion ratio of 67% of cumulative attempted credits). Additionally, undergraduate learners will not be eligible for federal financial aid for any credits that exceed 150% of the undergraduate program requirements as described in their catalog.

Graduate Programs

Graduate learners are required to maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better and complete a minimum of one (1) out of every two (2) total attempted credits (completion ratio of 50% of cumulative attempted credits). Additionally, graduate learners will not be eligible for federal financial aid for any credits that exceed 200% of the graduate program requirements as described in their catalog.

Measuring Academic Progress

Capella University measures academic progress (at the end of each quarter) every academic year. Learners must meet minimum requirements for both cumulative GPA and completion ratio in order to maintain satisfactory academic progress and to ensure completion within maximum timeframes allowed for degree programs.

Factors Impacting Academic Progress

• Grades
  Grades such as W, I, IS, and NS are included in the course completion rate but do not impact the learner's GPA.
• Repeated Courses
  When a course is repeated, the grade considered for the credit and GPA calculations will be the higher of the two grades earned. Each attempt will be used in evaluating course completion rates.

Please reference academic policies 02.70 Grading, 02.715 Incomplete Grades, and 04.315 Registration and Course Enrollment for more information.

Academic Probation

With the exception of learners who are disenrolled for failing to meet the academic standards for FirstCourse outlined in academic policy 02.055 Academic Readiness, learners who do not meet satisfactory academic progress requirements in any subsequent quarter will be placed on academic probation. There are five (5) stages of probation, each accumulating additional restrictions as defined below.

A learner's academic probation status may change (whether academic probation status is cleared or progresses to the next stage) only following quarters during which the learner is registered for one or more courses. Thus, a learner's academic probation status will not change following a quarter of academic inactivity. The learner's current probation status remains on record until there is academic activity for evaluation. When evaluation shows that a learner on academic probation meets the satisfactory academic progress requirements all restrictions are removed and financial aid will be reinstated if applicable.

Learners failing to show academic progress following two (2) consecutive terms at the university may be denied financial aid and/or disenrolled from the university.

Learners who reach Stage 5 of academic probation and are subsequently disenrolled from the university are ineligible to register for any Capella course for four full quarters. After four full quarters of absence from the university, learners may apply for re-admission. If accepted for readmission, the learner will be reinstated at Stage 4 of academic probation. Learners must meet the program requirements effective in the university catalog current at the time of re-admission.

Learners at any stage of academic probation who withdraw from the university mid-quarter will be reinstated at an appropriate level based upon an evaluation of the circumstances at the time of withdrawal and re-enrollment.

Removal from Academic Probation

Learners will be removed from probation once they have met the aforementioned grade point average (GPA) and course completion ratio requirements.

Doctoral Learners

Capella University recognizes that learners in the comprehensive examination and dissertation phases of a doctoral program progress at different rates. Although the comprehensive examination and dissertation courses are designed to help learners move through these phases in an appropriate amount of time, learners may need more than one quarter to complete a course within the sequence. Learners enrolled in comprehensive examination and dissertation courses are allowed to register for continuation ("dash C") courses the following quarter.

Comprehensive Examination Courses

It is expected that learners making satisfactory academic progress in the 9984 comprehensive examination course will require no more than one additional quarter to complete the course requirements. Learners with extenuating circumstances who request a second continuation course for 9984 must receive approval of the dean of their school. Further, it is expected that learners will earn a passing grade on each of the four comprehensive examination questions written in the 9985 comprehensive examination course. Should a learner earn a no-pass grade on any examination question, the learner will have one opportunity to rewrite the question. Learners will be disenrolled from the university and will not be eligible for re-admission if they

• Do not earn passing grades on all comprehensive examination questions after one rewrite OR
• Fail to complete the course requirements during the continuation course(s)

Dissertation Courses

It is expected that learners making satisfactory academic progress in the dissertation course sequence will require no more than two additional quarters to complete the requirements for any original course. Learners who do not complete the course requirements after the second continuation course are not eligible to receive financial aid for subsequent continuation course registrations. Learners who wish to register for more than two continuation ("dash C") versions of the same dissertation course may do so only with the approval of the dean of their school, and must agree to a written completion plan. Learners who fail to meet the terms of the written completion plan will be disenrolled from the university and will not be eligible for re-admission.