Federal regulations require that in order to receive assistance under Title IV of the Higher Education Act, students must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), which is measurable academic progress toward completion of their degree requirements within published time limits. The following SAP policy applies to all enrolled students.

Guidelines for Academic Progress

The academic year at the Yale School of Architecture consists of fall, spring, and summer terms. SAP is calculated three times per year, at the end of each term. A student’s SAP status at the beginning of a term is effective until the completion of that enrolled term. Students must maintain SAP in both qualitative and quantitative standards.

Qualitative Standards At the end of each term, the dean responsible for student matters will review the academic standing of each enrolled student and notify in writing any student who is not considered in good academic standing. A student is in good academic standing so long as the student is not on academic warning, academic probation, or has been required to withdraw. Students must maintain a cumulative minimum of a Pass at each evaluation point. 

The following chart indicates the resulting academic standing for students who may receive grades of Pass with Concern, Low Pass, or Fail: 

Arch Sap Chart 1

Studio Courses
	First Occurrence	Second Consecutive Occurrence	Third Occurrence	Outcome/Comment
Pass with Concern	Warning	Probation	Probation and Design Committee review	Three PwC in studio will be flagged for the Design Committee for their review of whether the student has met the competency criterion for graduation.
Fail	Probation; repeat studio in extra term	Withdrawal		Two studio failures requires mandatory withdrawal

Arch Sap Chart 2

Non-Studio Courses
	First Occurrence	Second Consecutive Occurrence	Third Consecutive Occurrence	Outcome/Comment
Low Pass		Warning, unless paired with Pass with Concern or Fail in studio, in which case, probation	Probation	Probation continues until all courses are High Pass or Pass
Fail	Warning, unless paired with Pass with Concern or Fail in studio, in which case, probation	Probation	Probation or withdrawal	This should occur in the final term; withdrawal may be necessary if credits cannot be achieved.

Arch Sap Chart 3

Foundations
	First Occurrence	Outcome/Comment
Pass with Concern	Probation
Fail	Withdrawal	Failure to pass Foundations requires withdrawal from the school.

Students who are placed on either academic warning or academic probation for the next term due to their grades during the prior term are not considered to be in good academic standing and accordingly fail to meet the qualitative SAP standard (refer to Section II.G of the School of Architecture Handbook, http://architecture.yale.edu/academics/school-handbook, for the definition of “good academic standing”). All other students meet the qualitative SAP standard.

Quantitative Standards A student meets the quantitative SAP standard if cumulative a pace is maintained of earning at least 67 percent of the total credits attempted. Incompletes do not count as credits attempted (refer to Section II.H.1 of the School of Architecture Handbook, http://architecture.yale.edu/academics/school-handbook, for information on “Incompletes”). Withdrawals count as credits attempted (refer to Section II.B. of the School of Architecture Handbook, http://architecture.yale.edu/academics/school-handbook, for information on “Withdrawals”). Credits for completed repeated courses count as both credits attempted and earned. Transfer credits are not accepted. The maximum time frame in which a student must complete degree requirements cannot exceed more than 200 percent of the minimum time for fulfilling degree requirements (refer to Section II.D. of the School of Architecture Handbook, http://architecture.yale.edu/academics/school-handbook).

Maximum Time frame

The maximum time frame in which a student must complete degree requirements cannot exceed more than the specified minimum time by program for fulfilling degree requirements (refer to Section II.D. of the School of Architecture Handbook, http://architecture.yale.edu/academics/school-handbook). For the M.Arch. I (three-year professional) program, students must complete the degree requirements within five years. Any approved leave of absence cannot exceed two years. For the M.Arch. II and M.E.D. (two-year) programs, students must complete the degree requirements within three years and any approved leave of absence cannot exceed one year.

Financial-Aid Warning

At the conclusion of each term, the dean responsible for academic matters will provide the Financial Aid Office with a list of students who are not in good academic standing and therefore are failing to meet SAP. The Financial Aid Office will then notify these students that they have been placed on financial-aid warning until the end of the next term. During the financial-aid-warning term, the student may receive financial aid, despite the determination of not meeting SAP. Students on financial-aid warning who fail to return to SAP by the end of the term will lose their future financial aid eligibility, unless they successfully appeal and are placed on financial-aid probation.

Financial-Aid Probation and Appeals

A student who has not successfully met SAP by the end of the financial-aid-warning term has the right to appeal the loss of financial-aid eligibility. Appeals must be submitted to the dean’s office in writing within two weeks of receiving notice that the student did not meet SAP after a term on financial-aid warning. The appeal must include information about why the student failed to meet SAP, and what has changed, or is expected to change, that will allow the student to meet SAP in the future. The written appeal should be accompanied by documentation that verifies the extenuating circumstances (e.g., death of a relative, an injury or illness of the student, or other special circumstances). The dean’s office shall notify the student of the outcome of the appeal within ten business days of receiving it. If the appeal is approved, the student is placed on financial-aid probation until the end of the next term and may receive financial aid during that term. Students on financial-aid probation are required to meet with the chair of the Rules Committee and the dean responsible for academic matters to establish an individual academic plan to enable the student to meet SAP at some point in the future, according to specific benchmarks established by the plan. Students on financial-aid probation who fail to meet SAP by the end of the financial-aid probation term, or fail to meet the benchmarks of their individual plans on time, will not be eligible for financial aid for the subsequent academic term. Students who are ineligible for financial aid may reestablish eligibility in future terms by meeting SAP.