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All credit definitions included herein are based on the Law School Student Handbook and the Academic Standards Code (ASC) for Minimum/Maximum Credit Hours. Students are awarded financial aid up to a maximum of 90 credits unless a waiver of this requirement has been granted by appeal (see below). The minimum allowable credits for Full Time and Part Time Upper Division Students were used to determine the credit ranges and year in school.
This policy is set forth by Student Financial Services (SFS) for the purpose of establishing quantitative and qualitative requirements for financial aid recipients to maintain satisfactory academic progress towards their degree. This policy conforms to requirements as published in the Student Handbook and the ASC.
Students are enrolled in a full-time (FT) or in a part-time (PT) program as monitored by the Registrar for a maximum of 90 successfully completed credit hours. Students may not take more than seven years, including periods of non-enrollment such as leaves of absence, to complete law studies according to ABA standards.
If a student is granted a leave of absence or withdraws and resumes study, all credits successfully completed prior to the leave or withdrawal may be counted towards the 90 credit maximum, provided that the student returns before the leave of absence expires and before the time limit discussed above is exceeded.
De Novo students are allowed to repeat their first year of law school studies without penalty and receive no credit for coursework from their initial year of study. The student will be eligible to complete the degree program within the maximum duration allowable according to their status (full or part-time) counting only those terms in which the student successfully completed credits towards the degree. If a student has been granted de novo status, the party granting the appeal will provide a written statement to the financial aid office indicating that the student has been reinstated de novo status. Occasionally the Dean will grant de novo status to a second year student and the same situation applies.
At the end of the first year of study, a student receiving financial aid must have completed a minimum of 16 total credit hours (8 credits per term) during the academic year. If they do not do so, they will be placed on Financial Aid Probation.
Students must be determined by the Associate Dean of Students to have a GPA consistent with graduation requirements (currently 1.80) in order to receive financial aid for the second year of their studies. Students who have been academically disqualified at the end of the first year are not eligible for financial aid unless they successfully petition and are granted de novo status by the Dean.
Students who do not meet the completed credit requirements for receiving continued financial aid for the second year of legal study or have a GPA between 1.80-1.99 after their first year of studies, may be allowed to continue by approval of the Dean. They will be considered to be on Financial Aid Probation as well as Academic Probation. Probation will consist of a year end review of the student's progress (consistent with the Student Handbook and ASC) to insure that the student will meet GPA requirements for receiving financial aid after the second year of study. If they do not, they will be dismissed and therefore will be ineligible for financial aid. Probation will also consist of a review at the end of the following academic year term (e.g. fall term) to determine credit requirements and insure that the student met the 8 credit requirement to successfully complete the probation requirements. If they do not, they will lose financial aid eligibility. Students must pay for a minimum 8 credits out of their own resources and successfully complete them to reinstate financial aid eligibility. The progress of students who are placed on Academic/Financial Aid Probation will be monitored by the Associate Dean of Students and the Assistant Dean or Associate Director for Student Financial Services.
At the end of the second year of study, a student receiving financial aid must have completed a minimum of 32 total credit hours in order to continuing receiving financial aid. If they do not, they will be placed on Financial Aid Probation. Probation will consist of a review at the end of the following academic year term (e.g. fall term) to determine credit requirements and insure that the student met the 8 credit requirement to successfully complete the probation requirements. If they do not, they will lose financial aid eligibility. Students must pay for a minimum 8 credits out of their own resources and successfully complete them to reinstate financial aid eligibility. The progress of students who are placed on Academic/Financial Aid Probation will be monitored by the Associate Dean of Students and the Assistant Dean or Associate Director for Student Financial Services.
De Novo students will be reviewed at the end of their de novo year of completed and graded studies. Students who do not meet these minimum standards will not be eligible for future financial aid unless they meet the appeal requirements set forth below.
The Academic Standards Committee has established a 2.0 GPA as the minimum GPA requirement for the continuation of law studies. Students who fail to meet this standard will be academically disqualified and will no longer be eligible for financial aid.
All appeals of academic disqualification will be reviewed by the Dean, and may be appealed as set forth in the ASC. If the student's appeal is successful, the party granting the appeal will provide a written statement to the financial aid office, stating in part that the student has been reinstated and that they are considered to be in good academic standing. The notice of reinstatement should also include any restrictions placed upon the student as a result of the appeal approval.
In order to receive financial aid for study after the third year and beyond, the student must have a GPA consistent with the requirements for graduation and must have completed the minimum credits as put forth in the ASC.
Appeals to the Third and Fourth Year Review policies will be reviewed by the Dean, and may be appealed as set forth herein for prior years and in the ASC.
In petition/appeal cases, SFS does not require detailed information regarding the circumstances surrounding the academic difficulty nor any documentation of the deliberations. There is no intent to impinge on academic issues. However, documentation is necessary in the financial aid file indicating that the student been reinstated and as such is in academic good standing. A student may also appeal to SFS regarding potential loss of aid due to not meeting the minimum number of credits required per term.