Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

In July 2011, Columbia revised the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy to fit new federal guidelines for colleges and universities. Under the revised policy, students who fail to meet the SAP standards for two semesters in a row will be dismissed from the college. The Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy refers to a basic set of three indicators of academic success – Cumulative GPA,Cumulative Completion Rate, and Cumulative Attempted Credits. After each semester, the college reviews the academic records of all students to determine if they are in good standing or making satisfactory academic progress. Students whose cumulative GPA falls below 2.0, whose completion rate (defined as total credits attempted divided by total credits earned) slips below 67% or who have attempted more than 160 credit hours are not considered to be progressing academically. These students will be placed on Academic Warning and they are at risk of being dismissed from the college.

To assist with the identification of students who are not meeting academic expectations, all Columbia faculty are required to submit Academic Progress Reports (APR) during the fifth week of each semester. Through the APR process, faculty will be able to identify students who are not meeting the expectations of the particular class and communicate this concern to their students.

Students identified by the APR process will receive an email from the college detailing the specifics of their situation. In addition, students will find the same notification in the messages section inside OASIS. Students will be encouraged to follow up with their instructors to see if they can recover this semester, and they are also advised to seek support from the Learning Studio, College Advising Center and/or Student Financial Services.

Visit the Student Handbook to learn more about Columbia’s SAP policy.