To receive TAP, a student must be in good academic standing. Good academic standing in regard to state aid is concerned with two components: pursuit of program and satisfactory academic progress.
Pursuit of program tracks withdrawal from courses that results in a student being enrolled less than full time in a semester. Students must complete with a passing or failing grade 50 percent of the minimum full-time credit load (12 credits or 9 credits if the student is a graduate assistant) the first and second term they receive TAP. They must complete 75 percent of the minimum full-time credit load the third and fourth terms they receive TAP. Students who have received five or more TAP payments must complete with a passing or failing grade 100 percent of the minimum full-time load. The total number of terms a student has received TAP as a graduate and undergraduate student are used to determine the pursuit of program component.
Satisfactory academic progress looks at both a student's cumulative grade point average and the accumulation of credits toward a degree. A student's satisfactory academic progress is measured on the TAP Academic Eligibility Chart for Graduate Students (PDF). Unlike pursuit of program, only TAP payments received as a graduate student are used to place a student on the eligibility chart. When reading the chart, only semesters that a student receives a TAP payment are considered. A student who first receives a TAP grant in the third semester of his/her program would be required to meet the standards represented by the first column. Students are limited to four semesters of TAP grants.
Students who fail to maintain good academic standing become ineligible for TAP until they achieve the appropriate standards without the assistance of state funding. In exceptional situations, students who become ineligible may be granted a one-time waiver of their ineligibility. All waiver requests should be submitted to the Financial Aid Office, Moot Hall 230.
