Maintaining Eligibility

Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements

Satisfactory academic progress for financial aid for all students is reviewed after each period of enrollment. These requirements are separate and distinct from the university’s academic progress requirements for academic continuance.

Students receive written notification to their Walden University email account if they are placed on financial aid warning status. Upon receiving this status, a student has one period of enrollment to return to the standards listed below. If the student does not meet these standards, the student may appeal for a period of financial aid probation. If the appeal is not granted, students become ineligible for federal financial aid.

It is the student’s responsibility to know the requirements for satisfactory academic progress for financial aid. Failure to receive notification will not nullify a student’s financial aid status with Walden University.

Minimum Standards for Federal Financial Aid

Program Type	Minimum Financial Aid Course Completion Rate (Pace)	Minimum Cumulative Financial Aid GPA	Maximum Time Frame to Receive Federal Aid
Bachelor’s degree	67%	2.0	272 financial aid attempted credits
Master’s degree	67%	3.0	20 quarters or 15 semesters
Doctoral degree	67%	3.0	32 quarters or 24 semesters
Certificate	67%	3.0	4 quarters or 6 semesters
Education Specialist	67%	3.0	20 quarters or 15 semesters
Teacher preparation (without master’s degree option)	67%	3.0	56 financial aid attempted credits
Endorsement (without master’s degree option)	67%	3.0	32 financial aid attempted credits
Preparatory coursework	67%	2.0	12 consecutive months

Treatment of Courses and Credits

• Course Repetitions: Repeated courses for which a grade of D or better has already been earned do not count toward the student’s completion rate as additional earned or completed credits.
• Drops: Courses dropped before the end of the add/drop period are not included in the financial aid satisfactory progress calculations.
• Incompletes: Incomplete grades count as credits attempted and not completed but do not impact GPA.
• No Credit: No Credit grades count as credits attempted and not completed but do not impact GPA.
• Periods With No Financial Aid: Financial aid progress requirements include all periods of enrollment, including periods in which the student did not receive federal aid.
• Second Program: The maximum time frame will be reset for students who complete one program or degree at Walden University and begin a subsequent program or degree.
• Transfer Credits: All transfer credits are considered as both attempted and completed when calculating the minimum course completion rate and maximum time frame.
• Unsatisfactory: The grade of Unsatisfactory counts as credits attempted, but not completed, and does not impact GPA.
• Withdrawals: Courses that are dropped after the add/drop period are considered to be attempted but not completed.

Learn more about policy and definitions.

Loss of Federal Financial Aid Eligibility

Students who become ineligible to receive federal financial aid but remain in compliance with the academic progress standards for continuance in their program are not withdrawn from the program. But they must arrange for alternative payment with the Office of the Bursar by the appropriate tuition due date. Students may still be eligible for private educational loans if federal aid eligibility is lost.

Do you have questions about financial aid? If you haven’t yet applied to Walden, please contact an enrollment advisor at 1-866-492-5336 in the United States. If you are a current student, please contact a financial aid advisor at finaid@waldenu.edu or call 1-800-WALDENU (1-800-925-3368).