Colorado State University provided students the option to elect to have their earned letter grade be changes to an ‘S’ or a ‘U’ for the Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 terms.
Students are no longer able to make an S/U grading election beginning Fall 2021 forward
Visit the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grading web page for more information about this option
Unsatisfactory, or ‘U’ grades can affect financial aid eligibility. To be eligible for aid, undergraduate students must meet three Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards:
While ‘U’ grades don’t impact your GPA, they do affect your SAP completion rate. Any F (failing), U (unsatisfactory), I (incomplete), W (withdrawal), or repeat/delete courses with an initial U or F grade will reduce your completion rate for Satisfactory Academic Progress because they are not considered passing or completed credits.
The Office of Financial Aid will evaluate your standing with Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) during the week of May 24th for the spring 2021 term, and S/U grades will be included in that evaluation. If you experience a grade change after the week of May 24th, that change will not be captured in your SAP evaluation because it’s calculated at a specific point in time.
Please reach out to us if you are considering the S/U option and would like to know more about how this will affect your financial aid.
Academic standards for CSU scholarships are reviewed at the end of the spring semester after spring grades become available. Academic standards for scholarship renewals will be reviewed in late May 2021 and be based on cumulative GPA. S/U grades will not count toward your GPA calculation.
If a student does not meet the academic standards for their CSU scholarship and experienced extenuating circumstances, an appeal can be submitted during the summer of 2021 with a deadline of July 31, 2021. Students who do not meet the academic standards for their scholarship will be sent an email in late May of 2021 with instructions for how to submit a scholarship appeal.
For students with scholarships external to CSU, they should contact their external scholarship to inquire about potential eligibility impact of opting into S/U grades
The Office of Financial Aid will evaluate Satisfactory Academic Progress for spring 2021 during the week of May 24th. Spring 2021 S/U grades submitted by the May 23 deadline will be included in that evaluation.
You can view your current SAP status, including completion rate, on RAMweb. From the main menu, select Financial Aid then Awards and Requirements. After selecting the 2020-2021 award year, select Eligibility. Please keep in mind this is your current standing and won’t include spring 2021 grade consideration until after SAP is evaluated during the week of May 24th.
Please contact our financial aid team and we will assist with additional questions
