The Core Definitions
Every transcript carries two distinct credit tallies that serve different functions in academic record-keeping.
Attempted Credit Hours
Attempted credit hours (also called credits attempted, hours attempted, or enrolled credits) are the credit hours for every course in which you received a grade of any kind. This includes:
- Letter grades (A through F)
- W (Withdrawal, after the add/drop deadline)
- I (Incomplete, whether or not it later resolves)
- WF (Withdrawal Failing, where used)
- S/U or P/F grades (where awarded as credit-bearing enrollment)
A course you enrolled in on the first day and withdrew from on week eight still counts as attempted. A course you attended all semester and failed still counts as attempted. The attempted count captures every credit hour the institution held enrollment capacity for on your behalf.
Earned Credit Hours
Earned credit hours (also called credits earned, hours earned, or hours passed) are the credit hours for courses in which you received a passing grade. Definitions of "passing" vary: at most institutions, D is the minimum passing grade for undergraduate students (though D may not satisfy specific course requirements within a major). Graduate students typically need a B or above to count a course toward program requirements, though the credit is still "earned" in the registrar sense at a D or C.
The following grades do not generate earned credit hours:
- F (Failure)
- W (Withdrawal)
- WF (Withdrawal Failing)
- I (Incomplete, while unresolved)
- U (Unsatisfactory, in a pass/fail course)
How Each Grade Type Counts
| Grade | Counts as Attempted? | Counts as Earned? | Counts in GPA? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A, A−, B+, B, etc. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| C, D | Yes | Yes (passing, may not satisfy requirements) | Yes |
| F | Yes | No | Yes (0.0 grade points) |
| W (Withdrawal) | Yes | No | No |
| WF (Withdrawal Failing) | Yes | No | Yes at some institutions (0.0) |
| I (Incomplete, unresolved) | Yes (at most institutions) | No | No while active |
| I (resolved to passing grade) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| I (converted to F) | Yes | No | Yes (0.0) |
| S (Satisfactory) | Yes | Yes | No |
| U (Unsatisfactory) | Yes | No | No |
| AU (Audit) | No | No | No |
| TR (Transfer, accepted) | Yes (at most institutions) | Yes | Varies by policy |
Completion Rate: The SAP Pace Requirement
The federal government's Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements, which govern eligibility for Title IV financial aid (Pell Grants, federal loans), include a pace requirement based on the relationship between attempted and earned credits.
Completion Rate = Total Earned Credit Hours ÷ Total Attempted Credit Hours
Required minimum: 67% (0.67)
This 67% threshold is established in federal regulations (34 CFR 668.34) and applies cumulatively across all terms — not just within a single semester. A student who has a strong completion rate in their current semester but a weak historical rate can still fail the pace requirement.
The 67% Threshold in Context
67% corresponds to the mathematical minimum completion rate needed to finish a 120-credit degree within the 150% maximum timeframe (180 attempted credits). A student who attempts 180 credits and earns 67% of them earns exactly 120.6 credits — just enough to meet a 120-credit degree requirement. The 67% rate is not arbitrary; it is the minimum pace at which a student can still complete the degree within the federal aid eligibility window.
Worked Examples
Example 1: Clean Record
| Term | Attempted | Earned | Cumulative Attempted | Cumulative Earned | Completion Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall Year 1 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 100% |
| Spring Year 1 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 30 | 100% |
| Fall Year 2 | 15 | 15 | 45 | 45 | 100% |
Example 2: W Grades Accumulating
| Term | Attempted | Earned | Cumul. Attempted | Cumul. Earned | Completion Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall Year 1 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 100% |
| Spring Year 1 | 15 | 12 | 30 | 27 | 90% |
| Fall Year 2 | 15 | 9 | 45 | 36 | 80% |
| Spring Year 2 | 15 | 6 | 60 | 42 | 70% |
| Fall Year 3 | 15 | 6 | 75 | 48 | 64% ← Below 67% |
This student has a GPA that may still be acceptable (their passing courses could average a B). But their completion rate is 64%, below the federal 67% minimum. They may lose financial aid despite an acceptable GPA.
Example 3: Recovery After SAP Warning
A student ends Fall Year 3 at 64% completion rate (see above). They receive a financial aid SAP warning. In Spring Year 3, they take 15 credits and earn all 15:
New cumulative: (48 + 15) earned ÷ (75 + 15) attempted = 63 ÷ 90 = 70%
Back above 67% — financial aid eligibility restored.
GPA vs Completion Rate: Two Separate Calculations
GPA and completion rate use overlapping but different inputs. Understanding the difference prevents the mistaken belief that a good GPA automatically means good SAP standing.
GPA Calculation
GPA = Total Quality Points ÷ Total Letter-Graded Credits Attempted
W and S/U grades are excluded from both numerator and denominator.
F grades are included in the denominator (with 0 quality points).
Completion Rate Calculation
Completion Rate = Total Earned Credits ÷ Total Attempted Credits
W grades are included in the denominator (attempted but not earned).
S grades generate earned credits but are excluded from GPA.
Where They Diverge
A student who withdraws from three courses per semester is accumulating credits in the attempted denominator for completion rate but not affecting their GPA at all (W grades do not enter GPA). Their GPA can look fine while their completion rate deteriorates. This is the most common scenario in which a student is surprised by SAP failure despite adequate grades.
Conversely, a student who passes many S-graded courses is earning credits (improving completion rate) without affecting GPA. S-graded credits help the completion rate but do not help or hurt GPA.
Use the cumulative GPA calculator to track your GPA separately. For completion rate, calculate it manually using your transcript's attempted and earned totals.
Withdrawal Timing and the Attempted Count
Withdrawal timing matters significantly for the attempted count. A drop during the add/drop period (typically the first one to two weeks of the semester) does not generate a W grade and does not count as attempted. A withdrawal after the add/drop deadline generates a W and adds to attempted credits. Understanding this boundary is important for students who are considering dropping courses.
The Add/Drop Window
During the add/drop period, schedule changes are processed without any transcript notation. A course added and dropped before the deadline simply disappears from your record as if you never enrolled. No W appears; no attempted credits accumulate. This is why the add/drop deadline is a different and more significant deadline than it might appear — it is the last chance to change your schedule without financial aid consequences.
After the Add/Drop Deadline
After the add/drop deadline, dropping a course generates a W and adds those credit hours to your attempted total. Whether you withdraw in week three or week fourteen of a sixteen-week semester, the result is the same: attempted credits increase, earned credits do not. The financial aid impact is identical regardless of when after the deadline you withdrew.
Repeating Courses
Repeating a course creates a second entry in the attempted column. This has different implications depending on whether the original attempt was passed or failed:
Repeating a Failed Course
The original failed attempt counts as attempted (with 0 earned credits). The repeat also counts as attempted. If the repeat is passed, those earned credits are added. If the repeat is also failed, you have doubled the attempted count without adding earned credits. Repeating a failed course is the highest-risk scenario for SAP completion rate: you are adding attempted credits before you can add earned credits.
Repeating a Passed Course
Some students retake courses they passed but want a better grade (common for pre-med students trying to raise a C in organic chemistry). Federal regulations limit the number of times a student can count a passed course toward enrollment for financial aid purposes. A student may receive aid for retaking a previously passed course only once. The repeated course counts as attempted; the original credit remains earned; the repeat adds another attempted count. This is permitted for GPA improvement purposes but cannot be done indefinitely.
Transfer Credits in the Calculation
Accepted transfer credits improve the completion rate by adding to the earned column. They represent work successfully completed at the prior institution, and once accepted, they function as earned credit hours in the SAP calculation.
Transfer credits that were accepted from a prior institution typically count as both attempted and earned, which means they contribute positively to (or neutrally in) the completion rate. A student with a strong transfer credit base entering a new institution starts the SAP calculation with an already-healthy earned/attempted ratio.
Credits that the receiving institution rejected are typically not counted in either column. They do not appear in your SAP calculation.
Maximum Timeframe: The Third SAP Component
In addition to the 67% completion rate (pace) and the GPA minimum, SAP includes a maximum timeframe component: students must complete their degree within 150% of the published program length, measured in attempted credit hours.
Maximum Attempted Credits = Published Program Length × 1.5
For a 120-credit bachelor's degree: 120 × 1.5 = 180 attempted credits maximum
Once a student has attempted 180 credits toward a 120-credit degree, they have exhausted the maximum timeframe and are no longer eligible for federal financial aid for that program. This matters for students who have changed majors multiple times, repeated many courses, or accumulated many W grades over an extended enrollment period.
The maximum timeframe interacts with completion rate: a student at 64% completion who has already attempted 120 credits has earned only 77 credits. At 64% completion, they would need to attempt 43 more credits to reach 120 earned (77 + 43 = 120), but they have only 60 attempted credits remaining before hitting the 180-credit maximum. At 64% pace, they would earn only 38 of those 60 remaining credits, ending at 115 earned — falling short of the degree requirement before the aid window closes.
Degree Completion: Earned Credits vs Degree-Applicable Credits
Earned credits and degree-applicable credits are related but not the same. Earned credits simply means credits you passed. Degree-applicable credits are earned credits that your degree audit maps to a specific graduation requirement.
A student who has earned 120 credits has not necessarily completed a 120-credit degree. The degree audit may show that some of those earned credits are electives that duplicate each other, free electives that exceed the allowable free elective count, or courses not applicable to any requirement in the program. Only the earned credits that fulfill specific degree requirements count toward graduation.
Review your degree audit each semester alongside your transcript to ensure your earned credits are accumulating toward actual degree requirements, not just toward a raw earned credit count. See our guide on understanding your degree audit for the full breakdown.
Common Misconceptions
Misconception 1: "A good GPA means my financial aid is safe"
GPA and completion rate are separate SAP requirements. You can maintain a 3.0 GPA while failing the 67% completion rate through accumulated withdrawals. Both requirements must be met simultaneously. A GPA check alone does not confirm financial aid eligibility.
Misconception 2: "Withdrawing is always better than an F for SAP"
For GPA, a W is always better than an F. For SAP completion rate, both a W and an F add to attempted credits without adding to earned credits. The SAP impact is identical. From a SAP completion rate perspective, withdrawing and failing have the same effect. The difference is that a W preserves your GPA while an F damages it — both damage your completion rate equally.
Misconception 3: "Transfer students start SAP from scratch"
Most institutions count accepted transfer credits in the SAP calculation, including toward the maximum timeframe. A student who transferred 60 credits has already used 60 of the 180-credit maximum timeframe allowance. Starting SAP from zero at a new institution is not the standard approach.
Misconception 4: "S/U courses don't count in SAP at all"
S-graded courses typically count as both attempted and earned in the SAP calculation (because they are credit-bearing enrollments that you passed). Only AU (audit) courses are typically excluded from both attempted and earned in SAP. S/U courses improve completion rate (you passed them) but have no GPA effect. They are not neutral for SAP purposes.
Misconception 5: "I can reset my SAP record by transferring"
No. Accepted transfer credits follow you and are incorporated into the SAP calculation at the receiving institution. The only way to reset a SAP history is through a formal SAP appeal and possibly an academic renewal process at the same institution — and even those do not always reset the maximum timeframe counter.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "attempted credit hours" mean on my transcript?
Attempted credit hours are the sum of credit hours for every course you enrolled in and received any grade for — A through F, W, I, S, U, and WF. If you enrolled and received any grade notation, the credits count as attempted. Courses dropped during the add/drop period (before the deadline) do not count as attempted.
What does "earned credit hours" mean?
Earned credit hours are the credits for courses you passed. Any passing grade — A through D for most undergrad courses, or S in a pass/fail course — generates earned credit hours. W, F, and unresolved I grades do not generate earned hours. The total earned credits determines how far along you are toward the graduation credit requirement.
What happens to my SAP if I withdraw from a course?
Withdrawing after the add/drop deadline adds those credit hours to your attempted total without adding to your earned total. This lowers your completion rate. If your cumulative rate drops below 67%, you will be placed on SAP warning and your financial aid may be at risk. Multiple withdrawals across several semesters are the most common cause of SAP completion rate failure even among students with acceptable GPAs.
Does failing a course affect both GPA and completion rate?
Yes, both. An F lowers your GPA (it adds 0 quality points while still entering the GPA denominator) and lowers your completion rate (it adds to attempted without adding to earned). Failing a course has dual negative consequences for your academic record. Withdrawing instead of failing preserves your GPA but has the same completion rate effect.
What is the 67% completion rate requirement?
Federal regulations (34 CFR 668.34) require students to earn at least 67% of all attempted credit hours to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress for Title IV financial aid. This requirement is measured cumulatively across all terms, not just within a single semester. A student who has attempted 90 credits must have earned at least 60.3 credits to stay above the 67% threshold.
Can incomplete (I) grades affect my completion rate?
Yes. Most institutions count an unresolved I grade as attempted but not earned. If the Incomplete is resolved with a passing grade, the credit moves to earned. If it lapses to an F, the credit stays in attempted but never reaches earned. A student with several outstanding Incompletes temporarily has a lower completion rate than their actual passed credit count would suggest, and this can affect SAP reviews that happen while the Incompletes are still active.
Do repeated courses count as attempted credits?
Yes. Each enrollment in a course counts as attempted credits for that enrollment period. If you fail a course and retake it, you have two sets of attempted credits for that course. If you pass the second time, you add earned credits. Federal regulations limit financial aid for retaking a course you previously passed to one additional attempt. Unlimited retakes are possible without aid for that specific course, but the credits continue counting as attempted.
How do I find my completion rate from my transcript?
Find the cumulative summary on your transcript (usually at the bottom). Locate "Cumulative Credits Attempted" and "Cumulative Credits Earned." Divide earned by attempted. Example: 72 earned ÷ 90 attempted = 0.80 = 80% completion rate, which is above the 67% minimum. If your transcript does not clearly label these columns, contact your registrar.
Does my completion rate reset when I transfer to a new school?
Typically no. Accepted transfer credits are incorporated into the receiving institution's SAP calculation. The receiving institution counts your accepted transfer credits as both attempted and earned, which usually maintains or improves your completion rate. However, if you have a weak completion rate at the prior institution and those records factor in, the new institution's SAP review will include that history. Confirm the specific policy with the new institution's financial aid office.
How do I recover from a low completion rate?
The only way to improve a completion rate is to earn credits. Every successfully passed course adds to earned without adding more to the gap. If your rate is currently 60%, taking 15 credits and passing all 15 raises the rate: (earned + 15) ÷ (attempted + 15). The math moves slowly when the historical attempted count is large. Use the target GPA calculator to model similar math for GPA recovery.
Audited Courses and Their Exclusion From Both Counts
Audited courses (notated as AU) are a special enrollment category in which a student attends a course but does not submit work for grading and receives no credit. Audited courses are excluded from both the attempted and earned columns. They do not affect GPA, completion rate, or maximum timeframe. A student who audits a calculus course to refresh their skills before retaking it for credit has zero attempted credit hours from the audit.
Some institutions allow students to switch from credit enrollment to audit status before a defined deadline. Switching to audit after the add/drop deadline but before the final exam period is a way to sit in a course without the grade affecting GPA or completion rate. However, an audited course also earns zero credit toward graduation requirements. Audit enrollment is purely for learning; it has no academic record consequences — positive or negative.
Academic Renewal and Forgiveness Policies
Some institutions offer academic renewal (also called academic forgiveness or fresh start) programs that exclude grades from an earlier period of enrollment from the GPA calculation — typically following an absence of several years and a petition demonstrating changed circumstances. Academic renewal policies vary significantly: some exclude the old grades entirely from GPA while the credits remain on the transcript; others require the student to retake and pass equivalent courses before exclusion takes effect.
Academic renewal typically does not reset the maximum timeframe component of SAP, because the attempted credits from the excluded period still count toward the federal 150% limit. A student who took 60 credits under poor academic performance, applied for and received academic renewal, and then re-enrolled still has those 60 credits in the attempted count for maximum timeframe purposes even if they were excluded from GPA. Academic renewal helps GPA; it does not recover the maximum timeframe allowance.
The SAP Appeal Process When Completion Rate Fails
When a student fails the SAP completion rate (drops below 67%), financial aid is typically placed on warning for one term. If the rate does not reach 67% after the warning period, aid is suspended. A successful SAP appeal can reinstate aid on a conditional basis.
What a SAP Appeal Requires
A strong SAP appeal typically documents:
- The specific extenuating circumstances that caused the low completion rate (illness, family emergency, mental health crisis, military deployment) with supporting documentation (medical records, death certificates, military orders)
- An explanation of why those circumstances no longer apply and why performance will improve
- An academic plan approved by the academic advisor specifying the course sequence and credit pace needed to return to 67% completion by a specific date
An approved SAP appeal places the student on an academic plan. Subsequent SAP reviews evaluate whether the student met the terms of the plan. Failing to meet plan terms results in immediate aid suspension without a second appeal. The completion rate must reach 67% by the date specified in the plan; meeting the plan's per-term targets does not guarantee satisfying 67% if the target pace was set incorrectly.
Attempted and Earned Credits on Centralized Applications
Students applying to medical school (AMCAS), law school (LSAC), dental school (AADSAS/AACOMAS), or other programs using centralized application services will find that these services recalculate GPA using their own formulas — formulas that may differ from what your home institution reports.
AMCAS (Medical School)
AMCAS requires applicants to self-report every course from every post-secondary institution attended. AMCAS calculates a separate GPA that includes all courses and applies its own grade point scale. A W grade is not included in AMCAS GPA because it carries no grade. An F that was later replaced under a grade replacement policy at your institution may still count as an F in AMCAS GPA, because AMCAS does not apply institutional grade replacement — all attempts count. The AMCAS total attempted credit hours and earned credit hours are independent of what your home institution reports.
LSAC (Law School)
LSAC calculates a law school GPA that also does not apply institutional grade replacement. A course retaken after a failing grade enters the LSAC calculation with both attempts: the original F and the passing grade both contribute. This is why a student with a strong institutional GPA after grade replacement may have a materially lower LSAC GPA. LSAC GPA is one of the two primary law school admissions metrics alongside the LSAT score.
Students applying to professional programs should calculate both their institutional GPA and their expected centralized GPA (using the application service's instructions) well in advance of application — not the night before the deadline.
Related Sources
- US Department of Education. 34 CFR 668.34: Satisfactory Academic Progress — federal regulation defining the pace requirement (67% completion rate), GPA minimum, and maximum timeframe for Title IV financial aid eligibility. ecfr.gov
- Federal Student Aid. Satisfactory Academic Progress: Information for Students — plain-language explanation of SAP requirements including the completion rate threshold. studentaid.gov
- AACRAO. Transcript and Academic Record Standards — professional standards for how attempted and earned credits are defined and reported on academic transcripts. aacrao.org