Current and proposed standards for satisfactory academic progress for recipients of federally sponsored student financial aid under Higher Education Act Title IV are reviewed. The review covers the following standards, proposals, and guidelines: the Veterans Administration standard, a self-regulatory initiative and guidelines for colleges provided by the American Council on Education (ACE) and others; a National Association of Student Financial Aid (NASFA) monograph that explains the self-regulation guidelines; proposed regulations for Title IV issued by the U.S. Department of Education that would incorporate the standards of the ACE statement; a General Accounting Office report that is critical of the institutions' academic progress standards and that offers policy recommendations; and the Pell-Nickles Bill to amend Title IV to provide academic progress standards. This overall review also includes a survey of student financial aid officers, which indicates the actions being undertaken by postsecondary institutions in light of the self-regulatory initiative. Eight recommendations are offered, and appendices include sample institutional policies, the text of the Pell-Nickles Bill, a satisfactory progress checklist, the ACE statement, and the NASFA monograph. (SW)