in CA when you get financial aid you have to maintain a min. of 2.0 and have to complete min. number of units.

for example if the min units they require you to complete each semester is 16 then you multiply that by 2.0 (the min gpa) and you get 32.

so you have to have 32 credits. you can get this in many ways. say you only take 8 units but get a 4.0. then again you have 32 credits.

I would say you were deficient because you failed that one class and the rest of your gpa wasn't high enough to bring you up to the minimum credits you have to complete.