Academic Standards Regulations
Each college has an academic standards committee that is responsible for monitoring the academic progress of all undergraduate students in that college, based on policies and minimum requirements set by the Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Standards and Admissions and ratified by the Faculty Senate. Individual college faculties may, with the approval of the Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Standards and Admissions, set additional program admission and curriculum requirements that are more stringent than those established for the university. These additional requirements must be reviewed at least every third catalog by the college academic standards committee to determine if the requirements should be continued. Requirements approved by the college academic standards committees will then be forwarded to the Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Standards and Admissions for final approval. The college committees are responsible for actions involving individual students with respect to placing students on Academic Probation, dismissing students from the university for unsatisfactory academic progress, and reinstating student who have been Academically Dismissed.
Changing colleges: A student on Academic Probation may transfer to another program in the university before period 3 begins (before the last day to drop a course.) For students on Academic Probation, transfer during period 3 (after the last day to drop a course) can only occur under exceptional circumstances and with the approval of the chair of the new program and the dean of the new college.
Withdrawal: A student on Academic Probation who withdraws during period 3 will be Academically Dismissed at the end of the term the student withdraws, except under extenuating circumstances as judged by the college academic standards committee.
Reinstated students: Reinstated students should also see the section on Reinstatement.
Veterinary Medicine: Additional rules for minimum satisfactory progress are in effect.
Special (nondegree) students: Students matriculated in this classification category are governed by the regular academic progress regulations. Furthermore, by special action of their college academic standards committee, additional standards may be required.
Academic Progress
For questions concerning interpretation and application of the rules governing academic progress, students should contact the chair or secretary of their college academic standards committee in their college office.
The university's academic standards rules are presented below. In addition to taking action based on these rules, a college academic standards committee may also place a student on academic probation or dismiss a student from enrollment in the university when, in the college committee's judgment, the student's academic performance or progress toward a degree is exceptionally deficient. Likewise, a college committee may, under exceptional circumstances, exempt individual students from the application of these rules. Students who participate in the Regent Universities Student Exchange Program, or in a similar program where the credit taken at the other school will be considered as resident credit and the grades included in the student's ISU cumulative grade point average, are subject to Iowa State University's academic standards.
Maintaining Satisfactory Progress
Continued enrollment at Iowa State University depends upon an undergraduate student maintaining satisfactory academic progress toward attaining a degree. To assist students in maintaining satisfactory progress, Iowa State University has adopted academic standards designed to provide early identification of students who are experiencing academic difficulty, and to provide timely intervention through academic advising and academic support programs.
Academic standing at Iowa State University is dependent upon the total number of credits a student has attempted or earned, the student's semester grade point average (GPA), and the student's cumulative ISU GPA.
Academic Warning
While Academic Warning is the least severe of the negative academic standings, it serves as a reminder that future academic performance below 2.00 could result in more serious consequences. In fact, a student on Academic Warning whose subsequent term GPA is below a 2.00 will be placed on Academic Probation the following term.
Students who receive an Academic Warning are required to develop a plan for academic improvement in consultation with their academic advisor or the Academic Success Center. A student who is subject to both Academic Warning and Academic Probation will be placed on Academic Probation. The Academic Warning is not a part of the student's permanent academic record.
Students will receive an Academic Warning at the end of any fall or spring semester when they earn a GPA of 1.00 – 1.99 for that semester. At the end of the next fall or spring semester of enrollment, one of the following actions will be taken for students on Academic Warning:
- Students will be placed on Academic Probation if they earn less than a 2.00 GPA for the next fall or spring semester, or
- They will be removed from Academic Warning if they earn at least a 2.00 semester GPA for the next fall or spring semester, and they are not subject to Academic Probation based on cumulative GPA (over 75 credits).
See Summer Academic Standards Regulations section for how summer grades affect Academic Warning, Academic Probation, and Academic Dismissal.
Academic Probation
Students are placed on Academic Probation as a warning that their academic progress is not satisfactory and that they should take steps to improve their academic performance to avoid Academic Dismissal from the university. Academic Probation is an indication of very serious academic difficulty. Students may be placed on Academic Probation as a result of either semester GPA, cumulative GPA, or both. Academic Probation status is not a part of the student's permanent academic record.
Students on Academic Probation and Academic Warning are required to meet with their advisor and to complete the Academic Intervention Self-Assessment form, which can be accessed here: https://www.provost.iastate.edu/academic-programs/policies/academic-standing.
Students will be placed on Academic Probation at the end of a semester/term for either of the following two reasons:
- Semester GPA: Students who earn less than a 1.00 at the end of any fall or spring semester, or less than 2.00 two consecutive semesters, will be placed on Academic Probation. Students will not be placed on Academic Probation at the end of the summer term due to summer term GPA only.
- Cumulative GPA: Students with 75 or more credits attempted or earned, whichever is greater, will be placed on Academic Probation at the end of any fall or spring semester or summer term when their cumulative GPA is less than 2.00.
At the end of the next fall or spring semester of enrollment, one of the following actions will be taken for students on Academic Probation:
- Students will be academically dismissed if they fail to earn at least a 2.00 semester GPA.
- Students will continue on Academic Probation if they earn at least a 2.00 semester GPA but are subject to continued Academic Probation based on their cumulative GPA (over 75 credits).
- Students will be removed from Academic Probation if they earn at least a 2.00 semester GPA and are not subject to continued Academic Probation based on their cumulative GPA (over 75 credits).
See Academic Dismissal for dismissal policy.
See Summer Academic Standards Regulations section for how summer grades affect warning, probation, or dismissal status.
Academic Dismissal
Students who do not meet the requirements of their Academic Probation are Academically Dismissed from the university. Each College Academic Standards Committee is responsible for final decisions regarding the academic status of students in that college, and any appeals to Academic Dismissal are considered by the college committee. Once a student has been Academically Dismissed, they are not allowed to re-enroll at Iowa State University until they have been Academically Reinstated. (See section on Reinstatement.) Academic Dismissal is placed on the student's academic record as a permanent notation. The official transcript of a student who has been Academically Dismissed includes a "Not Permitted to Register" notation.
Summer Academic Standards Regulations
Students who are newly placed or continued on Academic Probation at the end of the previous semester may enroll for the summer term without being in jeopardy of Academic Dismissal from the university at the end of that summer term.
Summer Combined Term GPA:
All students who attend summer session will have their academic status reassessed at the end of the summer based on the combined (not averaged) grade summaries of their previous graded term of attendance and summer term. Academic status (warning or probation) after summer session will be based on the resulting combined term GPA. The academic status resulting from the summer combined term GPA supersedes the academic status at the end of the previous term.
For students who have remaining designated repeat credits, courses taken in the previous semester and repeated in summer will be calculated as designated repeats in the combined term GPA.
The combined term GPA (summer plus preceding term) will not appear on the student's grade report or permanent record.
Summer term GPA alone cannot determine academic status. Students who initiate enrollment at Iowa State during the summer will not be placed on Academic Warning or Academic Probation regardless of their academic performance.
Summer Cumulative GPA:
A student who was on Academic Probation at the beginning of summer term based only on cumulative GPA, who raises his or her cumulative GPA to over a 2.0 at the end of the summer term shall be removed from Academic Probation status at the end of the summer term.
A student with 75 or more credits attempted or earned, whichever is greater, will be placed on Academic Probation at the end of the summer term if his or her cumulative GPA is less than 2.00.
A student with 75 or more credits attempted or earned who has a transfer GPA less than 2.00 will be placed on Academic Probation at the end of any summer term if his or her combined transfer/ISU cumulative GPA is less than 2.00.
