Policies Governing Academic Standing
Good Academic Standing
The College expects all of its students to maintain good academic standing, which is defined as follows:
- The student must maintain a term and cumulative g.p.a. of 2.0 or higher.
- The student may not earn more than one Incomplete or F in a given term.
- The student must complete at least a total of 6 c.u. over a period of two consecutive terms (summers not included).
- The student must be making progress toward a College degree.
Letters of Academic Standing
Students may need an official letter from the College confirming their academic status, including whether they are full-time and in good academic standing. The College can prepare these letters at a student's request. Students should follow these instructions:
Email [email protected] with the phrase "Request for a full-time good standing letter" in the subject line. The student should provide an email address to which the letter should be sent (it can be sent back to the student or on to a third party). Unless otherwise requested, the letter will be in PDF format.
Those requesting such letters should allow for at least three business days for processing (and during peak periods of the semester even more).
Students must be enrolled in no fewer than 3 c.u. in order to request a letter attesting to their full-time status. If a student is on academic probation for the current semester, the College will not be able to certify "good standing" in this letter.
Academic Difficulty
It is crucial that students experiencing academic difficulty engage actively with advisors and others in the Penn community who can help them. During their regular discussions with their pre-major advisor or an advisor in the College Office, students on probation should reflect on the difficulties encountered in previous courses that led to low grades and follow the advisor's suggestions on ways to remedy such troubles. Students on probation should also take advantage of support services such as those offered by the Weingarten Center.
- Students are responsible for having accurate, updated contact information on Path@Penn so they can be reached about their academic status in a timely fashion.
- Students who earn more than one F will be subject to the academic standing process and therefore eligible for an immediate drop even if previously in good academic standing.
Classifications
Students who do not fulfill the criteria for good academic standing may be placed in one of the following categories at the discretion of the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing:
Students will be placed on Academic Status Alert if they have not met the criteria for good standing.
Students on Academic Status Alert must meet the following conditions to return to good standing:
- Speak with their academic advisor regularly while on Academic Status Alert.
- Complete exactly 4 c.u. on time, with no grades of F, I, GR (no show) or NR and no more than one pass/fail course.
- Complete at least a total of 6 c.u. over a period of two consecutive terms (summers not included).
- Achieve a minimum g.p.a. of 2.0 for that term and cumulatively.
Students who fail to meet these requirements to return to good academic standing may be placed on Academic Status Warning or Academic Suspension at the discretion of the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing.
Students will be placed on Academic Status Warning if:
- Their academic semester or cumulative g.p.a. is below 1.7.
- They are reviewed by the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing and not academically suspended.
Students on Academic Status Warning must meet the following conditions to return to good standing:
- Meet with their academic advisor regularly while on Academic Status Warning.
- Complete exactly 4 c.u. on time, with no grades of F, I, GR (no show) or NR and no more than one pass/fail course.
- Complete at least a total of 6 c.u. over a period of two consecutive terms (summers not included).
- Achieve a minimum g.p.a. of 2.0 for that term and cumulatively.
Students who do not meet these conditions may be placed on academic suspension or academic dismissal (see below) by the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing.
Students may be placed on academic suspension or dismissal by the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing if:
- They receive two or more F's in a given term, or
- They fail to meet the terms of recovery from Academic Status Alert or Academic Status Warning.
Students on academic suspension are required to take a year away from Penn. They may not receive credit at Penn for courses taken at another institution during the term of the academic suspension.
Students on academic suspension will be eligible to apply for readmission after one full calendar year; an academic dismissal is permanent.
Note that an academic supension supersedes any previously granted leave of absence. Students who have requested a leave of absence for a given semester may still be placed on academic suspension if their previous term's grades qualify them for the action.
Communication Tools
The Hub is used when the College wishes to communicate sensitive documents to students.
Students are encouraged to get to know and communicate regularly with their instructors by taking advantage of office hours and via email. The following tools also facilitate that communication:
- Course Action Notices are used by students to notify instructors about absences and by instructors when they have a concern about how a student is doing in their course.