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Bulletin Archive

This archived information is dated to the 2011-12 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

Academic Standing

In this section:

Probation

Provisional Registration

Suspension

Returning from Suspension

Notification (Academic Standing)

Up one level:

Academic Policies and Statements

Undergraduates matriculating in or after Autumn 1999 are required to adhere to the following academic standards.

Undergraduates must maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA and a quantitative unit requirement for good academic standing. In addition, a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA is required for conferral of a baccalaureate degree.

Undergraduates normally are expected to plan their academic programs so that they can complete 180 units in four years (twelve quarters), including the requirements for a major and the General Education, Writing and Rhetoric, and Language Requirements. Satisfactory academic progress is, on average, 45 units per academic year for four years leading to at least 180 units, a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0, and a baccalaureate degree.

While undergraduates are expected to register for a minimum of 12 units, they are required to earn at least 9 units each quarter (by the end of the final exam period) and at least 36 units in their most recent three quarters of Stanford enrollment (by the end of the third final exam period). In addition, students are expected to maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0. Transfer work completed at other institutions is not considered in this calculation.

A student earning fewer than 9 units per quarter or fewer than 36 units in three quarters, or earning less than a 2.0 cumulative grade point average, is placed on probation. Additionally, a student may be placed directly on provisional registration or suspension (further defined in this section) without first being placed on probation if the student had a prior probation status. Students on probation or provisional registration status are required to earn a minimum of 12 units of new course work per quarter (by the end of the final quarter examination period for each quarter) in each quarter for three consecutive quarters, and achieve and maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 to attain good academic standing. (A Stanford Summer Session quarter counts toward the three consecutive quarter requirement if 11 or more units are earned). The C-USP Subcommittee on Academic Standing may stipulate otherwise by acting upon a petition for fewer units.

Full-time enrollment is considered to be enrollment in a minimum of 12 units of course work per quarter at Stanford. Under extenuating circumstances, students may petition to the C-USP Subcommittee on Academic Standing to take fewer units. Work necessary to complete units from previous quarters does not count toward the 12 units necessary for full-time enrollment in the current quarter. All students registering for fewer than 12 units should consider the effects of that registration on their degree progress, visas, deferment of student loans, residency requirements, varsity athlete status, and their eligibility for financial aid and awards.

All undergraduates validly registered at Stanford are considered to be in good standing for the purposes of enrollment certification and athletic participation.

Units are granted for courses completed with grades 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' 'D,' 'Satisfactory' ('CR' or 'S'), and 'L.' Courses graded 'N' are counted provisionally as units completed, provided the student enrolls in the continuing segment of that course the following quarter. When the course is completed, the student receives the units for which he or she enrolled. No units are granted for a course in which the student receives an 'I' or an '*' ('GNR' replaces the '*' effective Autumn Quarter 2009-10) until the course is completed satisfactorily and the final grade reported. No units are granted for a course in which the student receives a 'W'. (See the "Grading Systems" section of this bulletin).

Students who receive all 'W's as the result of a Leave of Absence (either voluntary or involuntary) are subject to Academic Standing policies.

The C-USP Subcommittee on Academic Standing in its discretion is empowered to place conditions on students on probation or provisional registration in regard to enrollment and participation in programs and activities. In addition, students on probation require approval in advance from Undergraduate Advising and Research, Residential Education, and the Overseas Studies Program office or Stanford in Washington Program office in order to participate in Stanford's Overseas Studies Program or Stanford in Washington while students on provisional registration are ineligible to participate in these programs.

Academic performance of a student participating in a coterminal program, and whose undergraduate degree or degrees have not yet been conferred, is reviewed on a case-by-case basis in conjunction with the graduate department or program in which the student is enrolled.

Students receiving federal student aid funds must maintain satisfactory academic progress standards that may be stricter than those outlined here. See the Financial Aid Office web site at http://financialaid.stanford.edu for details.

Undergraduates Matriculating prior to Autumn 1999

Note: Undergraduates matriculating prior to Autumn 1999 are required to adhere to the academic standards described above but are exempt from the minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA requirement for academic standing purposes. However, departments can elect to require a minimum GPA for course work applicable to the major and the minor. Refer to departmental literature for specific requirements.

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