Academic Standing

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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.

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.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.

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 their 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 their 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 their combined transfer/ISU cumulative GPA is less than 2.00.

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.

The procedures in this section apply to students who were dismissed from Iowa State for academic reasons. If you left Iowa State University in good academic standing and seek to restart your academic career, please review the “Reentering ISU” procedures found by looking at the Iowa State website index.

1. Reinstatement is not automatic. Students who have been dismissed for academic reasons should contact the dean's office in the college they wish to enter for instructions specific to that college. The college Academic Standards Committee reviews each petition and other relevant information, and reinstatement is based upon that review. As part of the petition process, students must submit a plan for academic success that identifies the causes of their poor academic performance and demonstrates that they have taken actions to avoid or eliminate these causes.
2. Students can only be reinstated after at least one academic semester (fall or spring) has elapsed since they were academically dismissed. Winter session and summer session are not considered semesters.
3. Students who have been dismissed from enrollment two or more times are not eligible for reinstatement until at least two academic semesters (fall and spring) have elapsed since their last academic dismissal. Winter session and summer session are not considered semesters.
4. Students who were dismissed by one college and subsequently reinstated by another college cannot transfer back to the original college unless permission is granted by the Academic Standards Committee of the original college. This procedure applies regardless of the student's academic standing when the transfer is requested.
5. To be considered for reinstatement to the university, students must submit a petition to the Academic Standards Committee of the college in which they desire to enroll at least 45 days before the beginning of the semester. Students who have not been enrolled for a period of 2 years or more must also apply for reentry. For more information see the Reentry web site at http://www.registrar.iastate.edu/info/reentry.html. (Students dismissed for the second time and requesting reinstatement in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences must submit their petition 70 days before the beginning of the semester.)
6. Juniors and seniors with extenuating circumstances may request a waiver of their required semesters of absence as identified in number 2 and 3 above. The petition requesting early reinstatement must be submitted through procedures specified by their college's Academic Standards Committee.
7. As a condition of reinstatement, students will reenter on academic probation and must accept whatever additional requirements are stipulated by the college Academic Standards Committee. Examples include full- or part-time status, specified credit hours, specific courses, specific GPAs, restriction on choice of major, and required counseling.

Students may appeal a decision regarding their academic status if they believe that new information can be provided, or extenuating circumstances exist that would alter the application of any rule in this section. The appeal should be made in writing to the Academic Standards Committee of the college in which the student is enrolled. The written appeal must include the reasons for the appeal and the evidence to substantiate these reasons.

The student should initiate the appeal immediately upon receipt of the Academic Standards committee’s decision, and at least 10 calendar days before the beginning of the semester. The student’s academic college will inform the student of the deadline for submission of written appeal, with instructions on how and where to submit appeal documentation.

Further information on the appeal process may be found here.

Students who are returning to Iowa State University to pursue an undergraduate degree after an extended absence may request permission to remove one or more of their complete academic terms from future degree and GPA considerations.

Eligibility. To be eligible for academic renewal consideration, students must meet these requirements:

1. Students must not have enrolled at Iowa State University for four or more consecutive calendar years.
2. Students must not have graduated from Iowa State University.
3. Students must have demonstrated satisfactory academic performance as evidenced by earning a GPA of at least 2.00 over a minimum of 12.00 credit hours taken after returning to the university. If more than one semester is taken to reach 12.00 credit hours, the combined GPA of all semesters/terms of enrollment after returning to the university must be 2.00 or greater.

Conditions. Academic renewal is based on the following conditions:

1. All courses and credits that were taken during the chosen terms will be removed from consideration for GPA and degree requirements. Students may not combine courses from multiple terms to comprise the semester(s) or quarter(s) dropped. Degree requirements met during the dropped terms will ordinarily have to be repeated.
2. Renewal may be applied only to academic terms completed prior to the students' extended absence.
3. All courses and grades for the chosen terms will remain on the students' academic record.
4. Designated repeats and P/NP options will be reinstated for the terms dropped.
5. Students may be granted only one academic renewal.

Procedures:

1. Students should discuss their desire to pursue academic renewal with an advisor in the college they wish to enter.
2. The student must submit a request for Academic Renewal in Workday.
3. After the request is initiated by the student it will route for approval to the academic advisor and college student services offices and then to the Records area in the Office of the Registrar, 010 Enrollment Services Center.

Who needs to complete the Academic Intervention Self-Assessment (AISA)/Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal?

1. Undergraduate students who are currently enrolled and placed on academic warning and/or
2. Undergraduate students who are currently enrolled and placed on academic probation and/or 
3. Undergraduate students who left Iowa State University due to being academically dismissed or while on academic probation and are returning to Iowa State University and/or
4. Undergraduate students who are placed on Financial Aid Suspension

Financial Aid Suspension vs. Academic Warning/Probation

Federal regulations require students to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to receive financial aid. Students who are on Financial Aid Suspension must appeal for the reinstatement of their financial aid by submitting the Academic Intervention Self-Assessment (AISA) and meeting with their academic advisor. Appeal approval is not guaranteed. 

Iowa State University has a separate policy to monitor a student's academic standing. The Iowa State University Academic Warning and Probation policy is different from the financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy, and a student may need to submit the Academic Intervention Self-Assessment (AISA) for being on Academic Warning or Probation, even if they are not receiving financial aid.

Students needing to Complete Only the SAP appeal, or BOTH SAP & AISA

• Students will have a Task to complete in Workday
• Click on “MyTAsks” in the upper right corner of the screen, and find “View or Edit Academic Plan-SAP: SAP Appeal Event”
• Go to this link for further instructions

Students needing to Complete Only the AISA

• Log into Workday and go to your Academics Dashboard
• At the right side of the page, click on “More” under Academic Records
• Click on the “Complete Academic Intervention Self-Assessment”

How exact do students need be when completing the section that requests their courses for the next two semesters?

Allow the student to make the most informed estimate about their future courses by discussing their degree audit and any prerequisite courses required to proceed in their designated major. The upcoming courses do not need to be exact, but they should closely align with courses required on the student’s degree audit.

Why does my advisee still have a registration hold after I marked their AISA as complete?

Marking the AISA as complete does not remove the student’s registration hold. The Academic Advisor must mark the AISA as complete and remove the student’s registration hold for the student to be able to register for future semester courses.

Why am I reviewing an AISA for a student who is in good academic standing and not on Academic Warning or Probation?

The student is on financial aid suspension, and the financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress policy may not align with the college’s academic warning and probation policy. The student has been notified about the exact reason why they are on financial aid suspension, and questions about financial aid suspension may be directed to the Office of Student Financial Aid at 515-294-2223.