Graduate Academic Warning and Suspension Policy

Custodian of Policy: Vice President of Academic Affairs/Graduate Council

Relevant Minnesota State System Policy:

Effective Date: Spring 2019

Last Review: Spring 2019

Next Review: Spring 2026

Policy

All students at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) are required to maintain satisfactory academic progress. This means there are cumulative GPA thresholds and a percent of credit completion that students must achieve. Students are responsible for determining their own academic status, both by monitoring the “Holds” section of the online web registration program, and by comparing their own progress to the standards listed below.

1. GPA Requirement for Continuation in Good Standing. Graduate Students are required to maintain a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale to be continued in a graduate program. Graduate students must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher at the time of graduation.
2. Completion Rate Requirement for Continuation in Good Standing. All students must complete 66.667% of the sum of all MSUM credits attempted plus all transfer credits accepted.
   1. MSUM credits attempted include all MSUM courses on a student's official record, including withdrawals, repeated courses, and grades of Incomplete.
   2. MSUM withdrawals, grades of F, FN, NC, Incompletes, and missing grades count against percent completion because they result in zero credits earned for that course.
   3. Transfer credits accepted and earned credits listed on the MSUM transcript are included in the percent completion calculation as attempted credits.
   4. Percent completion is calculated by dividing the number of earned credits by the sum of MSUM attempted credits plus transfer credits accepted.
3. Academic warning, probation, and suspension holds are placed after the grading period at the end of each semester. Students whose cumulative GPA and completion rate meet the minimum standards are considered in “good standing”. A student whose GPA falls below 3.0 will be placed on academic warning for the next semester in which the student enrolls. For students enrolled in a graduate program, the record will be reviewed by the student's graduate program coordinator and a remediation plan may be developed. During the academic warning semester, a minimum of 3.0 GPA must be achieved as well as the satisfactory completion of a remediation plan. A student's failure to satisfactorily complete a remediation plan and achieve a 3.0 in the semester following the academic warning semester will result in suspension from the graduate program.

Rationale

Existing policy in Graduate Bulletin