Retention in Graduate Programs

Students admitted to graduate degree programs and graduate licensure programs are expected to maintain a high level of scholarship and to make regular and sufficient progress toward program completion.

Maintaining Active Student Status

Students who have matriculated in a graduate degree or licensure program but fail to enroll in program course work for a period of two years are automatically terminated from the program. Students whose admission status is terminated because of a two-year lapse in enrollment may apply for readmission. They must meet current criteria for admission, and, if readmitted, are subject to current program requirements. Doctoral students, during the dissertation portion of their program (after passing the oral qualifying examination), must enroll in at least 1 credit hour each semester (but not summer) in order to maintain active student status. Students who fail to register each semester must back-enroll for all semesters missed in order to graduate. There is a charge of $290 (subject to change) per semester, in addition to tuition and fees, for back-enrollment.

Minimum Grade Point Average

Indiana University course grading is on the following four-point scale:

Students in master's degree and licensure programs are expected to maintain a GPA of 3.30 or higher in graduate course work.

Specialist and doctoral degree students are expected to maintain a GPA of 3.50 or higher. Master's and licensure students whose graduate GPA falls below 3.00 are subject to probation and dismissal. Specialist and doctoral students whose GPA falls below 3.30 are subject to probation and dismissal. Graduate licensure students taking undergraduate courses must maintain a GPA of 2.75 in such course work. Students may not graduate with GPAs in their program course work below the minimum specified levels. Students dismissed for academic reasons may not be recommended for teaching or other education licenses. Students so dismissed may apply for readmission. They will be readmitted only if there is substantial reason to expect that their academic performance will improve.

Accumulation of Incomplete Courses

Graduate students with an inordinate number of incomplete courses will not be allowed to register in additional courses. As a general rule, graduate students with 9 or more credit hours of I or R grades (excluding dissertation credits) will be disallowed further enrollment.

Grading

Policy for Assigning Grades

The following grading policy has been adopted for graduate courses in the School of Education:

A = Outstanding achievement. Unusually complete command of the course content; exceptionally high level of scholarship.

A- = Excellent achievement. Very thorough command of course content; very high level of scholarship.

B+ = Very good achievement.  Thorough command of course material.

B = Good achievement. Solid, acceptable performance.

B- = Fair achievement. Acceptable performance.

C+ = Not wholly satisfactory achievement. Marginal performance on some aspects of the course requirements. Marginal achievement. Minimally acceptable performance on course assignments.

C- = Unsatisfactory achievement. Inadequate knowledge of course content. (Courses with a grade of C- or lower may not be counted in graduate programs.)

Pass/Fail Grading (P/F)

Pass/Fail grading allows master's students who earn any grade from an A to a D in a course to have a grade of P recorded on their transcript. A grade of F is included in the GPA, but the P grade is not averaged in the GPA. Ph.D., Ed.D., and Specialist students may not use either pass/fail or satisfactory/fail graded courses in their degree programs. However, students who have completed enough course work for a master's degree and are in good standing may, upon receiving written permission from their graduate advisor, take classes outside their major and minor areas on a pass/fail basis.

Satisfactory/Fail Grading (S/F)

Courses graded Satisfactory/Fail (S/F) are not the same as courses graded Pass/Fail (P/F). S/F grading is applied to all students in a class. Only a few graduate courses, including some workshop courses and thesis courses, are eligible for S/F grading. A grade of F is included in the GPA, but a grade of S does not affect GPA.

For both pass/fail and satisfactory/fail grading a memo is required from the instructor showing that a grade of B or higher would have been issued to the student for the course. Without this memo the course will not be counted toward a degree program.

Incomplete Course Work (I)

A grade of Incomplete may be assigned when, at the end of the term, a student has not completed all course work. This grade may be given only when the completed work is of passing quality.

Unfinished course work must be completed within one calendar year from the date the grade of I is assigned. The course must ordinarily be completed with the original course instructor. The instructor then files a Removal of Incomplete form and assigns a letter grade. Incomplete grades that are not removed within one year are changed to a grade of F. This change occurs automatically unless the associate dean for graduate studies receives and approves a petition for extension from the course instructor.

Deferred Grade (R)

An R, indicating that the grade has been deferred, may be assigned in thesis and dissertation courses, internship courses, and a few other selected courses where work is expected to take longer than one year to complete. Unlike a grade of I, a grade of R does not automatically change to an F.

Withdrawal from Courses (W and WF)

Withdrawal from enrollment in a course during the drop /add period (in the first week of each term) is not recorded on a student's transcript. Withdrawal after this time is recorded as a W on the student's transcript. During the first quarter of each term, students may withdraw without instructor consent. After this date, instructor approval is required. If a student is failing at the time of withdrawal, or simply discontinues attending the class, a grade of WF (withdrawal with failure) is assigned. This is treated as an F in grade point averaging. Near the end of the term withdrawal is not allowed at all, except in cases where a student is withdrawing from all classes. See the Schedule of Classes at www.onestart.iu.edu for pertinent dates.