Advising Topics: A

Issues to Consider Before Withdrawing from a Class

Issues related to full time status

A student must maintain 12 credits to be considered full time. This includes remedial courses (those numbered below 100) and courses you are repeating.

If you fall below full time at any point in the semester, it may affect the following:

Health insurance coverage, if you are covered under your parents' plan
Athletic eligibility (check into both the enrollment requirements for this
semester and the credits needed for the whole year)
Veteran's benefits
Financial aid
- Financial aid for the semester is based on enrolled credits at the end
  of the drop period
- If you have already received your federal financial aid for this semester, the biggest issue after that is "satisfactory progress," or the total
  number of credits earned at the end of the year. You must successfully complete 67% of the credits in which you are enrolled for the full year. For continued deferment of loan repayment, you need only to be
  enrolled half-time (6 credits).
- Scholarships may have other requirements.
Eligibility for the dean's list and academic distinction

What will not happen:

You will not be "kicked out" of the residence halls.
Being less than full time in itself will not affect your academic standing. Withdrawing from more than one class will. (See below.)

Academic standing and withdrawing from a class

To remain in good academic standing, a student must:

achieve a semester G.P.A. of 2.0 or higher;
achieve a resident G.P.A. of 2.0 or higher;
complete 75% of the courses for which the student is enrolled at the end of the drop period (the second week of classes).
- Exception to the 75% rule: Students are always allowed to withdraw from one course, even if it brings them below 75%.
- Note: Incompletes and "U's" do not count as completions.

What this means for withdrawing:

Withdrawing from one course, no matter how many credits it is or how many credits you have to start out, will NOT affect your academic standing.
Withdrawing from a second course WILL USUALLY affect your academic standing. See p. 32 of the University Catalogue for the exact number of
credits students must complete to remain in good standing.

Repeating a Course

You may repeat a course once. All grades remain on your transcript.

If you withdraw from a class, you will have only one more chance to complete
it.
If you stay in a class, receive a C- or lower and retake it, the second grade replaces the first in the g.p.a., but both grades remain on the transcript.