Good academic standing for doctoral students is determined throughout the year by the student's home program. For more information, please review this section of the student manual. Additionally, in the summer, the Graduate Financial Aid office reviews student records for federal loan eligibility, in compliance with federal financial aid regulations. To determine whether a doctoral student is in good academic standing in a given academic year in accordance with federal financial aid regulations and remains eligible for federal loans, grades must have been entered by the end of the spring quarter for all courses of each previous academic quarter during which the student was enrolled.

 

Spring review is a process in which departments review students for good academic progress during Spring Quarter. This can be the evaluation and assessment of coursework, grades, program participation, exam scores, and milestone marker completion. For students who are post-candidacy, there will be a yearly writing requirements needed for submission to show academic progress. The Dean of Students Office will review this process with departments and will assist in communicating the outcome of these evaluations if there are concerns about the student's progress. 

 

All doctoral students who are enrolled in fewer than 300 units (typically 3 courses) will be enrolled automatically in an “Advanced Studies” course, which will carry up to 300 units of course credit. The instructor of record for this course will be the Director of Graduate Studies of the student’s program.

 

All students enrolled in this course must receive a grade for the course for every quarter and the grade will be recorded by the Director of Graduate Studies or a faculty designee. The DGS will confer with the faculty advisor and others, as appropriate, to ensure that each student is making satisfactory academic progress and will assign either a grade of “satisfactory” (S) or “unsatisfactory” (U).  A grade of "unsatisfactory" (U) is to be entered in a particular quarter if a student’s academic advisor communicates to the Director of Graduate Studies that the student is not making satisfactory progress or if a student has not met specific academic requirements set by a department.  A student scheduled to graduate in a particular quarter must be assigned a grade by the convocation grade deadline for that quarter.

 

A doctoral student who receives a grade of “U,” who fails to meet other milestone markers articulated in a department's handbook, or who recieves a poor evaluation following Spring Review may be placed on academic probation. A department or program will communicate with the student in collaboration with the Dean of Students Office who is not making satisfactory academic progress what the expectations are for the student to return to good academic standing in accordance with department policy.  If the student fails to meet specified expectations during their academic probation, the student may be administratively withdrawn. Some departments have very clear milestone markers delineated for students which do not account for an academic probation timeline, but rather immediate administrative withdrawal, i.e. failing comprehensive exams a set number of times, failing to submit a Qualifying Paper or receive a failing grade for a set number of times on a QP, etc.  

 

Multi-Year Masters Students

• quarterly by the program for academic purposes and 
• in the summer by the Student Loan Administration for federal loan eligibility, in compliance with federal financial aid regulations.  

To determine whether a student in a multi-year masters program is making satisfactory academic progress in a given academic year in accordance with federal financial aid regulations and remains eligible for federal loans, grades must have been entered by the end of the spring quarter for all courses of each previous academic quarter during which the student was enrolled.

Masters programs may have additional requirements and expectations as it pertains to satisfactory academic progress, including academic probation parameters and withdrawal designations as outlined in their program handbooks. 

One-Year Masters Students

• quarterly by the program for academic purposes and 
• quarterly by the Graduate Financial Aid office for federal loan eligibility in compliance with federal financial aid regulations.  

​To determine whether a student in a one-year masters program is making satisfactory progress in accordance with federal financial aid regulations and remains eligible for federal loans, grades must have been entered by the end of each quarter for all courses in which the student was enrolled.

Masters programs may have additional requirements and expectations as it pertains to satisfactory academic progress, including academic probation parameters and withdrawal designations as outlined in their program handbooks.

For more information about the federal aid regulations and satisfactory academic progress, please see the Graduate Financial Aid Office's policy here.

 

Academic departments and programs may have additional requirements as it pertains to this policy that students must adhere to during the course of their program.