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.

 

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. 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 grade to be assigned to this course will either be a grade of “satisfactory” (S), “unsatisfactory” (U), or “unofficial withdrawal” (UW).  A grade of “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 grade of “UW” is to be assigned if a student’s academic advisor communicates to the Director of Graduate Studies that the student has ceased working on the dissertation and has not officially withdrawn. A student scheduled to graduate in a particular quarter is to be assigned a grade by the convocation grade deadline for that quarter.

 

A doctoral student who receives a grade of “U” may be placed on academic probation for up to 3 consecutive academic quarters dependent on the department's own review of the student's progress and communicated timelines and consequences of potential academic probation parameters.  A department or program will communicate with the student who is not making satisfactory academic progress what the expectations are each quarter for the student to return to good academic standing in accordance with University policy.  If at any time during the probationary period the student fails to meet specified expectations, the faculty will determine whether the student should be withdrawn from the program.  

 

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.

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.

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.