What Happens If My GPA Drops?

Students enrolled in courses at the college are expected to make positive academic progress. Positive progress includes any of the following:

  1. Passing any transitional (ESL, developmental English, reading, or math) courses with a Pass (P) or High Pass (HP),
  2. Passing a college-level graded course with a C or higher. 

Note: Although a D-grade (1.0) is considered a passing grade according to Financial Aid and the College, it does not help students increase their GPA so a C-grade (2.0) is recommended.

The minimum overall GPA requirement to stay in good academic standing is a 2.0  

Students are also expected to pass a reasonable amount of courses, as outlined in the college Student Handbook.   

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Probation

A student will be placed on Academic Probation if he/she/they have completed six (6) or more graded credits and whose cumulative grade point average is less than a 2.0 (“C”) during the next session in attendance.

A separate process known as a Lack of Progress hold, will be placed on a student’s registration if the student has not met the Satisfactory Progress guidelines in the Student Handbook, even if that student is technically in “good academic standing” with a 2.0 GPA or above.

The same three (3) step process follows with both the Academic Probation and Lack of Progress status hold:

• A college letter is sent to the student, as well as an email letter to the student’s delaGATE account, recommending that the student meet with his/her/their advisor prior to the end of the term to discuss the student’s difficulties.
• A registration hold is placed on the student’s account.
• Ignoring this status and recommendations may result in a student being academically dismissed from the college for the following semester.

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Dismissal

If a student’s academic progress continues to decline during his/her academic probation term, the student will then be placed on Academic Dismissal.

• A college letter is sent with guidelines to follow for either taking the semester off from school or how to appeal this dismissal process.
• The procedure for appealing the academic dismissal process is complex and monitored closely by the Career & Counseling Center in conjunction with the Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) of the College Advisory System (CAS).
• If students are permitted back to the college to take courses, there is a 1-2 course limit for those students.
• If the student or AAC committee determine the student will take a semester off from school, they are eligible to register without any limitations at the time of the next college fall or spring registration session.  Summer courses are still permitted for these students.