Probation, Mandatory Leave and Drop

Policies & Procedures|Probation & Academic Difficulty
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It is crucial that students experiencing academic difficulty engage actively with advisors and others in the Penn community who can help them. During their regular meetings with their advisor, students on probation should reflect on the difficulties encountered in previous courses that led to low grades and follow the advisor's suggestions on ways to remedy such troubles. Students on probation should also take advantage of support services such as those offered by the Weingarten Learning Resources Center and the Tutoring Center.

Students are responsible for having accurate, updated contact information on Penn InTouch so they can be reached about their academic status in a timely fashion.

Students on all types of academic probation (General Academic Probation, Deferred Drop and Incompletes Probation) must meet the following conditions to return to good standing:

  • Meet with their academic advisor regularly while on probation.
  • Complete exactly 4 c.u. on time, with no grades of F, I, GR (no show) or NR and no more than one pass/fail course.
  • Achieve a minimum g.p.a. of 2.00 for that semester.

Students who fail to meet these requirements for recovery from academic probation may be placed on Deferred Drop Probation or Dropped from the University Rolls at the discretion of the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing.

General Academic Probation

Students will be placed on General Academic Probation if they have not met the criteria for good standing.

Students on all types of academic probation (General Academic Probation, Deferred Drop and Incompletes Probation) must meet the following conditions to return to good standing:

  • Meet with their academic advisor regularly while on probation.
  • Complete exactly 4 c.u. on time, with no grades of F, I, GR (no show) or NR and no more than one pass/fail course.
  • Achieve a minimum g.p.a. of 2.00 for that term.

Students who fail to meet these requirements for recovery from academic probation may be placed on Deferred Drop Probation or Dropped from the University Rolls at the discretion of the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing.

Courseload for Students on Probation

Students placed on probation are required to limit their rosters to 4 or 4.5 c.u. per term.

Mandatory Leave of Absence

Students who accumulate two or more incomplete grades in a given term or in cumulative terms may be placed on a mandatory leave of absence by the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing until such work is finished satisfactorily.

Students may apply to return once work is finished satisfactorily and a request to return through the College Office is made and approved. This action is not intended to be punitive; rather, it as an opportunity to finish incomplete courses so that students may start a new term without the burden of extra work and address the issues that led to the incomplete work.

Students who do not complete any courses in one semester are also eligible for a mandatory leave of absence. They may apply to return through the leave of absence return process.

There are a number of things to consider when placed on a mandatory leave: Read more >>

Return from Leave of Absence

return from leave checklist >>

When a student wishes to return from a leave of absence, he or she must submit a request to return no less than six weeks prior to the start of the desired semester (July 15 for the fall semester, November 15 for the spring semester), or before the beginning of the relevant Advance Registration period, if the student wishes to advance register. This is done by contacting an advisor in the College Office and asking for the request to return from leave form.

Any return request submitted to the College later than the above-indicated deadlines may be denied by the College. Timely submission of requests and documentation is a condition of all leaves.

The standard length of a College leave of absence is one year. Students may request an early return from leave after one full semester on leave, but should bear in mind that this request may be denied. Read more >>

Deferred Drop Probation

Students will be placed on Deferred Drop Probation if:

  • They fail to meet the requirements for recovery from General Probation as specified by the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing, or
  • Their academic semester or cumulative g.p.a. is below 1.70.

Students on Deferred Drop Probation must achieve a minimum g.p.a. of 2.00 for that term. If they do not, they may be dropped from the rolls.

In addition, all other rules pertaining to General Academic Probation apply to Deferred Drop Probation.

Dropped from the Rolls

Students may be dropped from the rolls by the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing if:

  • They receive two or more F's in a given term, or
  • They fail to meet the terms of recovery from General Academic Probation or Deferred Drop Probation.

Students who have been dropped from the rolls are required to take a mandatory year away from Penn. They may not receive credit at Penn for courses taken at another institution during the term of the drop.

Students who have been dropped will be eligible to apply for readmission after one full (calendar) year; a second drop is permanent.

Note that a drop supersedes any previously granted leave of absence. Students who have requested a leave of absence for a given semester may still be dropped if their previous term's grades qualify them for the action.

Return From Drop

A student in the College who has been Dropped from the University Rolls will only be considered for readmission after one full (calendar) year following dismissal. A second drop is permanent.  Read more >>