Academic Standing

a. Undergraduate.

The University prescribes minimum standards of scholarship for determining whether a student is to be continued or discontinued. This determination is made at the end of the fall and spring semesters, at the end of the summer session, or any part of a semester in which the student has been enrolled. While the academic standing of a student is determined by the MSU Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA), students must earn a 2.0 GPA on both the MSU and overall cumulative GPA’s to earn a degree.

1. Students with a semester GPA of less than 2.0 who have at least 24 hours of GPA coursework at Mississippi State University AND who fail to meet the following MSU Cumulative GPA requirements will be suspended.
    

2. MSU Cumulative GPA

   Classification	Earned Hours	MSU Cumulative GPA
   Seniors	90 or more semester hours	2.0
   Juniors	60-89 semester hours	2.0
   Sophomores	30-59 semester hours	1.8
   Freshmen	29 or fewer semester hours	1.6(1)

3. No student will be suspended for failing to achieve the required grade point average without first having had at least one semester of probationary notice (not necessarily the immediately preceding semester).
    
4. Students whose cumulative MSU GPA is less than 2.00 at the end of any term will enter the next term on academic probation and will remain on probation until the GPA reaches 2.00 or higher. The course load for students on academic probation is restricted to a total of 16 credit hours; a student on academic probation who enrolls concurrently in excess of this limit in correspondence courses or at another institution will not receive credit at Mississippi State University for such courses. (AOP 12.15 applies)
   
   After being notified of probationary status, a student must schedule an appointment with his/her academic advisor or with the departmental probationary advisor (if the department has a probationary advisor) to devise a plan to improve their academic performance.
    
5. Academic suspension shall be for at least one regular (fall or spring) semester. For students suspended at the end of a spring semester, the suspension precludes enrollment in any summer school session as well as the following fall semester. The student will be readmitted on academic probation following the expiration of the first suspension. A student who attends another university during a suspension from MSU must maintain a 2.0 GPA (calculated by MSU standards) on any transfer work. Students who fail to meet these criteria may be readmitted only on the recommendation of their dean and with the approval of the Provost. A student may continue in school during the second term of summer session, irrespective of his or her record during the first term.
6. A student who has already received an academic suspension who fails to earn a current GPA of 2.0 or higher, and who has less than the required MSU Cumulative GPA, will be placed on academic dismissal. A student who receives an academic dismissal will not be automatically or routinely readmitted. In addition, readmission will not normally be considered until the student has been absent from the University for one calendar year. The Provost/Executive Vice President may approve the readmission of an academically dismissed student only upon the recommendation of the student’s academic dean based on a written petition by the student. Application for readmission should be filed with the student’s Department Head no later than fifteen days prior to the first day of classes.
7. Appeal for a waiver of suspension or dismissal, because of unusual circumstances, should be made through the student’s academic dean to the Executive Vice President or Provost for Academic Affairs. No additional appeal beyond the Executive Vice President is possible.

1	A level of 1.5 was applied for the Fall 2004, Spring 2005 and Summer 2005 semesters.

b. Veterans’ Academic Status.

Students receiving U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs educational benefits will be governed by APO 12.21 in addition to those above.

1. A student’s continued entitlement to the Department of Veterans Affairs educational benefits is determined as follows: If a student’s cumulative average falls below the acceptable level as specified in AOP 12.16 (See Above), he/she will be placed on “first probation to receive VA benefits.” If during the first probation semester, a student does not improve his or her cumulative GPA, VA benefits will be suspended at the end of the semester. If a student’s cumulative GPA improves but an acceptable level is still not achieved, a “second probation to receive VA benefits” semester will be allowed. If the standards of progress are not achieved at the end of the second probation semester, VA benefits will be suspended. Students may not receive further benefits until approved by the VA.
2. Based on VA rules and regulations, students receiving VA educational benefits will receive benefits only for courses that apply toward a degree program. NOTE: Any change in student status, such as drops/adds, major changes or withdrawals from the University, must be reported to the Veterans Administration Supervisor.

c. Academic Amnesty.

Students who have not been enrolled in any post-secondary institution for five years may apply for admission or readmission under the academic amnesty policy through their academic dean’s offices. Academic Amnesty may be applied to a student’s record only once, and the new grade point average will be noted on the transcript at the end of the semester during which the request was approved.. Students admitted under this policy must complete current curriculum requirements in residence to earn a degree. (AOP 12.19 applies.)

d. Academic Fresh Start.

Students who have not been enrolled in any post-secondary institution at any time for at least 24 consecutive months may petition for admission or readmission through their academic dean’s offices under the academic fresh-start policy. All college credits earned prior to being granted academic fresh start will be eliminated from the computation of the student’s grade point average and may never be used toward graduation at Mississippi State University. (AOP 12.17 applies.

The student’s transcript will reflect the complete academic record but will contain the notation at the appropriate point that all academic work prior to the consecutive twenty-four months absence would be declared void for the purposes of academic standing and graduation. The notation will be made upon the successful completion of at least 12 credit hours at Mississippi State University.

Students admitted under this policy must complete current curriculum requirements in residency to earn a degree. This policy may not be honored in other institutions of higher learning.

e. Academic Forgiveness (Course Retake) Policy. (AOP 12.20)

Effective fall semester 2007, for courses taken during or after fall semester 2003, an undergraduate student will be permitted to retake up to two (2) courses, not to exceed eight (8) credit undergraduate semester hours, or one (1) course not to exceed nine (9) credit undergraduate semester hours, in which he or she made a B, C, D, or F with the original grade remaining on the transcript but not counted towards the student’s GPA. The following rules apply:

1. 1. This policy will be applied only to courses that have been taken at Mississippi State University.
2. 2. After the retake, the original grade is left on the student’s record but is not counted in the grade point totals. Only the second grade earned will be used in computing the GPA (in the cumulative totals), regardless of which of the two grades is the higher.
3. 3. The original grade will be used to compute the GPA until the final second grade is issued.
4. 4. Effective fall semester 2007, only courses in which a B, C, D or F grade was earned after fall 2003 are eligible for retaking.