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The following grading policy has been adopted for graduate courses in the School of Education:
Pass/Fail grading allows students who earn any grade from an A to a D in a course to have a grade of P recorded on their transcript. The P grade is not averaged in the GPA. Courses taken under the Pass/Fail grading option may not be included in graduate degree programs.
Courses graded Satisfactory/Fail (S/F) are not the same as courses graded Pass/Fail (P/F). S/F grading is applied to all students in a class. Only a few graduate courses, including some workshop courses and thesis courses, are eligible for S/F grading. A grade of F is included in the GPA, but a grade of S does not affect GPA. For both pass/fail and satisfactory/fail grading, a memo is required from the instructor showing that a grade of B or better would have been issued to the student for the course. Without this memo the course will not be counted toward a degree program.
A grade of Incomplete may be assigned when, at the end of the term, a student has not completed all course work. This grade may be given only when the completed work is of passing quality. If the course work has been completed, but is of poor quality, a grade of I may not be given. Incomplete is not to be used as a mechanism for deferring a low grade. Unfinished course work must be completed within one calendar year from the date the grade of I is assigned. The course must ordinarily be completed with the original course instructor. The instructor then files a Removal of Incomplete form and assigns a letter grade. Incomplete grades that are not removed within one year are changed to a grade of F. This change occurs automatically unless the director of graduate studies receives and approves a petition for extension from the course instructor.
Students may not reenroll in a course in which they have a grade of I.
An R, indicating that the grade has been deferred, may be assigned in thesis and dissertation courses, internship courses, and a few other selected courses where work is expected to take longer than one year to complete. The Education Records Office maintains a list of courses approved for R grading. Unlike a grade of I, a grade of R does not automatically change to an F.
Withdrawal from enrollment in a course during the drop/add period (in the first week of each term) is not recorded on a student's transcript. Withdrawal after this time is recorded as a W on the student's transcript. During the first quarter of each term, students may withdraw without instructor consent. After this date instructor approval is required. If a student is failing at the time of withdrawal, or simply discontinues attending the class, a grade of WF (withdrawal with failure) is assigned. This is treated as an F in grade point averaging. Near the end of the term withdrawal is not allowed at all, except in cases where a student is withdrawing from all classes.
Students who have matriculated in a graduate degree or licensure program but fail to enroll in program course work for a period of two years are automatically terminated from the program.
Students whose admission status is terminated because of a two-year lapse in enrollment may apply for readmission. They must meet current criteria for admission, and, if readmitted, are subject to current program requirements.
Doctoral students, during the dissertation portion of their program (after passing the oral qualifying examination), must enroll in at least one (1) credit hour each semester (but not summer) in order to maintain active student status. Students who fail to register each semester must back-enroll for all semesters missed in order to graduate. There is a charge of $290 per semester (plus tuition) for back-enrollment.
Indiana University course grading is on the following four-point scale:
Grade points are computed by multiplying the number of credit hours for a course times the course grade value. Grade point average (GPA) is computed by dividing the total number of hours completed into the total number of grade points earned.
Students in master's degree and licensure programs are expected to maintain a GPA of 3.30 or higher in graduate course work. Master's and licensure students whose graduate GPA falls below 3.00 are subject to probation and dismissal. Graduate licensure students taking undergraduate courses must maintain a GPA of 2.75 in such course work.
Specialist and doctoral degree students are expected to maintain a GPA of 3.50 or higher. Specialist and doctoral students whose GPA falls below 3.30 are subject to probation and dismissal.
Students may not graduate with GPAs in their program course work below the minimum specified levels. Students dismissed for academic reasons may not be recommended for teaching or other education licenses.
Students so dismissed may apply for readmission. They will be readmitted only if there is substantial reason to expect that their academic performance will improve.
Accumulation of Incomplete CoursesGraduate students with an inordinate number of incomplete courses will not be allowed to register in additional courses. As a general rule, graduate students with nine or more credit hours of I or R grades (excluding dissertation credits) will be disallowed further enrollment.
Full-time graduate students typically enroll in 9 to 12 credit hours per semester.
Specialist and doctoral students should normally carry no more than 12 credit hours per semester.
Master's and licensure students may be able to carry 15 credit hours per semester.
The maximum allowable course load for graduate students is 16 credit hours in a fall or spring semester.
At Bloomington, the maximum load in Summer Session I (six weeks) is 6 hours. The maximum load in Summer Session II (eight weeks) is nine (9) credit hours. At Indianapolis, each summer session is six weeks long, and the maximum allowable course load for each session is 7 credit hours. A maximum of three (3) credit hours may be earned in each summer intensive session.
Graduate students holding appointments such as associate instructor, graduate assistant, and research assistant for 15 hours per week (37.5 % full time equivalency) or more must be registered for six (6) credit hours during each semester (no registration is required during summer sessions).
Fellowship holders who do not hold a position as a graduate assistant, research assistant, or associate instructor must enroll in a minimum of eight (8) credit hours per semester.
International students who do not hold a position as a graduate assistant, research assistant, or associate instructormust enroll in at least eight (8) credit hours per semester in order to meet visa requirements.
Students receiving financial aid must meet certain courseload requirements in order to continue receiving funds. Please visit Student Central for the most current information regarding these requirements.
Up to nine (9) hours of credit gained through workshop courses (including conference and institute courses) may be used in master's and specialist degree programs. Some workshop courses are identified by the word "workshop" in their title. Other workshop courses are taught under regular course numbers. The Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, following guidelines provided by the School of Education faculty, has the responsibility to determine which course offerings are to be counted as workshop courses.
Correspondence courses and activity courses may not be used in graduate programs. Activity courses are courses for learning and practicing a nonprofessional skill, such as a sports activity or playing a musical instrument.
Nondegree students in the University Graduate School are subject to the same rules that apply to special students in the School of Education. Courses taken as a nondegree student may or may not be allowed to count in graduate degree or licensure programs. This judgment will be made by a program advisor and by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies (Bloomington) or by the Director of Student Services (Indianapolis) after the student has been admitted to a graduate program. Fifteen (15) credit hours is the maximum number taken as a nondegree student that may normally be counted in a graduate degree or licensure program.
Some graduate course work completed at other universities may be transferred into degree and licensure programs at Indiana University. The course work must meet the following requirements:
Master’s Degree Students: Master’s students must complete a minimum of 27 credit hours of course work at Indiana University with a minimum of 15 credit hours earned through the campus awarding the degree.
Specialist Degree Students: Specialist students must complete a minimum of 35 credit hours of course work at the Bloomington or Indianapolis campuses of Indiana University.
Doctoral Degree Students: Doctoral students in the 90 credit hour program must complete a minimum of 60 credit hours of course work (this includes dissertation credits) at the Bloomington or Indianapolis campuses of Indiana University.
Ed.D. Post-Master’s Degree Students: Ed.D. students in the 60 credit hour post-master’s doctoral program must complete a minimum of 42 credit hours of course work (this includes dissertation credits) at the Bloomington or Indianapolis campuses of Indiana University.
Licensure Students: Licensure students are generally required to complete at least half of their course work at the Bloomington or Indianapolis campus of Indiana University.
Please contact gsostusv@indiana.edu for information about leaves of absence.
