Federal regulations require that schools participating in Title IV student financial aid programs are required to establish, publish, and apply reasonable standards for measuring whether a student has maintained satisfactory progress in his or her course of study.

          The University of North Dakota has published academic standards which all students are required to meet in order to retain satisfactory standing and to continue enrollment at the University.  There is no university-wide standard rate of progress through a program of study.  However, recipients of and applicants for financial aid are subject to a more prescriptive standard of satisfactory rate of progress as described below.

          Students who fail to make satisfactory progress as measured against either the academic standard (qualitative determination) or the rate of progress standard (quantitative determination) shall be ineligible to receive federal financial assistance until eligibility has been reestablished.  Federal financial assistance includes: Federal Pell Grant, Federal Academic Competitiveness Grant, National SMART Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, State Student Incentive Grant, Federal Work Study, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Nursing Loan, Federal Stafford loans, Federal PLUS Loan, Federal GradPLUS Loan, Health Profession Student Loans, and Primary Care Loans.

1.       Undergraduate Students           

a)      Students classified as juniors or seniors by the Registrar or students who have attended UND for two years (defined as 4 academic semesters) or more must have a minimum institutional cumulative grade point average of 2.00.  All other undergraduate students who meet the University's minimum academic standards as defined in the UND Undergraduate Catalog meet this standard. 

2.       Graduate Students

a)       Graduate students who have been in attendance for two academic years or more as a graduate student must have a minimum 3.0 institutional cumulative grade point average to meet this standard. 

3.         Law Students

a)       Law students who have been in attendance for two academic years or more as a law student must have a minimum 2.00 institutional cumulative grade point average to meet this standard.

4.       All students must be eligible to re-enroll in the next term in order to meet this standard.   

5.      The student’s institutional cumulative grade point average will be reviewed at the end of each regular period of enrollment.

6.       Medical Students

         Medical students don’t received grades, therefore they do not have a GPA.  Medical students who meet the Medical School’s academic standards as defined in the Medical School Bulletin and who are eligible to re-enroll in the next term, meet this standard.

1.       Maximum Time Frame

a)      Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students shall be making satisfactory progress for financial aid purposes if their program of study is completed within 150% of the length of the program (a maximum of 187 attempted credits for all programs except Accountancy, Chemical Engineering, Clinical Laboratory Science, Civil Engineering, Geological Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Nursing). 

         Post-baccalaureate students (not admitted to graduate, law, or medical programs of study) enrolled in an educational program that leads to an undergraduate degree or teacher certification are also subject to the undergraduate maximum time frame standard.

b)      Graduate Students

Students admitted to the Graduate School shall be making satisfactory progress for financial aid purposes if their program of study is completed within a maximum of 135 attempted credits. 

c)      Law Students

Students enrolled in the Law School shall be making satisfactory progress for financial aid purposes for if their program of study is completed within a maximum of 135 attempted credits.

d)      Medical Students

Students enrolled in the MD program shall be making satisfactory progress for financial aid purposes for a if their program of study is completed within a maximum of 218 attempted credits.

e)       The maximum time frame standard will be reviewed at the end of each regular period of enrollment.

2.         Minimum Percentage of Completed Hours

a)       In order to earn enough credits to graduate within the above maximum number of attempted hours, students are required to successfully complete two-thirds (66.667%) of the cumulative credit hours attempted..

b)       The percentage of completed hours standard will be reviewed at the end of each semester.

3.       Attempted Credits

Credits enrolled in as of the census date (8^th instructional day of classes) or added after the census date are considered attempted; credits dropped after the census date are considered attempted but not completed in the percentage of completed hours standard.

4.       Completed Credits

         Successfully completed credit hours are those for courses in which a student receives a "passing" grade with the following exceptions, which will not count as credit hours completed: 

a)       Undergraduate grades of I, CD (EHD only), NR, U, W, CW (EHD only), and F.

b)       Graduate School grades of I, CD (EHD only), NR, D, U, W, CW (EHD only), and F.

c)       Law School grades of I, NR, U, W, and F.

d)       Medical School grades of U, W, and NR.

5.      The cumulative total of credit hours attempted and completed will be used to determine satisfactory rate of academic progress.

6.       Transfer Credits

Credits attempted at other post-secondary institutions and recorded in transfer by the University will be included in the determination of both credit hours attempted and credit hours completed.

7.       Coursework that does not count toward the graduation requirements at UND (i.e. Math 102 Intermediate Algebra, all audited coursework) are also not counted in the Rate of Progress Standard.

8.       Repeated Courses

Students who have failed to meet the academic standard and/or the rate of progress standard may reestablish a determination of maintaining satisfactory progress through the following procedures:

1.       Suspended or Dismissed Students       

         Students who have been suspended or dismissed for failure to maintain the University's minimum academic standards as defined in the UND Bulletin corresponding to his or her enrolled status as an undergraduate, graduate, medical or law student, must petition their respective college for reinstatement.  Appropriate forms can be obtained from the Dean's Office of the corresponding college.  Suspended or dismissed students who have been reinstated will be deemed to be meeting the academic standard for the purposes of this policy provided that they meet all other eligibility criteria stated herein.

2.       Failure to Maintain the Required Cumulative GPA

         Students who fail to meet the required cumulative grade point average may reestablish satisfactory academic standing by successfully bringing their cumulative grade point average up to the required minimum.

       Students may re-establish a satisfactory rate of progress by successfully completing two-thirds of the cumulative credits attempted.