Scholastic Standing Reviews: Probation and Dismissal

Scholastic Standing Reviews

After the fall and spring semesters (not after summer or winter sessions), the Committee on Student Scholastic Standing reviews the record of every student whose semester GPA, cumulative GPA, or major GPA is 2.0 or lower.  The committee decides whether to give these students a warning, place them on probation or dismiss them from the School of Engineering. Students are notified in writing of their academic standing. Low academic performance can also impact eligibility for financial aid.  

Academic Probation 

Students placed on academic probation are notified in writing of their academic status and the conditions of probation before the start of the next term. Students who have pending grade changes may appeal the probation status in writing to their advising dean.  

While on academic probation, students are required to do the following. 

• complete at least 9 credits of STEM courses relevant to their major 

• take no more than 15 credits 

• consult with their advisors regularly 

• register for a designated skills course 

• participate in a specified CANVAS course 

• curtail extracurricular activities (including employment) 

• attend class regularly    

Students can review the course selection guidelines for readmission and probation. Being on probation doesn’t mean that you can’t drop a class. It’s always better to drop a class than to fail it.   

In order to be removed from academic probation, student must bring both their cumulative and major GPA above 2.0.

If, at the end of the probation semester, a students’ term GPA is 2.3 or higher (including no D/F/W/NC in STEM courses) but their cumulative and major GPA is still below 2.0, they will be on probation for another semester. 

Dismissal 

The Committee on Student Scholastic Standing can decide to dismiss students from the School of Engineering.  Students may be dismissed after one semester on probation if ANY of the following occur. 

• Cumulative GPA is less than 2.0. 

• Major GPA is less than 2.0. 

• The student does not improve during the probationary term. 

• The student doesn’t progress in the engineering curriculum even if they show progress in non-STEM courses. 

The Committee on Student Scholastic Standing can decide to dismiss students from the School of Engineering without any prior probation if they have completed one semester of non-engineering coursework. See details below regarding “Non-engineering Program”. 

Dismissed students will be notified via their Rutgers email address file. Registration for the next semester will be canceled and students are removed from the Rutgers directory. Housing and financial aid may also be canceled.  

Options for Dismissed Students

Non-Engineering Program 

The School of Engineering allows students to take one semester of non-engineering coursework (major code: 001) in preparation for a transfer out of SoE. A student will be dismissed from SoE after completing one more semester of non-engineering coursework, with or without being on academic probation in the previous semester. If the cumulative GPA is below 2.0, but the semester GPA is above 2.3, the student can contact their advising dean and apply for a second non-engineering semester to improve the cumulative GPA. In all other cases, the student will not be allowed to continue at Rutgers in the next term and would need to go through the readmission process. 

Rutgers Transcripts 

Students may view Rutgers grades here at any time using the same log-in credentials to access RU email.