Several undergraduate students, two wearing virtual reality headsets, working in a classroom

Academic Policies

All students are responsible for knowing College and University academic policies. Some of the most important are listed below. It is not a complete list. Students may request an exception to policy in certain cases.

University Policies

A complete guide to University policies is available in the Undergraduate Catalog. A few noteworthy policies are the following:

Repeat credit limit

  • Students may attempt a course a maximum of two times. A "W" counts as an attempt.
  • Students may repeat a maximum of 18 credits. A "W" counts as an attempt.

Taking courses at another institution

  • CMNS students must complete a permission to enroll form BEFORE enrolling in a course at another institution.
  • Depending on the major and the course, only certain classes can be taken at another institution.
  • Students are not permitted to repeat a course at another institution once it has been attempted at UMD (includes W).
  • Details on the process are found in the permission to enroll section of the website.

Final 30 credits

  • The final 30 credits of each student's degree must be completed at the University of Maryland with some exceptions.

Academic probation and dismissal

  • Students whose cumulative GPA drops below a 2.0 are placed on academic probation.
  • Students who do not raise their cumulative GPA to a 2.0 or above risk being academically dismissed from the University.
  • Details can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog

University grading system

Minimum grade requirements

  • A "D-" or higher is required in all Gen Ed courses except Academic Writing (e.g., ENGL101), which requires a "C-" or higher
  • A "C-" or higher is required in all major courses (unless specified otherwise on the curriculum sheet for the major or minor)

Minimum GPA requirements

  • Students need a minimum 2.0 GPA to graduate.
  • Students must have a minimum 2.0 GPA across all major requirements to earn the degree.
  • Details on calculating GPAs are found on Testudo.

GPA calculation with repeated courses

  • Cumulative GPAs are calculated using all grades. The following cases allow for GPAs to be calculated using only the higher grade for a course:
    • When the repeated course was originally taken within the student's first semester at UMCP
    • For students starting as first-semester freshmen at UMCP (not transfer students): When the repeated course was originally taken within the student's first 24 credit hours attempted (including transfer credits) or within the semester during which the student reached the 24th credit hour attempted. Advanced Placement Exam credits do not count toward the 24 credits.
  • All grades appear on transcripts regardless of if they are included or excluded from the GPA calculation.

Graduation

  • All students must submit an Application for Graduation to the Office of the Registrar no later than the final day of schedule adjustment in the term during which the student plans on graduating.

College Policies

Maximum credit limit

  • Students may take a maximum of 17 credits per fall or spring semester, 4 credits per winter semester, and 8 credits in a single summer session.

Minimum grade requirement

  • Unless specified otherwise, students need at least a "C-" in all courses required for the major.
  • Beginning with students matriculating in Fall 2012, students must have a minimum 2.0 GPA across all major requirements to earn the degree.