Probation questions & answers

Students who earn an IU cumulative grade point average (IU GPA) below 2.0 are placed on some form of academic probation (either "Probation" or "Critical Probation") because they have fallen below IU's GPA requirement standard for "Good Standing". Academic "Good Standing" requires an IU GPA of at least 2.0.

"Probation" is a warning. Probation does not result in dismissal.

"Critical Probation" is more serious. Being placed on Critical Probation twice can result in academic dismissal from IU-Bloomington.

The type of probation (probation vs. critical probation) is based on IU GPA in relation to total (IU + transfer) credits.

• Academic status is based upon all credit hours attempted (both transfer hours and IU graded hours) and the IU GPA.
• IU GPA hours, transfer hours and GPA can be viewed on a student’s unofficial transcript available from .
• "Tested" hours and P/F hours are not included in the graded hours unless a grade of "F" was earned.
• Ask an advisor if you have questions about your total hours.

*To calculate Credit Hours Completed, include IU GPA hours (not hours earned) + transfer hours

If you have questions about this after reviewing the information above, talk with an advisor.

Completing the Phoenix Program Agreement and achieving satisfactory academic progress (SAP) for your Financial Aid are not the same thing. Student Central Financial Aid completes a review of your academic progress at the end of the academic year.

Read about the requirements to make satisfactory academic progress (SAP). Questions about financial aid are handled by Student Central.

If you receive approved SAP appeal, you need to meet the terms of the appeal.

University Division students are dismissed at the end of any term if their IU GPA falls into the CRITICAL probation range for a second time and their most recent semester GPA is less than 2.5.

Dismissed students are automatically unenrolled from IUB classes and may not enroll in classes at IUB for at least one fall or spring semester. If you are dismissed at the end of the fall semester, your spring IUB enrollment will be cancelled. If you are dismissed at the end of the spring semester, your summer and fall IUB enrollment will be cancelled.

After at least one fall or spring semester away from IUB, dismissed students can petition for reinstatement by the appropriate deadline: November 1 or June 15. https://ud.indiana.edu/policies/reinstatement.html   

There is no automatic reinstatement or guarantee of reinstatement.

If you are an international student and are dismissed, contact the Office of International Services (ois@indiana.edu or 812-855-9086) immediately.

If you are a University Division student in the probation process you are required to meet in a scheduled advising appointment with your assigned advisor during the first few weeks of the semester to develop and sign a Phoenix Program Probation Agreement.

You are also expected to enroll in EDUC X 158: The Culture of College (3 credits) in the semester ahead.

To successfully complete the probation process, you must raise your IU GPA to 2.0 or above.

There are three essential objectives for developing and signing a Phoenix Agreement:

1. to make sure you understand the semester GPAs that will be required to avoid critical probation or dismissal and to raise your IU GPA to 2.0 (good standing)
2. to review where you stand in relation to the admission GPA requirement for your intended major/program.
3. to help you identify your academic goals for the semester ahead and to consider challenges you face in achieving them.

In order to register for classes during the next Early Registration period, you must fulfill the terms of your Phoenix Agreement.

If this is your first time working through the probation process, or you have not yet passed EDUC-X158 Culture of College, you should enroll in EDUC-X 158 this semester.

You may need to drop another course to accommodate EDUC-X 158 in your schedule. Discuss any enrollment changes with an advisor during the first week of the semester.

If EDUC-X158 has no seats available, enroll in a first eight weeks section of EDUC-X150 or in EDUC-X156 instead.

If you have questions about this requirement, talk to a University Division advisor before the end of the first week of classes.

You are encouraged to enroll in EDUC-X157 Key Strategies for Academic Success (1 credit).

In addition, you need to schedule an appointment with your advisor in the first weeks of the semester to sign a Phoenix Program Agreement II and to calculate your target GPAs.

You will need to meet with your advisor two times in the semester, the first to sign the Phoenix Program Agreement II and the second to plan enrollment for the next semester.

In most cases you have the same advisor as you had last semester. If you are uncertain, you can check this by going to IU.edu > SOAR. Once logged into SOAR, you can locate your academic advisor’s name and email on the left-hand side, below your profile picture.

All UD students (except IU athletes) schedule appointments by using the Student Appointment Scheduler (SAS) at IU.edu.

If you are assigned to an Athletics advisor: Call 812-855-0876 to schedule an appointment.

1. Between Week 2 - Week 4 of the semester ahead: Schedule an advising appointment to sign your Phoenix Agreement. This will be a comprehensive session to review your academic performance to date, your goals, your challenges—and to calculate required GPAs.
2. Around midterm: Before you register for the next semester, schedule an appointment to review your status in your enrolled courses and to plan ahead for the upcoming term.

Use University Division’s online GPA Calculator:

GPA Calculator

Grades “A” through “F” are assigned numeric values, or credit points:

Credit points are multiplied by credit hours to represent numerically a student’s achievement in a course.

• Example: if a student earns a C in a 3 credit hour course, 6 credit points are earned for that course (3 hours x 2.0 points).
• If a student earns a B-, C, D and D- in four 3 credit hour courses, 19.2 credit points are earned for that semester [(3 x 2.7 = 8.1) + (3 x 2.0= 6) + (3 x 1.0 = 3) + (3 x 0.7 = 2.1)].

Always talk with your advisor before repeating a course.

If you earned a D- or higher in a course, you've already received credit for it and will not receive additional credits for completing it a second time. But, if a specific minimum grade (eg. C-) is required in that particular course to complete your intended major/minor, you need to repeat the course.

If you repeat a course, both grades are factored into your IU GPA—unless the Extended-X Policy is applied.

Discuss this grade replacement policy with your advisor.

Read about the policy on the UD Website's Extended-X Policy page and note that:

• You may retake up to three courses totaling no more than ten credits.
• This option may only be used once for a given course.
• On your transcript the original grade will be replaced with an "X" and will not be factored into your IU GPA.

You can file your "X" petition either online or with a paper application:

Online: complete, sign and submit the Extended-X petition form using the electronic request form at https://ovpue.indiana.edu/forms/iu/extended-x.pdf

Paper Copy: Drop into the OVPUE Record's office, Herman B Wells Library 002.

Note: It is strongly recommended that you submit the X for before finals week in order for the X to figure in academic status calculations.

Academic records are reviewed after final grades have been posted at the end of fall, spring, and summer terms.

Emails with academic status notifications are sent following that review.

Courses taken at other IU campuses affect your IU Bloomington academic status in exactly the same way as courses taken at IU Bloomington.

It's a bit complicated. The grade earned will not impact your IU GPA, but the (transfer) credits earned will be added to your total credits. Raising your total credits without raising your IU GPA could result in falling from Probation into Critical Probation. If you have already been placed on Critical Probation once, this situation could result in your dismissal.

Talk with your advisor before taking courses through non-IU campuses to determine any potential impact on your academic status.

For most financial aid, the minimum requirement is that you must maintain an IU GPA of 2.0 or higher and complete at least 67% of hours attempted (W's, I's and F's do not count as completed hours). Many scholarships and grants have requirements that are more stringent.

If you have been receiving any financial aid, contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance via Student Central at (812) 855-6500 to determine if/how your financial aid has been impacted.