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Academic Standing and Registration
Whether you're a current student, a visiting student, or planning to return after a break, this page provides comprehensive information on academic standing.
Academic Standing
Your academic standing is your status at the university based on your academic performance. You must be in good academic standing to move forward in your program and to graduate. Most students are assessed after completing 4.0 credits. Check the academic calendar to confirm your program, as some departments have different regulations. If your academic standing isn't listed, please connect with your academic advisor for program specific information and support.
Undergraduate Students
Good standing means you have met progression requirements related to your program, and may proceed in your course of study. You should review your full program requirements to confirm requirements for graduation.
If you have failed to meet your program’s progression requirements you will be ineligible to proceed in your current program. You will be placed in another program that you are eligible for.
Progression requirements include, but are not limited to:
- successfully completing major courses with a minimum grade, and
- maintaining a minimum overall GPA.
To return to your original program you must meet all re-entry requirements of that program. Up-to-date information about specific program requirements is found in the most recently published Academic Calendar.
Some programs are unable to guarantee re-entry or have special considerations to re-enter. You should speak with your academic advisor for more information.
You will be placed on academic probation when your overall GPA is between a 2.00 (D-) and 3.99 (D+) on a minimum of 4.0 credit attempts.
Academic Probation means that:
- You will be removed from your Honours degree program and placed in a General BA program;
- You will be restricted to a maximum of 2.0 credits per term; and
- If you fail to clear probation you will be Required to Withdraw from the university.
How do I clear Academic Probation?
In order to clear Academic Probation, you must raise your overall GPA to at least 4.00 by the end of 4.0 credit attempts (usually your next 8 courses). All courses completed and attempted by the end of the probationary period will be included in the overall GPA calculation.
Upon clearing Academic Probation, your registration limit will be updated to 1.75 credits for part time studies or 2.5-3.0 credits for full time studies.
Once you have cleared Academic Probation you are not permitted to be on Academic Probation a second time. In the event that your overall GPA drops below a 4.00 for a second time (at progression), you will be Required to Withdraw.
What Happens if I Don't Clear Probation?If you do not earn the required 4.00+ overall GPA to clear probation after your first 4.0 credit attempts, you will receive a one-term extension to achieve the required 4.00 overall GPA. The one-term extension is automatically applied to your account.
You will be required to withdraw from the university when one of the following occurs:
- Your overall GPA is less than 2.00 when academic progression is assessed.
- You fail to clear academic probation.
- Your overall GPA falls below a 4.00, when academic progression is assessed, after having previously cleared academic probation.
- You fail more than 5.0 credits, including repeated courses.
- You were readmitted to Laurier on probation and received a failure while on probation.
For additional information, you are encouraged to contact an Academic Advisor.
How do I obtain readmission after being required to withdraw?Students Required to Withdraw from Laurier and who wish to resume studies have two options:
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Participate in Laurier’s Strategies for Academic Success program. You will be granted conditional readmission on advising support probation with limited registration. Upon successful completion of SAS, you may resume full-time studies while on probation.
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Must be absent from Laurier for a minimum of 12 months. During this period you are required to pursue academic upgrading at an accredited post-secondary college or university. Course pre-approval is mandatory. Please visit Request for Readmission for more information.
This upgrading shall consist of two academic courses, each with a minimum grade of A- (80%) if taken at a college, or B- (70%) if taken at a university.
Upon readmission, you are permitted to enrol in part-time studies in the General BA or BSc without Designation program on readmission probation.
To remain in good academic standing, you must:
- Attain the minimum required academic standing in your courses;
- Maintain continuous registration each semester in your program unless on an approved leave; and
- Where required, and receive a satisfactory assessment on required progress reports.
Master's Students
- Must attain at least a B- grade in each course.
- If required by the degree program, must present and defend an acceptable thesis/research paper.
- Most two-year master's programs also require periodic progress reports.
- Consult the graduate coordinator for your program for details.
Doctoral Students
- Must attain at least a B grade in each course.
- Some programs have additional requirements concerning satisfactory performance. Consult the specific program section in the graduate academic calendar for details.
- Required to submit a report outlining their progress in the program over the past year, by April 15 annually.
- The academic unit/supervisory committee reviews the report and completes the annual evaluation of a student's overall program of studies and research to determine whether progress is deemed satisfactory.
For doctoral students, if progress is deemed unsatisfactory, the department may recommend to the dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies that the student be required to withdraw.
A master's or doctoral student who has failed a course, receives an progress report assessment indicating progression concerns, or who is permitted to continue in a program without fully meeting some requirement, may be classified as a probationary student following a formal review by the department, school or faculty. The student will remain on probation until the course or its equivalent is successfully completed or until some predetermined requirement or condition has been met.
Failure to remove the probationary status within three terms will result in the student being required to withdraw from the program.
Students who are placed on academic probation may, on the recommendation of the department or faculty, be deemed ineligible to receive scholarship and/or Teaching Assistantships until probationary conditions have been cleared.
Where a student has received an unsatisfactory progress report and the remedial period has expired, the program will advise the dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies that the student is required to withdraw. A statement outlining the recommendation and the chronology of events leading to the recommendation (including evaluation reports) is submitted to the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. The dean will communicate the decision to the student in writing.
The student will be given an opportunity to voluntarily withdraw from the program. The withdrawal request must be submitted to the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies within 10 calendar days from the date of the letter to the student from the dean.
A student who is required to withdraw may request reconsideration of that decision to the Graduate Student Appeal Committee if there is new information to present.