Academic Standards

The university requires students to declare a major by the time they have earned 105 credits. Students are urged to meet with an advisor to determine a major. A registration hold is placed on students who have reached 105 credits and not declared a major. In rare cases, a student who has met with an advisor will be granted a pre-major extension.

Students who have completed 165 or more credits, completed eleven or more academic satisfactory progress quarters and who do not have a graduation application or graduation plan on file will receive a registration hold and must meet with their advisor to start planning for graduation. In order to remove the hold, the student must submit a graduation application or a graduation plan.

The university’s satisfactory progress policy requires that students complete their undergraduate degree within 30 credits beyond the minimum required for the degree. Because most degrees require 180 total transfer and UW credits, students generally must complete their programs by the time they earn 210 credits.

Undergraduates who have completed more than 210 credits will be notified by the end of the third week of the quarter that a block is being placed on their registration due to lack of satisfactory progress. Students are encouraged to meet with their academic advisors to prepare a graduation plan or complete a graduation application.

Academic Alert Status

An undergraduate student whose grade point average falls below 2.00 in their first quarter at the university receives an academic alert status. If a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 for courses earned in residence at the university is not achieved by the end of the next quarter, they are placed on academic warning status.

Academic Warning and Dismissal

Academic warning status is essentially a warning that the student must show improvement if the student is to remain at the University. An undergraduate student is placed on academic warning if their cumulative GPA falls below 2.00, except for their first quarter when an academic alert is issued. They must achieve a 2.00 GPA for each subsequent quarter until their cumulative GPA is raised to 2.00 or they are put on academic drop status. 

Senior in Final Quarter

A senior who has completed the required number of credits for graduation, but whose work in what would normally be their final quarter places them on academic warning status, does not receive a degree until removed from academic warning status. A senior who has completed the required number of credits for graduation, but whose work during the last quarter results in academic drop status, does not receive a degree until readmitted and removed from the academic warning status.

An undergraduate student who is placed in academic drop status will be readmitted to the university only at the discretion of the pre-major reinstatement committee or if in a major, the student’s academic program. In most cases, a student may be required to sit out one quarter. A student readmitted after being dropped under these rules reenters the university on academic warning status. The student’s GPA is the same as when dropped from the university, and the student may not use grades from other colleges or universities to raise their UW grade point average. A readmitted student is dropped if they fail to attain either a 2.00 grade point average for the following quarter’s work or a cumulative UW grade point average of 2.00 at the end of that quarter. The student is removed from probation at the end of the quarter in which a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 or better is reached. The Petition for Reinstatement form is available online through the Office of the Registrar. To be considered, the reinstatement petition must be submitted to an academic advisor three weeks prior to the start of the quarter.

Please note: The University of Washington transcript is comprised of course work and grades from all three campuses. Students who are dropped for low scholarship from one campus and reinstated at another will remain on academic warning status until their cumulative grade point average reaches 2.00.