University Policy

The faculty of the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development has empowered the Associate Dean for Student Affairs in collaboration with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs to review the records of all undergraduate students in Wheelock at the close of each semester. Using the criteria outlined on the Academic Standing for Undergraduate Students in Full-Time Programs policy page, the college may warn a student of failure to make satisfactory progress, place a student on probation, suspend a student, or dismiss the student from the University.

Academic requirements for maintaining financial aid may differ from the requirements listed below. For information on maintaining financial aid, please see the academic requirements for maintaining financial aid.

Satisfactory Progress—College-Specific Policies

In addition to meeting BU standards, those who matriculated into the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and those transferring into Wheelock after July 1, 2011, must earn a grade of B– or better in both of two required courses: SED ED 110 (Introduction to Education) and either SED SE 250, SED SE 251, or SED SE 510 (Introduction to Special Education) in order to continue in one of Wheelock’s teacher education licensure programs. Students may repeat the course one time to achieve the grade of B– or better. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs will monitor student performance in these classes and will notify the student and the advisor if the student fails to achieve the required minimum grade.

Good Academic Standing

Graduate students must maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0 to be in good academic standing, and they must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 in courses counted toward the degree to graduate from the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.

Graduation GPA Requirement

Graduate students must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 in courses counted toward the degree in order to graduate.

Academic Probation and Removal from Academic Probation

The Faculty Assembly of the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development has empowered the Office of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs to review the records of all graduate students enrolled in Wheelock College of Education & Human Development degree/licensure programs at the close of each fall and spring semester. Using the criteria outlined below, the college shall place a graduate student on academic probation or remove them from probation under the conditions described below.

Academic Probation

A graduate student shall be placed on academic probation when the student’s grade point average at the end of either fall or spring semester falls below 3.0. The student will receive written notification of probationary status.

Removal from Academic Probation and Dismissal

Graduate students on academic probation are reviewed at the end of each academic year semester. To be removed from academic probation, a graduate student must achieve a GPA of 3.0 or above by the close of the next academic year semester in which the student is registered. Those students who do not achieve Good Academic Standing during the probationary semester will be considered for dismissal from the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, or for an additional semester of Academic Probation. Typically, students are only permitted two cumulative semesters of Academic Probation. However, final determination of the probation period and subsequent action is at the discretion of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, in consultation with the Academic Affairs Committee. All actions concerning academic standing may be appealed to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. A final appeal may be made to the Dean of the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.

Definitions and Calculations of GPI and GPA for Academic Standards

All coursework taken at Boston University or through the Boston University Consortium to fulfill degree requirements will be used to determine the official Boston University GPA.

Academic semester

An academic semester consists of either Semester I or II of the official academic year, which runs from September through May of each year. Boston University Summer Term will also be defined as an academic semester if 12 or more semester credits are taken over the course of the two summer sessions. (EdD and PhD candidates must register for a total of 12 semester credits—four semester credits in one Summer Term and eight in the other—if they intend to use a Summer Term in conjunction with a regular academic semester to meet residency requirements.)

Please note that summer sessions do not count as a semester for Academic Standing purposes, unless the student has completed 12 or more credits over the two summer sessions.