Academic Performance & Probation

Academic Performance

Once admitted to the graduate program in Computer Science, a student who fails to maintain a satisfactory academic record will be considered to be on academic probation. A graduate GPA will be computed for each student at the end of each semester; the student’s graduate GPA is the average of all graduate courses attempted while in program within the Department. A student is in good standing if they do not meet any of the conditions for probation (see below). However, there are limits on what courses can be counted towards graduation due to performance; a student’s transcript must satisfy these conditions to graduate:

1. A minimum 3.00 GPA all courses attempted for graduate credit after admission to the degree program
2. A minimum of a C or S for all courses attempted for graduate credit after admission to the degree program
3. No grade of I (Incomplete) on a transcript

No graduate courses with pass/fail credit are accepted as part of a graduate program.  Grades of pass/fail are not awarded at MSU and cannot be transferred to MSU.

A GPA of 3.00 on the minor coursework is required for students completing a minor.

Provisional Admission

Students may be admitted provisionally if their previous academic record has deficiencies but the admission committee believes the student can be successful in the program. Provisional students must take only CSE courses in their first 9 hours and receive a 3.0 GPA in order to remove their provisional status; failure to do so will result in dismissal.

Academic Probation

A student will be placed on academic probation if any of the following the conditions are true:

• A student whose graduate GPA drops below 3.0
• A student who obtains a grade below a B on a prerequisite course
• A student receives a third grade less than a B on any coursework
• A student received a D, F, or U on any coursework (such students may also be dismissed)
• A student is found to have violated the Student Honor Code (such students may also be dismissed)

A student may also be put on probation  if he or she falls short of any other standards for satisfactory academic performance established by the Department.

A student may be removed from a TA or RA position while on probation.

To be removed from probation, the student, by the completion of the next nine graded credit hours of progress toward the degree, must:

• Achieve a graduate GPA of 3.0 or above, and
• Earn a grade of B or above on any prerequisite course for which a grade lower than B was previously obtained, and
• Retake any courses below a B for credit after their third grade below a B.
• Complete other previously established conditions.

If a student does not make appropriate progress to fulfill these requirements, they will be dismissed from the program.