Academic Probation

No college student heads off to college with the plan of being placed on academic probation and face possible dismissal. As a matter of fact, few parents think about this when they drop their student off for college during the late months of August. But the reality is that, for most students, once their institution has officially notified them that they are in danger of being dismissed; parents turn from being a tremendous asset, to making matters worse. Here are some ways you, and your college student, can cope with academic probation.

What’s academic probation?

Generally speaking, “academic probation” is the most common term colleges and universities use to indicate that a student is not proceeding academically as required by their institution. In other words, it’s a warning that the student’s performance falls below the university's minimum requirement for “good academic standing.” Academic standing is often measured by GPA (grade point average), but can also be determined by a student’s academic progress, and the number of credit taken and passed. It is possible, at some schools, that a student may in fact have a high GPA, but may withdrawn from too many courses throughout the course of a semester. Most schools expect students to maintain a 2.0 GPA, which is average. Other schools, however, might even lower that number for first year students.

Being placed on probation is usually not the same as being asked to leave college. However, students are typically given a grace period -normally one semester- to demonstrate that they can indeed turn things around. This isn’t meant to insult students, or make them bad. In fact, the message is meant to serve as a wake-up call, letting students know they need to make some