Policies & Procedures: Academic Notice and Disqualification
To be considered in good academic standing students must have all of the following:
- maintain an overall UC grade point average (GPA) ≥ 2.0;
- maintain a technical GPA ≥ 2.0;
- maintain an upper division technical GPA ≥ 2.0;
- earn a semester GPA of ≥ 2.0;
- and make normal degree progress toward your officially declared major.
If you have failed to meet the minimum academic standards, contact your Engineering Student Services (ESS) Adviser immediately. If there are extenuating circumstances that contributed to your academic difficulty, you should discuss these issues with your ESS Adviser.
Records of all students subject to suspension/on academic notice, or subject to dismissal/subject to academic disqualification, are reviewed at the end of each semester. Advisers encourage students to complete forms (which will be sent to you by your ESS Adviser) explaining the nature of their difficulties and their plans to return to good academic standing. After careful review of their files, students may fall under one of the following:
- Academic notice (formerly referred to as subject to suspension)
- Suspension
- Subject to disqualification (formerly referred to as subject to dismissal)
- Disqualification (formerly referred to as dismissal)
Due to the timeline for posting of official grades, students may not be notified of their status for several weeks after the end of the semester under review. If students are suspended or disqualified, their enrollment will be canceled for that semester regardless of when the notification occurs.
“Subject to suspension” was renamed as “academic notice” in fall 2024. This has also been known as academic probation or probation.
Students who are not suspended after review will continue on academic notice and are then required to return to good standing. In order to return to good standing, students must do all of the following by the end of the semester they are on this academic notice:
- earn an overall grade point average (GPA) ≥ 2.0;
- earn a semester GPA ≥ 2.0;
- earn an overall and semester technical GPA ≥ 2.0;
- earn an overall and semester upper division technical GPA ≥ 2.0;
- take all courses on a letter graded basis (unless the course is only offered P/NP)*
- and make normal degree progress toward your officially declared major.
Most of these GPA calculations are available through CalCentral and through the Academic Progress Report (CalCentral/My Academics).
Students who are allowed to continue on academic notice must meet with their Engineering Student Services (ESS) Adviser to develop a plan to return to good standing, discuss which courses they should be taking, and be aware of the grades they need to return to good standing. If students do not meet with their ESS adviser, they will receive an enrollment hold in the following semester in addition to their semester-end review.
Students who are suspended after review will be required to:
- take a break for at least one academic year from UC Berkeley following their suspension, and
- take a break from academics entirely in their first semester out (if students opt to take any courses in their first semester away, they will jeopardize their readmission to the College of Engineering).
- After one semester away from academics, if students believe that they have successfully addressed their challenges and wish to enroll in courses at another institution (ex. a community college), or at UC Berkeley through Concurrent Enrollment, they can contact their Engineering Student Services (ESS) Adviser to discuss whether or not this would be an appropriate option.
International students who are suspended are recommended to connect with the Berkeley International Office right away to discuss options.
*If a student is enrolled in a course on a P/NP basis that can be taken for a letter grade, the grading option will be changed and a letter grade will be recorded for the course.
If you have been dismissed from the College of Engineering only once prior to Fall 2023*, or if you have been suspended from the College of Engineering, you may be considered for readmission for a future semester.
Students who are suspended after review will be required to:
- take a break for at least one academic year from UC Berkeley following their suspension and,
- take a break from academics entirely in their first semester out (if students opt to take any courses in their first semester away, they will jeopardize their readmission to the College of Engineering).
- After one semester away from academics, if students believe that they have successfully addressed their challenges and wish to enroll in courses at another institution (ex. a community college), or at UC Berkeley through Concurrent Enrollment, they must contact their Engineering Student Services (ESS) Adviser to discuss whether or not this would be an appropriate option.
After a year or more away, the Dean’s Committee may consider readmission applications from students who can demonstrate that they used their break from academics to identify, and take tangible steps to address the challenges that led to their academic difficulty. Students are required to meet with their ESS Adviser regarding readmission application requirements. Readmission after suspension is not guaranteed.
Students who have been dismissed from the College of Engineering only once prior to Fall 2023*, or if they have been suspended, will be subject to disqualification during the first semester of their return.
*Prior to Fall 2023, suspension did not exist and students were allowed to be dismissed twice. For Fall 2023 and beyond, dismissal/disqualification from the College of Engineering will be final.
“Subject to dismissal” was renamed as “subject to disqualification” in fall 2024.
Students who have been readmitted after being dismissed from the College of Engineering only once prior to Fall 2023*, or readmitted after they were suspended, return on subject to disqualification status.
Students who are currently in subject to dismissal status and are not disqualified after the current semester’s review will continue on subject to disqualification status. They will be required to return to good academic standing. In order to do this, students must do all of the following by the end of the semester they are on subject to disqualification status:
- earn an overall grade point average (GPA) ≥ 2.0;
- earn a semester GPA ≥ 2.0;
- earn an overall and semester technical GPA ≥ 2.0;
- earn an overall and semester upper division technical GPA ≥ 2.0;
- take all courses on a letter graded basis (unless the course is only offered P/NP)**
- and make normal degree progress toward your officially declared major.
If students do not meet all of the criteria above, they may be disqualified from the College of Engineering.
Most of these GPA calculations are available through CalCentral and through the Academic Progress Report (CalCentral/My Academics).
Students who are allowed to continue on subject to disqualification status must meet with their Engineering Student Services (ESS) Adviser to develop a plan to return to good academic standing, discuss which courses they should be taking, and be aware of the grades they need to return to good academic standing. If students do not meet with their ESS adviser, they will receive an enrollment hold in the following semester in addition to their semester-end academic review.
*If a student is enrolled in a course on a P/NP basis that can be taken for a letter grade, the grading option will be changed and a letter grade will be recorded for the course.
**Prior to Fall 2023, suspension did not exist and students were allowed to be dismissed twice. For Fall 2023 and beyond, dismissal/disqualification from the College of Engineering will be final.
“Dismissal” was renamed as “disqualification” in fall 2024.
If you have been suspended, or dismissed just once prior to Fall 2023, from the College of Engineering and are not in good academic standing in any semester after you return, you may be disqualified from our college. Students who are dismissed/disqualified from the College of Engineering from Fall 2023 onwards are not eligible for readmission to our college, but could theoretically apply for readmission to other UC Berkeley colleges in the future, if they are eligible. Students who wish to pursue this should refer to the other college’s websites for eligibility criteria and may wish to meet with the advisers in the other college regarding how to proceed.
