Breadcrumb
If a student wishes to appeal his or her final grade in an engineering undergraduate or graduate level course, please refer to the College’s official grade appeal policy and procedures.
Minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) You must maintain a 2.000 cumulative GPA to maintain good academic standing at CU Boulder. In order to graduate with a baccalaureate degree from the College of Engineering & Applied Science, you must have a 2.000 CU cumulative GPA as well as a 2.000 Major GPA.
The overall University of Colorado GPA (also called Cumulative GPA) is computed as follows:
- Add up all the "quality points" for the courses you have taken at CU in the undergraduate career. You can find the quality points earned for each course printed on your CU transcript in the far right column.
- Divide the total number of quality points by the quality units to get your GPA. Courses with grade symbols of P+, P, NC, *** , S, U, W, and I are excluded when totaling the credit hours that go into quality units.
- Tip: See the very end of your CU transcript for the total number of quality points, and quality units, going into your cumulative GPA.
Your Major GPA is calculated as follows:
- Add up the “quality points” for courses that roll up into your Major GPA (this should be shown on your Degree Audit but check with your academic advisor if you have any questions).
- Divide the total number of Major GPA quality points by the total number of Major GPA quality units.
Grades of F earned for courses are included in the GPA. Incompletes that are not rectified within one year are calculated as F grades in the GPA.
Tip: Your Degree Audit calculates and displays your “Cumulative GPA” and “Major GPA”.
After that 10th week final drop deadline published by the Registrar's Office, engineering students should first consult with their academic advisor to determine if they have documented extenuating circumstances to warrant petitioning for a late or retroactive drop of a class(es).
The student should then prepare an online College Petition, indicating what the student is requesting with a detailed explanation of the extenuating circumstance(s) beyond the student's control. Student's statement should include:
- Address why the course could not have been dropped prior to the 10th week final drop deadline
- Address why action is being requested on only a selected course(s) in the term instead of pursuing a full withdrawal of all courses
- A student who received an "Early Alert" message for the course, or who is not in Good Academic Standing, will need additional explanation regarding the late drop request (since such students would have been expected to act proactively and drop the course before the 10th week final drop deadline)
- Supporting documentation should accompany the petition; for example:
- For a health-related reason, students should submit a letter from the student's doctor (on letterhead stationery with signature) indicating the nature of the situation and how it impacted academics. Students SHOULD NOT submit clinical medical reports or medical appointment memos since these materials do not specifically address how the situation impacted academics.
The online petition will be routed for review, including review by the CEAS Undergraduate Affairs Review Board, and the student will be notified of the decision on the petition via email.
If a student wants to drop all of their classes in a semester/term, that is called a Withdrawal and students should refer to the "Withdrawals" section further down on this web page.
Students can count a maximum of 6 credit hours of pass/fail coursework in which they earn a grade of P or P+ toward the credit hours required for graduation. The pass/fail option may be used only in classes taken as free electives.
Courses with the satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) grading basis, and CU Boulder-approved education abroad grades converted to Pass/Fail, are excluded from the pass/fail credit restriction.
The minimum passing grade for a course that is considered a prerequisite for another course is C-, allowing a student to progress through the curriculum and apply these courses towards degree requirements. If the minimum required grade in a prerequisite course is not achieved, the student is required to repeat the course until the minimum acceptable grade has been earned (maximum of 3 graded attempts total to master the subject content at the required level). If a student takes the advanced (post-requisite) course, it does not remove the obligation to meet the prerequisite course minimum grade requirement, even if the grade earned in the advanced course is acceptable.
In general, the minimum passing grade for a course that is not specifically a prerequiste for another required course is D-. However, individual degree programs in the College may require higher minimum grades for specific terminal courses in their curricula.
A student is permitted a maximum of three graded attempts to demonstrate sufficient proficiency in a particular subject area (such as Calculus 1, Physics 2, etc.), including attempts at CU Boulder or other collegiate institutions. A “W” is not considered an attempt towards demonstrating sufficient proficiency. After the third unsuccessful attempt, a student may not be able to retake the course or substitute it with a course in the same subject area from CU Boulder or another institution.
Generally, students do not retake courses (or course equivalents) in which they already have a successful attempt. However, there may be instances in which a student chooses to reenroll in such a course (e.g., a student may wish to invoke Grade Replacement, may need to retake a course for graduate school requirements, etc.). Students may benefit from discussing their specific situation with their academic advisor before reenrolling in a course in which they already have a successful attempt.
The College will apply the grade a student earned in their most recent course attempt to determine if the student meets the grade required for a pre-requisite course. If a student has already earned AP, IB, or transfer college credit for a course, the letter grade from a subsequent attempt of the class through CU Boulder will become part of the student’s CU cumulative GPA. Students cannot retroactively claim AP or earlier earned credit for a course after a subsequent unsuccessful attempt of the class.
Before withdrawing, students may wish to consult with their academic advisor to consider CEAS policies on academic standing, repeating courses, and the implications for financial aid/scholarships, on-campus housing eligibility, and student health insurance.
If a student wants to drop one or more, but not all of their classes in a semester/term, that is called a Late or Retroactive Drop and students should refer to the "Late Drops & Retroactive Drops" section further up on this web page.