Academic Standing and Progression

College-wide academic standards apply to all ACPHS students.

Individual programs may have additional academic standards and policies with enhanced stringency that will supersede the respective college-wide academic standards.

Academic Standing

The academic standing of students is designated as one of the following at the end of each academic term: fall, spring, summer session I and summer session II.

Good Academic Standing

Students who have successfully completed all coursework with grades, semester and cumulative GPAs that meet or exceed the minimum college-wide and programmatic academic standards, and/or are making appropriate progress on thesis or capstone work are designated as being in good academic standing.

Note:  Good academic standing does not assure progression into the professional years of the College’s programs. Students are not officially informed of this status unless they are being removed from academic probation imposed in the previous semester.

Grades and Grade Point Average (GPA)

• Faculty are responsible for assigning grades in each course. In the event of an unresolved conflict between an instructor and a student over a course grade, the student should refer to the “Course Concerns” procedure below.

• At the discretion of the instructor and department chair, a grade of “I” (Incomplete) may be assigned when a student does not complete the requirements of a course within the semester of enrollment due to extenuating circumstances.
  • Instructors may request that a grade of I be assigned to a student using the Incomplete Grade Request Form found on the Registrar’s intranet site. Unless the faculty member submits a final grade, the Registrar’s Office will change an incomplete grade to the grade indicated on the request form when the deadline established by the faculty (no longer than one semester) has passed.
  • An incomplete grade does not satisfy the prerequisite of another course.
  • Students cannot graduate from the college with an incomplete grade on their record.

• Some courses are graded on a pass/fail basis. Grades of “P” are not calculated into the GPA.

• Earned quality points for each course are calculated by multiplying the number of credits for that course by the GP equivalent. For example, a student taking Physiology/Pathophysiology I (4 credit course) receiving a grade of B+ (GP=3.3) would earn 13.2 quality points (4 credits x 3.3 GP=13.2). The total (semester, cumulative, or professional) quality points earned is determined by adding the quality points of all courses.
• To determine academic standing, GPAs are rounded to the nearest tenth of a point (0.1).  Semester, cumulative and professional GPAs are calculated by dividing the total quality points earned by the total credits.

* The above numerical equivalents are provided as a guideline to faculty and students.  Please consult individual course syllabi for course grading and rounding policies. 

Requirements for Graduation

Candidates for all degrees must have satisfied all of the academic requirements of the program and be approved for conferral of the degree by a majority vote of the faculty. Students must pay all College-related financial obligations and return all material belonging to the College in order to be eligible for graduation. The College reserves the right to change the requirements for graduation.

Master of Science Programs: Requirements for Graduation
Students in any MS program must earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 to be eligible for graduation.

Doctor of Pharmacy Program: Requirements for Graduation
Students in the PharmD program must earn a cumulative professional GPA of 2.5 or better at the end of P4 to be eligible for graduation.

Graduation Academic Honors

Undergraduates
In recognition of distinguished academic achievement, the College awards graduation honors to undergraduate students based on the cumulative GPA calculated from didactic coursework taken at ACPHS at the time of graduation.

Summa Cum Laude 3.9 – 4.0
Magna Cum Laude 3.7 – 3.8
Cum Laude 3.5 – 3.6

Doctor of Pharmacy
In recognition of distinguished academic achievement, the College awards graduation honors to PharmD students based on the cumulative GPA calculated from required professional coursework and professional electives completed during the professional years of P1 to P3 at ACPHS.

Summa Cum Laude 3.9 – 4.0
Magna Cum Laude 3.7 – 3.8
Cum Laude 3.5 – 3.6

Doctor of Pharmacy Program: Experiential Honors
10% of the graduating class will be honored at commencement for exemplary performance on experiential rotations. Preceptors will nominate students for this honor, and honorees are selected by the Division of Experiential Education.

Graduate Honors:
ACPHS does not award academic Latin honors for master’s students. This is because the basic requirement for good academic standing for a Master’s student is a 3.0 GPA.  If we were to award academic honors at that level, the vast majority of our graduate students would be on the list diminishing the value of the awards.