Undergraduate Academic Policies

Academic Standing

Academic standing is a measure of your academic success at CU Boulder based on your cumulative CU GPA. Undergraduate students are required to maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.000 or better to be in good academic standing. 

More information on academic standing can be found here. Academic Standing | Office of the Registrar | 鶹Ƶ

To review the university’s academic standing policy in full, see the .

Grade Changes

Grades reported by instructors are final. Grade changes will be considered only in cases of documented clerical errors and must be approved by the instructor. The instructor, not the department chair or dean, has the authority to change students’ grades. Here is the Grade-Change Workflow for instructors to change grades.

Grade Replacement Policy

Below is the link of the Grade Replacement policy effective starting Fall 2019 at CU-Boulder. Students interested in taking advantage of this policy are encouraged to discuss it with their academic advisors to make sure their graduation will not be delayed.

Incomplete

Leeds students are eligible to request an incomplete grade only if they have completed a significant amount of coursework but experienced extenuating circumstances.

The student and the professor need to fill out Leeds Incomplete Agreement Form to specify in writing how the student will complete the coursework and keep it for future reference. Here is the link for Leeds Incomplete Agreement Form.

The student needs to make up the missing assignment or exam within an academic year or the incomplete grade will turn into an F grade.

It is the instructor’s and the student’s responsibility to make sure the “I” becomes a letter grade. Here is the Grade-Change Workflow for instructors to change grades.

Pass/Fail Grading

Except for spring 2020 impacted by COVID-19, Leeds students may choose pass/fail grading only for:

  1. A maximum of 6 hours of non-business electives. The rest of the courses applied to the degree requirements--MAPS, Arts & Sciences Core/General Education, BCOR, Emphasis area, business electives and the majority of the non-business electives—all need to have letter grades, with the exception that certain courses are designated to be pass/fail grading, such as BADM1250, BADM2010, study abroad courses, INBU4910, MGMT4910, REAL4810, ACCT6000, etc.
  2. Excess courses not applied to degree requirements, either business or non-business courses. For example, if students are interested in taking business or non-business courses in addition to their degree requirements with the purpose of learning, maintaining full-time status or earning more credits for the CPA eligibility, they have the option to choose pass/fail grading.

Students must choose pass/fail grading before the deadline. Please see the Academic Calendar on the Registrar’s website for the deadlines.

Withdraw from the Semester

During the Fall or Spring semester, CU-Boulder students may withdraw from the semester before the beginning of the final exam period by submitting the online withdrawal form.

Please note: If you are taking BCOR MODS or BASE MODS, please check the Special Session Calendar and meet with your academic advisors.

In the summer, each summer session is considered a separate term. Therefore, students may withdraw from the term up to the last day of classes by submitting the online withdrawal form. Students can find the deadlines by searching “Boulder Summer Session” and then click “Calendars.”

International students are required to talk to the ISSS advisor before withdrawing from the semester and summer term.

Retroactive Withdrawal

Leeds students who experienced extenuating circumstances in a previous semester but did not withdraw may discuss with their academic advisors to determine if retroactive withdrawal petition is an appropriate option for them.

International students are encouraged to talk to the ISSS advisor before petitioning retroactive withdrawal.

Waitlist

If you are waitlisted for a course, there is no guarantee that you will become officially enrolled in that course, even if you are # 1 on the wait list. Please follow the instructions for “Drop if Enrolled “on the Registrar’s website to enroll in a backup course while waitlisted for the closed course

Please meet with your academic advisor to evaluate your waitlist situation. Your academic advisor could provide additional information, such as room capacity or a potential new section, to help you make the wise decision. Please do not email your professor asking to become enrolled.

For further details, please visit the CU Boulder Waitlist for Closed Classes page.

It is important to attend both the enrolled class and the waitlisted class in the beginning of the semester until your waitlist situation is resolved. It could be helpful to introduce yourself in the first class to the professor of your waitlisted course and express your desire to become enrolled if seats are available. The Registrar’s office cancels the waitlist on the third Friday after the first day of the semester.

Grade Appeal Policy

The following shall be the official policy of the academic units of the Leeds School, unless an academic unit submits an alternative procedure to the Dean for approval. When a student believes that a grade has been improperly assigned, and discussions between the instructor and the student have not led to any resolution of the problem, then the student may pursue the following steps:

  1. The student shall have the option of making a formal written appeal to the Division Chair for the instructor’s unit. The appeal must detail the basis for the appeal, including relevant written documentation, specify the remedy desired by the student, and must be submitted within 30 days of the end of the academic term in which the course was taken. The instructor will be provided the opportunity to respond in writing to the student’s appeal.
  2. The Chair will meet (together or separately) with the student and with the instructor who taught the course. If the Chair is unable to secure a solution mutually acceptable to both student and instructor, then
  3. The Chair shall appoint an ad hoc Grade Appeals Committee, which will review the dispute. This Committee shall consist of at least three impartial faculty members competent in the subject matter of the course in question. Members of this committee need not be from the Chair’s division. The Chair will provide the Committee with the student’s appeal and a written response from the faculty member.
  4. Within 30 days, the Committee will submit a report and recommendation to the Chair, and Chair will recommend to the instructor either 1) that the originally assigned grade stands; or 2) that a revised final grade be assigned.
  5. In cases where a change of grade is recommended and the instructor does not wish to accept the recommendation of the Chair, the Chair will forward the written materials associated with the appeal, together with the recommendation of the Chair, to the Dean (or a designee), who will make the final decision on the student’s grade appeal.