Policies and Academic Performance

General Guidelines

  1. Each graduate student is required to file a Committee Request Form with the Graduate Coordinator in the first semester of enrollment.  An approved Committee Request Form is due in the Office of the Graduate School in the student's second semester of enrollment. 
  2. With the approval of the Graduate Coordinator and the Dean of the Graduate School, a student may repeat one course per degree. This policy applies to all courses (even those not on the program of study) taken as a graduate student related to a specific program. Repeated courses must be taken at Mississippi State University.

A specific course may be repeated only once except for those approved for repeated credit (e.g. special topics, individual studies, thesis, dissertation, etc.). Both courses will remain on the permanent transcript, and both grades will be computed in final averages. No additional program credit hours will be generated from a repeated course.

Unsatisfactory Performance

Unsatisfactory progress in a degree program may be defined as one or more of the following:

  1. A student's failure to maintain a "B" average on all graduate courses in the degree program;
  2. Failure of the Master's oral examination
  3. Failure of a comprehensive examination  
  4. Failure of the preliminary examination.

In January, May, and August of each year, the Graduate Coordinating Committee will review the academic records of students who were admitted with contingent or provisional status, are currently on probation, have earned a grade of "D," "F," or "U" during the previous semester, or have earned more than two grades below "B."  

Dismissal Policies

The Graduate Coordinating Committee will consider making a recommendation to the Dean of the Graduate School that a student be dismissed from their degree program if any of the following conditions exist:

  1. The student's progress in their degree program is deemed unsatisfactory;
  2. The student is not making satisfactory progress toward satisfying any condition of their contingent admission;
  3. The student is on academic probation and cannot meet the requirements for good academic standing within the next nine credit hours taken in the student's program of study;
  4. The student who failed to meet the Time Limits regulation for the degree completion, with some exceptions approved by the Graduate Coordinating Committee and the Department Head.

Any of the following will result in a recommendation for dismissal from a graduate degree program:

  1. Two failures on the Master's comprehensive examination;
  2. Two failures on  the Ph.D. comprehensive examinations;
  3. Two Failures on the preliminary examination.
  4. Failure of a student in provisional status to achieve a 3.0 GPA on the first nine hours of regular graduate-level courses taken at Mississippi State University;
  5. More than two grades below a "B";
  6. A grade of "D," "F," or "U" in any course (graduate or undergraduate) taken while enrolled in a graduate program in mathematics or statistics.

Academic Probation

A student enrolled in a graduate program in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics will be placed on academic probation if the student fails to maintain a 3.0 GPA or earns a grade below a "B" on a prerequisite course. To be removed from academic probation, the student must achieve an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher on coursework taken toward the degree.