Normal Progress

The Seattle Central Community College has specific policies regarding normal academic progress. In addition to the college policy, DHS also has special requirements regarding normal progress for F-1 and M-1 students. This section describes the normal progress policy for international students at Seattle Central, which takes both the college policy and the DHS requirements into account.

Academic Suspension or Dismissal

International students who are academically suspended or dismissed have not maintained their immigration status and will face the penalties for falling out of status.

SCIE students may be academically dismissed from the Institute of English for the following reasons:
    Failure to pass a course for the 2nd time;
    Disruptive behavior or failure to attend courses.

College students may be academically suspended from the college for the following reasons:
    Failure to maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher for 3 quarters or more;
    Failure to complete 75% of a quarterly credit load for 3 quarters or more.

Certain Workforce Education programs may have higher requirements than this. Students in these programs should consult with the program counselor.

Grading Options: W, NC, I and Y

International students in SCIE and the College must take the following grade restrictions into account:

A Withdrawal (W) that puts a student below 12 credits will cause the student to fall out of status.

A No Credit (NC) or 0.0 grade may not cause a problem on a one-time occasion; the credits may still count toward the full-time requirement. It is important to note the following:

NC or 0.0 grades received more than 4 times in any 3-quarter period will cause a student to fall out of status. One quarter of grades that are all NC or 0.0 will cause a student to fall out of status (see counseling note below).

Multiple NC's, 0.0's and W's in non-consecutive quarters will be reviewed by the advisor on a case-by-case basis to determine whether normal progress has been made. In general, if a student's degree program must be extended because he/she did not pass enough classes, then the student will be out of status.

An Incomplete (I) or a Y grade will show as a non-completed course until a student finishes the course requirements. Students must make arrangements with the instructor and should be sure to finish the class in order to get a final grade. An excessive number of uncompleted I or Y grades could cause problems with program completion (see program completion below).

Which do I choose: 'W' or 'NC'?

When students are not passing a class, or perhaps finding it very difficult, the first thought might be to drop the class. The instructor might even recommend that a student withdraw rather than continue. This might be fine academically, but it poses a problem for maintaining immigration status!

In general, it is better for a student to take a No Credit (NC) for a class rather than a Withdraw (W), if dropping the course would place the student below 12 credit hours. An NC may keep a student in status, but a W will automatically put the student out of status. Students who definitely want to Withdraw from a class must meet with the International Student Counselor or Advisor first. It may be possible to add another class that will allow a student to maintain status.

Program Completion

Students are required to complete their program in a timely manner. The college specifies that students must complete their degree program by the time they have earned 125% of the credits required for the program. Students on F and M visas must complete their program of study by the program end date in Section 5 of their I-20 form.