Policies
- Academic Certificates
- Agreements & Partnerships
- Attendance & Participation Rosters
- Buckeye Link
- Calendar (Academic)
- Classroom Scheduling
- Course & Class Information
- Degree Audits
- Degree Verifications
- Enrollment Verifications
- Exam Scoring
- Final Exams Schedule
- Forms (staff only)
- Graduation Application
- Ohio Residency for Tuition
- Pathway Agreements
- Preferred Name
- Prior Learning Assessment
- Registration
- Student Data
- Student Evaluation of Instruction
- Syllabus Search for Students
- Syllabus Upload for Faculty
- Transcript Ordering
- Transfer Credit
- Testing
- Tuition and Fees
- Waitlist at Ohio State
Students are responsible for knowing their own standing scholastically in reference to the published regulations and standards of the University and of their college or school.
Additional policy information can be found by reviewing the 2022-2023 Buckeye's Guide to Academic Policies (PDF), or by visiting the University Policy Website.
Past policy information can be found by reviewing the now archived guides.
2021-2022 Buckeye's Guide to Academic Policies (PDF).
2020-2021 Buckeye's Guide to Academic Policies (PDF).
2019-2020 Buckeye's Guide to Academic Policies (PDF).
Enrollment Status
Undergraduate |
Graduate & Professional |
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| Full Time | 12+ Credit Hours | Full Time | 8+ Credit Hours | |
| Three Quarters Time | 9-11.99 Credit Hours | Three Quarters Time | 6-7.99 Credit Hours | |
| Half Time | 6-8.99 Credit Hours | Half Time | 4-5.99 Credit Hours | |
| Less than Half Time | 0-5.99 Credit Hours | Less than Half Time | 0-3.99 Credit Hours | |
University Rules
(established by the Ohio State University Board of Trustees)
See the links below for more details about a specific topic, or view the entire list of University Rules.
Examination and Marks (Grades)
- Every undergraduate student must complete a program of general education coursework enabling them to acquire and develop a breadth of knowledge, skills, and perspectives that cross disciplinary boundaries and extend to areas outside of majors, minors and other specialized study programs: See General education (3335-8-07).
- Instructors will administer examinations at the close of each course: See Course examinations (3335-8-19).
- The university registrar shall perform or resolve the scheduling of final examinations: See Schedules for final examinations (3335-8-20).
- See the official marks of the University (3335-8-21).
- Marks for every student shall be reported to the office of the university registrar: See Report of marks (3335-8-22).
- Mark alterations (grade changes) must be initiated before the end of the second succeeding quarter: See Alteration of marks (3335-8-23).
Course Credit
- Credit hours (3335-8-24) reflect the amount of course work required, and one semester credit hour is equivalent to 1.5 quarter credit hours.
- Credit points (3335-8-25) are assigned to some marks, but not to others.
- A student's academic standing for a quarter, semester, or session is expressed by the point-hour ratio (3335-8-26), computed by dividing the total number of credit points earned by the total number of credit hours scheduled or undertaken.
- Fresh Start Rule: An undergraduate student who re-enrolls in the University after an absence of five or more years may petition for a recalculation of the cumulative point-hour ratio (3335-8-26.1) of his or her previous residency.
- There are conditions under which a student receiving a mark of "E" in a required course must repeat the course: See Failure in a required course (3335-8-27).
- There are conditions under which an undergraduate student may petition to repeat a course, which after completing the course the second time, can have the original course credit and grade excluded from calculation of their cumulative point-hour ratio, but will remain on the student's official record: See Grade forgiveness rule (3335-8-27.1).
- Although there are conditions under which students may repeat courses, the credit hours for a repeated course shall in no case be counted more than once in meeting graduation requirements: See Repetition of courses (3335-8-28).
- The professor in charge of the course must approve any admission to courses as an auditor (3335-8-29).
- A student wishing to withdraw from courses or from the university (3335-8-32) must file the appropriate form with the authorized representative of the dean or director of the student's enrollment unit.
- The instructor or other appropriate administrative official may disenroll a student from a course (3335-8-33), which may or may not result in a mark on the student's official permanent record.
Admission
- There are several categories of classification of students for admission (3335-9-01).
Administrative Hold
- An administrative hold (3335-9-16), which causes the withholding of services such as registering for courses or obtaining current quarter grades, may be placed on the records or accounts of any person who fails to comply in a reasonable period of time with an obligation imposed under university rules or who has an overdue debt or fine.
Improper Registration
- The university registrar may cancel a student's registration in cases of improper registration (3335-9-20) or when false or incomplete information is provided on official documents.
Absences
- Each department or school may make its own rules relative to occasional absences (3335-9-22) by students from scheduled activities.
Warning and Dismissal
- In order to remain in good standing in the university, a student must maintain a point-hour ratio of at least 2.00: See Minimum scholastic requirements (3335-9-23).
- There are conditions under which a student will receive a warning about his or her academic standing: See Academic warning (3335-9-24).
- Any student who has accumulated fifteen or more deficiency points shall be placed on probation: See Academic probation (3335-9-25).
- If the student's college or school considers a student's progress as unsatisfactory in meeting the conditions placed on his or her probation, the college or school shall be empowered to dismiss the student from the university: See Academic dismissal (3335-9-26).
- Notice of dismissal (3335-9-27) from the university shall be sent by the dean of the college in which the dismissed student is registered.
- Any student who may be reinstated by a college or school following academic dismissal shall be subject to such special requirements as may be determined appropriate by the dean of the college or director of the school: See Reinstatement after academic dismissal (3335-9-28).
Conditional/Unconditional Admission
- Specific admission requirements (3335-9-04) exist for entrance into the university.
- Removal of entrance conditions (3335-9-10) assessed against students at the time of admission may occur after the entrance deficiencies have been made up.
University Class Ranking System
Student rank in all the undergraduate colleges is based on total credit hours completed and recorded.
| Class Standing | Credit Hours Earned | Rank |
| Freshman | 0 through 29 | 1 |
| Sophomore | 30 through 59 | 2 |
| Junior | 60 through 89 | 3 |
| Senior | 90 and up | 4 |
For Graduate and Professional programs, the department will provide rank calculation policies as it is determined by terms attended, not credit hours earned. Rank begins anew when the student enrolls in Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Optometry, Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine, or the Agricultural Technical Institute.
Should there be any doubt concerning the correctness of one's rank, the student should consult with the appropriate enrollment unit.
Retroactive Graduate Credit
Generally, students cannot receive graduate credit for courses taken when the student is not enrolled in the Graduate School: See Section IV.1 of the Graduate School Handbook.
Graduate Credit for Undergraduates
There are conditions under which an undergraduate may petition to take certain courses for graduate credit: See Section IV.1 of the Graduate School Handbook.