Policies and Procedures

Familiarize yourself with the important policies and procedures that govern the NYUSPS community of students, faculty, and staff. Knowledge of and adherence to these policies will guide you through your academic journey and help ensure your success. 

In addition to the highlighted policies and procedures below, read through all NYUSPS Graduate Policies and Procedures. 

NYU Policies

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages. 

Continuous Registration

NYUSPS requires continuous enrollment of graduate students each fall and spring semester until the degree sought is granted. Summer is optional. To maintain continuous matriculation, students must:

• Register during the fall and spring semesters for at least one credit-bearing course until the degree is conferred or

• Register for maintenance of matriculation and pay registration and service fees in fall and spring semesters when the student is taking no coursework or

• Take an approved leave of absence, except in the semester of graduation.

Note: 

International students must be registered full-time and thereby comply with government regulations. 

Leave of Absence

Occasionally, students may need to take a break from their studies for a variety of reasons. All students should familiarize themselves with the University's Leave of Absence Policy. 

LEAVE OF ABSENCE POLICY

Leave of Absence Policies for International Students

International students are subject to particular requirements in addition to the conditions enumerated in the policy above.

• Personal Leave of Absence

An F-1 or J-1 student on a personal leave of absence may not remain in the United States. When approving a leave of absence, the appropriate department or school official should notify the Office of Global Services (OGS) and the student must depart the United States immediately.

• Medical Leave of Absence

International students requiring a leave of absence or permission to take less than a full course load for medical reasons are eligible to stay in the United States, subject to conditions set forth by the Department of Homeland Security in accordance with information provided by a physician.

International students should contact the Office of Global Services for more information.

Maintenance and Matriculation

NYU-SPS requires continuous enrollment of graduate students each fall and spring semester until the degree sought is granted. Summer is optional. To maintain continuous matriculation, students must:

• Register during the fall and spring semesters for at least one credit-bearing course until the degree is conferred, or

• Register for maintenance of matriculation and pay registration and service fees in fall and spring semesters when the student is taking no coursework, or

• Take an approved leave of absence, except in the semester of graduation.

Note:

International students must be registered full-time and thereby comply with government regulations. 

Students must register for maintenance of matriculation and pay all fees for spring and fall semesters in which they do not register for classes. Maintenance of matriculation counts toward the time to complete the degree. No degree can be awarded to a student who has not maintained matriculation up to and including the semester of graduation.

Graduate students with outstanding coursework may maintain matriculation a maximum of two contiguous semesters (fall/spring or spring/fall) before being required to reapply. Students registering for their thesis or final project must maintain matriculation every term until graduation.

NYU-SPS does not waive matriculation or registration fees. Payment of the fees entitles students to use of the facilities and libraries, access to consultation with faculty members, and participation in University activities whether or not they are utilized. When a student maintains matriculation and does not meet the criteria for a full-time or half-time equivalency, student loans immediately begin counting toward the grace period before loans become due, even if the student has not finished the degree.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Graduate students are considered to be in good academic standing provided that their cumulative grade point average is a minimum of 3.0 ("B" average) or better. In order to graduate, all NYU School of Professional Studies graduate students need

• a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better;

• passing grades in the required number of core courses within their programs; and

• satisfactory completion of all degree requirements.

An inability to make Satisfactory Academic Progress will have an impact on your Financial Aid award. Be sure to contact the Office of Financial Aid and click on the link below to review the Financial Aid Eligibility Requirements.

Students are responsible for reviewing their grades each semester. If, upon reviewing the grades for a semester, the student determines that his/her cumulative GPA falls below a 3.0, the student must immediately contact his/her program adviser to discuss his/her continuing academic status and, as appropriate, seek academic advisement.

Criteria of Academic Concern

Students whose cumulative grade point average (CGPA) falls below a 3.0 or who do not successfully complete at least 50% of the cumulative hours attempted during a semester will be placed on Notice of Academic Concern and receive formal written notification. Students return to good academic standing and are removed from Notice of Academic Concern when they raise their CGPA to a minimum of 3.0 or better and successfully complete the required cumulative attempted hours by the end of the semester in which they are on Notice of Academic Concern. Students who do not return to good academic standing after one semester are subject to the following changes in academic standing: 

Restrictions While on Notice of Academic Concern

Students on Notice of Academic Concern are subject to certain conditions and restrictions. These restrictions will remain in place until the student's academic performance results in their returning to good academic standing.

Students on Notice of Academic Concern require advisor approval to register for classes for the semester following their Notice of Academic Concern term, unless they have succeeded in achieving a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better during the Notice of Academic Concern term. Additional restrictions include the inability to hold student government positions; inability to participate in study away; needing permission to participate in competitions and extracurricular activities outside of advisor-approved courses.

Students on Notice of Academic Concern:

• must achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better during the term on Notice of Academic Concern with an advisor-approved course load;

• cannot receive any grade of Incomplete;

• may not withdraw from any course;

• must meet with their academic advisors on a monthly basis.

• All graduate students receiving federal or state financial aid or other forms of external financial aid are subject to specific regulations tied to terms of their award requirements.

Students with Pre-Dismissal status are not permitted to register for classes. 

Academic Dismissal

A student who under performs or fails to meet the terms and conditions detailed in the probation letter will be dismissed. The dismissal letter will be sent by the program’s Academic Director/Associate or Divisional Dean as soon as possible, after all grades have been posted. If a student is dismissed after having registered for the following semester, upon notification he/she will be withdrawn from classes and he/she will receive a full refund of tuition and fees for that semester.

"Academic Dismissal" will be noted on the student’s permanent record.

Grading Policies

To receive a final grade for a course, students must comply with the attendance policy stated in the syllabus and satisfactorily complete all examinations and other assignments. To receive a grade, students must be officially registered in the course. All grading criteria should be completely explained by the instructor in the course syllabus, which must be distributed at the beginning of the semester to each student. Students’ grades are entirely determined by the course instructor.

To receive a final grade for a course, a student must be in regular attendance and satisfactorily complete all examinations and other assignments prescribed by the instructor. A student will not receive grades for any courses in which he or she is not officially registered at the beginning of that term. Once recorded, grades cannot be changed unless some omission or error occurred in the grading process or a grade appeal is honored. No grade may be changed for any reason after a student has graduated.

Students may obtain their final grades for each semester through ALBERT.

The following symbols indicating terminal grades are used. Only grades of "A," "A-," "B+," "B," "B-," "C+," "C," "C-," or "F" earned while matriculated in NYU School of Professional Studies’ credit courses, or earned while matriculated in another division of New York University, are computed in the average.

Pass/Fail (P/F)

Schack does NOT offer a pass/fail grading option. The grade of Pass/Fail is available solely in the  Master's degree internship courses listed below. In these cases, the grade of Fail “F” is calculated into the GPA. The grade of Pass "P" has no impact on the GPA. 

• Publishing Internship

• Global Affairs Internship

• Event Management Internship 

• Tourism Management (as of fall 2021 Travel and Tourism Management) Internship.  

• Hospitality Industries (as of fall 2021 Global Hospitality Management) Internship

All other graduate-level courses cannot be taken with a Pass/Fail grade.

Transfer Credits

Upon admission into a graduate program, a maximum of six (6) graduate credits earned at another accredited institution may be considered for transfer credit toward an NYUSPS Master's Degree. Credit for courses taken elsewhere requires the approval of the program’s Academic Director. Please note that classes completed under a non-credit certificate program do not transfer.  

Students who seek transfer credits for previous graduate-level work must demonstrate that the coursework meets the following criteria for each course taken:

• The course is considered appropriate to the degree sought.

• The course was completed with a grade of "B" or better.

• The course was taken at an accredited higher education institution.

• The course was taken within the past five (5) years and the department has determined that the material is current and valid.

• The course has not been credited toward another degree.

Students must provide the department with the following information in writing:

• An official transcript with course and grade.

• A detailed course description and/or syllabus, catalog description, and information about textbook and assigned readings.

• An explanation of why the student believes the course is relevant to the NYU-SPS graduate program or duplicates an existing course in the Master's program.

• Any other documentation requested by the department.

• Schack Specific- You must complete your request through this form: Transfer Credit Request Form

Students must request consideration for transfer credit prior to earning no more than 12 credits in the master’s program in which they are enrolled at the NYU School of Professional Studies. Accordingly, decisions will be made and communicated to the students by their department before the end of the academic term in which they make the request. When credit is transferred, neither the grade nor the grade value transfers into the grade point average at NYU. If a student elects to register in an NYU-SPS course equivalent to one for which the student received transfer credit, the student will lose the benefit of the transfer credit which will not count toward the NYU-SPS residency requirement.

Graduate students may not transfer in credit taken after they commence study in an NYU-SPS graduate program unless the coursework is in a pre-approved program in an institution with which NYU-SPS has an established relationship.

Time to Complete a Graduate Program

The responsibility for meeting the degree requirements rests with the student. NYU-SPS Masters’ Degrees must be completed within five (5) years from the initial date of registration. Graduate certificate students have a maximum of two (2) years. Students must complete degree requirements in effect at the time of their initial enrollment. The time to complete degree requirements includes any semester(s) for which students have paid maintenance of matriculation or during which they took a leave of absence.

Students who transfer from a Graduate Certificate into a Master's degree program have five (5) years to complete the degree from the time they first enrolled in the Graduate Certificate.

Requests for extensions must be made in writing to the Academic Director prior to the completion deadline with a clear action plan of when the program will be completed. No course counting toward the degree can be more than ten (10) years old at the time of graduation. The program’s Associate/Divisional Dean is the final authority on whether to approve or deny the request for an extension. Students who are denied an extension are not permitted to continue in the program.

A student must reapply if s/he stops out of the program for more than two consecutive semesters (not including summer). If re-admitted, the student is then bound by the current program requirements.

Withdrawal (W)

The grade of "W" indicates an official withdrawal by the student from a course, (after the deadline for dropping with a refund) and receives no credit.

Students may request to withdraw from any course for which they are registered and automatically receive a "W" by using the class withdrawal process in Albert. Students who receive a "W" may retake the course for credit, provided they re-register. "W" grades permanently remain on the official transcript. The grade of “W” is a Registrar’s grade without numerical value. It is not computed in the student’s GPA but may significantly impact the student’s progress toward degree completion as well as the student’s financial aid eligibility: it is imperative to consider the impact on your financial aid award.

Repeating a Course

Only courses with a grade of "C" or lower may be repeated ("C," "C-," and "F’s" including those received from Incomplete Fail). When a course is repeated, only the second grade, whether higher or lower, is computed into the average. Credit is only earned once with a passing grade. The initial grade, however, remains on the transcript with parenthesis notating that it is no longer calculated in the GPA. Students may only repeat a course once. Students will be dismissed from the program when a required course is not passed after the second attempt. Students must re-register and pay in order to repeat a course.