Academic Standing
GPA Requirements
Satisfactory performance requires that the student must achieve at least a B grade in each course and maintain at least a 3.00 grade-point average in master’s level courses and a 3.67 in doctoral level courses.<
Calculation of the GPA
The cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is calculated for all attempted credit courses completed to date at KAUST, by dividing the total number of quality points received for class by the total number of credits attempted. Quality points are determined by multiplying the weight given each grade by the number of credit hours for the class.
Grading System
KAUST uses letter grades and symbols to record the evaluation of students’ performance in a course:
Grading is based on a 4.0-point system as follows:
- A = 4.0
- A- = 3.67
- B+ = 3.33
- B = 3.0
- B- = 2.67
- C+ = 2.33
- C = 2.0
- C- = 1.67
- D+ = 1.33
- D = 1.00
- D- = .67
- F = 0
- W = Withdrew (does not affect grade point average)
- I = Incomplete (does not affect grade point average)
- AU = Audit (does not affect grade point average)
- S = Satisfactory (does not affect grade point average)
- U = Unsatisfactory (does not affect grade point average)
- IP = In Progress (does not affect grade point average)
Academic Standing
Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.0 to remain in good standing. Students with a CGPA falling below the minimum GPA are subject to probation or suspension, or they may be required to repeat any course in which a grade below a ’B‘ has been earned.
Academic Probation and Suspension
- Probation is an academic sanction by which a student, whose CGPA falls below the minimum required, is given a set period of time to improve the CGPA to that required by KAUST.
- Suspension is an academic sanction by which a student on probation does not improve his or her CGPA in the time frame specified and is dismissed from KAUST due to poor academic performance. Students who have been dismissed from a specific KAUST postgraduate program are not eligible for readmission into that specific program, but may apply for admission into another postgraduate program for which they are eligible.