University of Florida College of Pharmacy — Dismissal & Appeals

Written by Zachary Gaynor, attorney · The Florida Bar, admitted 2016 · court admissions. Reviewed 19 September 2026.

Who decides whether a UF pharmacy student is dismissed?

The Academic and Professional Standards Committee (APSC) is the body that matters at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. It acts on every petition concerning internal College matters, decides whether a dismissed student may be readmitted, and holds the discretion behind most of the second chances described below. The Dean may review appeals of APSC decisions. What the College does not publish is a filing window for any of it — so the deadline that governs your matter is the one printed in your own decision letter, and it should be treated as short.

The ladder: warning, probation, dismissal

UF pharmacy runs a three-step ladder, and each step has published triggers.

• Academic warning follows a semester GPA below 2.0 in required courses, or any single required-course grade below C. A warning obligates you to write a self-directed academic action plan and review it with your faculty advisor.
• Academic probation follows a grade of E, two or more grades in the D range (D+, D or D−) in required courses, or a cumulative required-course GPA below 2.0. The action plan now also goes to the Office of Student Affairs.
• Dismissal follows failure to clear probation after two full semesters, two E grades in the same course, a third E anywhere in the PharmD curriculum, failing a course taken a second time in its entirety or during remediation, or reaching seven years without completing the degree.

A dismissed student may petition the APSC for readmission — and a readmitted student re-enters under the current curriculum and the current rules, not the ones in force when they started.

Probation locks more than your GPA

Two consequences of probation catch students by surprise. First, a student on probation cannot withdraw from or drop a pharmacy class without APSC approval — the escape hatch most students reach for first is locked. Second, clearing probation is a two-semester project, not a one-grade fix: after an E, you must repeat the course, earn a C− or better, and then complete two consecutive full-time semesters with no further D or E grades. Probation for D-range grades clears the same two-clean-semesters way, and a below-2.0 GPA must be brought to 2.0 within two semesters. Failing to clear on schedule is itself a dismissal ground, and graduation is barred until the conditions of probation are satisfied.

The two second chances: focused reassessment and course remediation

UF pharmacy is unusually specific about how a D-range grade can be repaired, and the mechanics decide cases.

• Focused reassessment. If the D+, D or D− traces to one failed assessment, the instructor offers a retake in the weeks immediately after the term. Score above 70% and the course grade is recorded as a C− — that is the ceiling. Score below it and the original grade stands, which forces full course remediation.
• Course remediation. If the D-range grade rests on more than one failed assessment, you either retake the whole course at its next offering or remediate in the summer. Summer remediation is capped at two courses, runs no longer than six weeks, and is self-directed — the student is expected to initiate contact with the faculty member. An average below 70% in remediation results in dismissal from the College. And the transcript keeps the original D either way: remediation is recorded as a separate Pass/Fail entry, not a grade replacement.

An E has no reassessment option. The course is retaken at its next full-term offering on a modified plan of study, with summer remediation available only in rare cases at the APSC’s discretion. As a general rule only one year of the four-year curriculum may be repeated for academic reasons — an exception requires the votes of 80 percent of the APSC’s voting members, the same supermajority UF’s medical school requires.

The numbers that end programs quietly

Most dismissals here are arithmetic before they are ever a hearing. The GPA that counts is calculated on required courses only — electives neither help nor hurt it, and an elective below C− is not remediated. Good standing also requires passing curriculum milestones such as OSCEs and the PCOA, so an examination stumble can create an academic-standing problem without any course failure. A cumulative 2.0 in required courses is the gate to Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences — miss it and the rotations that finish the degree do not begin. And the seven-year limit runs in the background of every leave, repeat and remediation decision: time spent fixing a problem is still time on that clock.

Petitions and appeals — where each one goes

A student may petition the APSC for an exemption from any academic standard applied to them, and each student submits their own petition. The APSC acts on internal College matters; everything else belongs to the University Senate Committee on Student Petitions. The Dean may review appeals from APSC decisions. None of these routes carries a published deadline, which cuts both ways: nothing lapses automatically, but nothing preserves your position either — the letter in your hand sets the only date that matters, and a short written response that corrects factual errors and states your ground is worth more than a long one filed late.

Conduct charges are a different track entirely. Honor-code and conduct matters run under UF Regulation 4.040, where a student may bring an Advisor — expressly including a legal representative — into a disciplinary proceeding. The same facts characterized as an academic deficiency give counsel no defined role at all. Which track the College says it is running is the first question in any UF pharmacy matter.

Where the governing documents are

Verified as loading on 19 September 2026:

• Academic Performance Standards, academic standings and remediation rules — the College’s Advising & Academics pages, students.pharmacy.ufl.edu
• College of Pharmacy Student Handbook — students.pharmacy.ufl.edu
• UF Regulation 4.040, student conduct — policy.ufl.edu

The standards page states the rules the APSC applies, down to the 70% remediation threshold. Save a dated copy of every page and letter that touches your situation the day you receive it — the version in force when the College acted is the one your case turns on.

Related reading

• Pharmacy school dismissal
• Clinical rotation and externship failures
• Academic dismissal and suspension
• Grade disputes and grade appeals
• University of Florida — student discipline overview

Other Florida health-professional programs

Every school writes its own dismissal, appeal and conduct rules, and the filing deadlines are rarely the same from one campus to the next. These pages set out the procedure at other Florida programs:

• Florida Pharmacy Schools — Dismissals & Appeals
• FAMU College of Pharmacy — Dismissal & Appeals
• USF Taneja College of Pharmacy — Dismissal & Appeals
• UF College of Medicine — Dismissal & Appeals
• UF College of Nursing — Dismissal & Appeals
• UF College of Veterinary Medicine — Dismissal & Appeals
• NSU Patel College of Allopathic Medicine

Common questions

How long do I have to appeal a dismissal from UF College of Pharmacy?

The College publishes no filing window for petitions to the APSC or for the Dean’s review of an APSC decision. The practical deadline is whatever your decision letter states — and where it states none, move within days anyway, because seats, rotation slots and remediation calendars are being decided while you wait.

Does remediation replace the D on my transcript?

No. Remediation is recorded as a separate Pass/Fail entry and the original grade remains. A focused reassessment is different: passing it records the course grade as a C−.

Can I drop a course to avoid a bad grade while on probation?

Not without APSC approval. A student on academic probation is not permitted to withdraw from or drop pharmacy classes on their own.

What GPA do I need to start rotations?

A cumulative 2.0 in required courses is necessary to begin Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences, and good standing also requires completing curriculum milestones such as OSCEs and the PCOA.

What happens if I fail the same course twice?

Two E grades in the same course is a published dismissal ground, as is a third E anywhere in the curriculum or failing a course on its second full attempt or in remediation. Readmission after dismissal runs by petition to the APSC.