USF College of Nursing — Dismissal & Petitions

Written by Zachary Gaynor, attorney · The Florida Bar, admitted 2016 · court admissions. Reviewed 26 September 2026.

Who decides whether a USF nursing student is dismissed?

At USF’s College of Nursing, the Baccalaureate Progression Committee decides — and unlike most programs, at USF the student has to go get that decision. One grade below “C” (or a “U” in clinical) triggers notice of potential dismissal, and it is the student’s petition to the committee that keeps the program alive. No petition, no progression. The dean signs the dismissal when the committee says no.

The progression rules

Under the college’s published Baccalaureate Program Progression Policy (as carried in its Baccalaureate Student Handbook), the minimum acceptable grade is a “C” in didactic courses and “S” in clinical courses. The structure has three tiers, and each one works differently:

One grade below C: you are notified of potential dismissal and must petition the Baccalaureate Progression Committee to continue. Approval brings a revised program plan, subject to seat and clinical-placement availability; accelerated-track students who are approved lose the accelerated track and move to an Upper Division plan. Denial means the dean’s written dismissal — with one more shot: a second petition, but only with additional substantive information or documentation.

More than one grade below C: dismissal — and the only road back through the committee runs through the dean, on a written showing of verifiable extreme hardship or extenuating circumstances beyond your control. The dean is the gatekeeper who decides whether the petition even reaches the committee, which makes that hardship letter the most important document in the file.

The clinical safety rule: a “U” for clinical performance ends the semester’s clinical work immediately — and where the “U” is for conduct that actually or potentially placed a person in jeopardy, the policy calls for immediate dismissal, with no continued enrollment while any grievance runs. A safety-coded “U” is a different animal from an academic one, and contesting the characterization early is often the whole fight.

Two smaller rules with big consequences: voluntary withdrawals are capped at one per course and two per program, and a dismissed pre-licensure student is not eligible for future pre-licensure application cycles at USF — the dismissal is permanent within the program, even though the student may transfer majors within the university.

How the petition is actually won

The petition is a written case, and it is judged as one. What it needs: the honest account of what happened, the documentation behind it — medical records, accommodation files, the family emergency in writing — the concrete changes made, and a realistic plan the committee can say yes to. The hardship tier demands more: “verifiable” is the policy’s own word, so every assertion needs a document behind it. And because the second petition requires new substantive information, holding evidence back the first time is a strategy error the process punishes.

USF is a public university, so constitutional due-process protections sit alongside the college’s own published rules, and the university’s academic grievance procedures remain available where the policy provides them. The college wrote down its process; whether it followed that process — notice, the petition route, the dean’s gatekeeping — is exactly what a later reviewer examines.

Where the governing documents are

The College of Nursing’s Baccalaureate Student Handbook and its published Baccalaureate Program Progression Policy carry the rules summarized above, alongside USF’s university-level academic policies. Editions and procedures change — verify the current handbook before relying on any step or deadline.

The federal money on the line at USF

University of South Florida students and families took on $144.4 million in federal Direct Loans in the 2025–26 award year — $61.2 million of it borrowed unsubsidized by 3,354 graduate and professional students.

Every dollar of it rides on academic standing. A dismissal, a failed Satisfactory Academic Progress evaluation, or a mid-term withdrawal sets off federal rules that decide whether aid continues, whether money already disbursed has to go back, and — under the borrowing caps in effect since July 1, 2026 — whether a student who leaves can still finance a return. For health-professional students the timing rules bite hardest: remediation terms, leaves, and repeated courses all feed the federal pace-of-completion math. The academic fight and the financial aid fight are the same fight, and the windows are short. How those rules work: SAP appeals and academic dismissal.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid Data Center, Direct Loan volume by school, award year 2025–26 (cumulative through June 30, 2026). University-wide federal Direct Loan totals.

Other Florida nursing programs

These pages set out the procedure at related programs: UCF College of Nursing, FSU College of Nursing, UF College of Nursing, and all Florida nursing programs. The general framework is at nursing school dismissal.

Common questions

I earned one C– in a nursing course. What happens now?

You will be notified of potential dismissal, and continuing depends on your petition to the Baccalaureate Progression Committee. The petition is the case — documentation, causes, changes, plan. Build it like it decides your career, because it does.

Two courses went under. Is it over?

The policy calls for dismissal, but it also builds in the hardship route: a written request to the dean demonstrating verifiable extreme hardship or extenuating circumstances beyond your control. If the dean finds the showing verifiable, the petition moves to the committee. That letter deserves professional attention before it is sent — there is no second first impression with a dean.

My clinical “U” was labeled a safety issue. Why does that matter so much?

Because a safety-coded “U” triggers immediate dismissal and bars continued enrollment while a grievance runs. Whether the incident was genuinely a safety event — or an ordinary performance dispute wearing a safety label — is often the decisive question, and it is contested with the clinical record, the site’s own policies, and comparator evidence.

Can I reapply to USF nursing later?

Dismissed pre-licensure students are not eligible for future pre-licensure application cycles at USF under the policy — which is the strongest reason to fight at the petition stage rather than plan on a second try.