FSU College of Nursing — Dismissal & Repeats

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

What gets an FSU nursing student dismissed?

At FSU’s College of Nursing the arithmetic is published and unforgiving: 75% or “S” in every nursing course, and final grades are not rounded. A failed course must be repeated before you progress, a course may be repeated only once, and two failures of the same course — or two semester failures — mean dismissal from the nursing program. The relief valve is a single clause: “extenuating circumstances will be evaluated by the nursing administration.”

The progression rules

Under FSU’s published College of Nursing requirements (the University Bulletin’s College of Nursing section, with the 75% rule restated in the BSN Student Handbook 2025–2026): any nursing course — elective or required — with a grade below 75%, including a “U,” is a failure. A 74.9 fails; nothing rounds it up. From there the ladder is short:

One failure: the course must be repeated before progressing — which in a sequenced, semesters I–IV curriculum usually means waiting for the course to come around again, a delay that carries its own costs in time, tuition, and cohort separation.

Two or more failures in the same semester: the semester itself is failed, with the option to repeat the entire semester the following term.

Two failures of the same course, or two failed semesters: dismissal from the nursing program.

Around that core sit rules that generate failures of their own. The drug math requirement demands 100% accuracy in specified clinical courses — fail the third repeat testing and you are required to withdraw from the lab course. An incomplete in a prerequisite course that is not cured by the end of the next term’s drop/add period drops you from the continuing courses. And the college reserves the right to discontinue any student who violates the Florida Nurse Practice Act or who, “in the judgment of the faculty,” does not meet the college’s standards — the open-ended clause that deserves scrutiny whenever it is the stated basis.

Where the fight actually is at FSU

Because the dismissal triggers are mechanical, the leverage lives in three places. First, the grade itself: at 74-point-something, every point matters, and a grading or rubric error, an accommodation approved but not delivered on an exam, or a clinical evaluation out of line with the record is worth auditing before the grade becomes final — FSU’s grade appeals run through the university’s academic grievance process, on its own clock. Second, the “extenuating circumstances” clause: it is the only discretionary door in the policy, it is evaluated by the nursing administration, and a documented, verifiable showing — medical, family, an event outside your control — is what opens it. Third, the process record: FSU is a public university, so constitutional due-process protections sit on top of the college’s published rules, and whether the college followed its own bulletin — notice, the repeat opportunity, the semester-repeat option — is reviewable.

Where the governing documents are

The FSU Undergraduate Bulletin, College of Nursing section (progression, repeat, and dismissal rules summarized above) and the BSN Student Handbook (2025–2026 edition). The bulletin and handbook for your enrollment year govern — verify against the current editions.

The federal money on the line at FSU

Florida State University students and families took on $149.3 million in federal Direct Loans in the 2025–26 award year — $80.6 million of it borrowed unsubsidized by 4,217 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, USF College of Nursing, UF College of Nursing, and all Florida nursing programs. The general framework is at nursing school dismissal.

Common questions

I finished at 74.6. Is there anything to do about the rounding?

The policy says final grades are not rounded, so the argument is never “round me up” — it is an audit: was every item graded per the rubric, was every regrade applied, did every accommodation you were approved for actually happen on every exam. Tenths of a point are found in the record more often than students expect.

I failed the same course twice. Is dismissal automatic?

That is the published trigger — and “extenuating circumstances will be evaluated by the nursing administration” is the door that remains. It is a discretionary review, which means the written showing and its documentation decide it. Build that submission properly before sending anything.

Does a failed elective really count?

Yes — the 75% rule covers nursing electives as well as required courses, and a failed elective enters the same repeat-and-dismissal arithmetic.

What does being a public university change?

FSU must honor constitutional due process on top of its own published rules. For an academic dismissal that floor is modest — but the college’s bulletin promises specific things (the repeat, the semester-repeat option, the extenuating-circumstances review), and holding a public institution to its published process is a real, litigable lever. See due process at public institutions.