Grades, repeats and progression in FIU graduate nursing
Florida International University (FIU) graduate nursing students must earn a B (85%) or better in each required course and hold a 3.0 GPA across them, and a single failed course moves you close to dismissal. FIU's catalog and graduate handbook disagree on how many courses you may repeat, so treat the stricter reading as your working rule until your program confirms otherwise.
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The grade floor: a B in every required course
The 2026-2027 catalog sets two standards for FIU's MSN: a 3.0 GPA in required courses and at least a B (85%) in each one. Practicums are required courses, so a clinical grade below 85 is a failed course, not a weak pass. The graduate handbook lists practicum evaluations by both the preceptor and the faculty, so your preceptor's assessment feeds into that grade.
The catalog then spells out when grades end a program. A grade below 85 in more than one course means dismissal, and so does a required-course GPA below 3.0 for a third semester. The margin is narrow: one failed course can be recovered, and under most of FIU's statements a second cannot.
These rules sit alongside the Graduate School's own GPA standing rules, covered further down, and both apply at once.
How many courses can you repeat? FIU's sources disagree
FIU publishes three different statements on repeats, two of them in the same handbook section. None of them is marked as replacing the others.
| Source | Repeats allowed | Dismissal trigger |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-2027 catalog (MSN) | One course repeat in the program | A grade below 85 in more than one course, or a required-course GPA below 3.0 for a third semester |
| Graduate handbook 2025-2026, dismissal rule | One retake in the MSN portion, plus one failure across the DNP Project courses NGR 7940, NGR 7941 and NGR 7942 | Failing two courses, didactic or clinical |
| Graduate handbook 2025-2026, note in the same section | Only two courses can be repeated in the program | Stated through the dismissal rule above |
For an MSN student, the catalog and the handbook's dismissal rule both point to one repeat, while the handbook's note points to two. For a post-BSN to DNP student the gap widens, because the handbook's separate DNP project allowance has no counterpart in the catalog's single-repeat rule.
Plan as if one failed course is your only margin, and ask your track program leader in writing which repeat rule governs your program.
Rules that catch students off guard
- Late drops count. In the handbook, a second DR grade in the same course is recorded against you as a failure, and it counts toward dismissal like any other. DR deadlines for each term and session are on the academic calendar page.
- Course recency. Your grades of B or higher in
NGR 6002CAdvanced Health Assessment,NGR 5141Pathophysiologic Concepts andNGR 6172Pharmacological Concepts expire for clinical purposes after 3 years, measured to the start of any clinical course. An expired course is retaken unless the department chair grants an appeal, which you send by email. - Attendance. Every missed clinical hour is owed back; turning up over 5 minutes late is tardiness and can get you sent home for the day; and absences longer than 3 days have to be documented.
- Late Typhon entries. A log filed after the 7-day window is refused, and the clinical time it recorded has to be repeated; the Typhon page explains the approval chain.
Each of these can turn a passing practicum into a failing one without any problem in your clinical skills, which is why they deserve a place on your calendar from the first week.
Clinical conduct: from warning to probation
The handbook handles unprofessional conduct in a fixed sequence, and starting clinicals without approval or a contract is on its list of examples.
- Written warningThe first step for unprofessional conduct. You may respond in writing within 48 hours.
- Clinical probationNext comes probation under a written improvement plan. An appeal of the probation goes to the Graduate Nursing Department Chair, and you have 5 business days to file it.
- OutcomeAn improvement plan that does not work can end in a failed course, your removal from the rotation, or dismissal from the program.
Safety violations that cause injury follow a separate three-step ladder in the handbook, ending in dismissal on a third occurrence. Weak clinical or course performance can also trigger a remediation plan set by the site and faculty and filed in PantherSoft, FIU's student system.
Graduate School academic standing
The Graduate School tracks your cumulative graduate GPA separately from the nursing rules. If it falls below 3.0, you receive an academic warning. If it stays below 3.0 the next semester, you are placed on probation. If both your cumulative and semester GPA are below 3.0 for a third term, you are dismissed, and you have 10 working days to appeal. Students readmitted after a year away start on probation.
Grievances and appeals inside the college follow the NWCNHS Student Academic Grievance/Appeal Procedure, which the graduate handbook references; ask the Graduate Nursing Advisor for the current copy. If your plan changes more fundamentally, switching to another graduate nursing program means filing a transfer request form, which the department chair weighs with the program leaders.
A practicum delay can touch all of this at once. The incompletes, leave and time limits page covers what happens when a course cannot be finished on time.
How a reliable preceptor protects your standing
Most of the clinical rules above turn on things outside the classroom: a contract in place before day one, enough clinical days to finish the hours, evaluations completed on time and Typhon logs inside the 7-day window. A preceptor who cancels, or a site that was never approved, can put a B out of reach through no fault of your clinical work.
That is where we fit. We find preceptors whose patients match your FIU course, confirm the contract status early, prepare the Preceptor Request Form details, and stay on call through the term so a dropped preceptor becomes a replacement search, not a failed course. Your faculty and FIU's Office of Clinical Education decide on each site and preceptor, and the request we help you submit gives them everything FIU's rules call for, with nothing to send back. Start with our contact page.
Questions FIU students ask
What grade do I need to pass a course in FIU's MSN program?
At least a B, which FIU's catalog defines as 85%, in every required course, including each practicum. You also need a 3.0 GPA across your required courses. A grade below 85 in more than one course, or a required-course GPA below 3.0 for a third semester, leads to dismissal under the catalog's rules.
Can I retake a failed practicum at FIU?
Usually once. The catalog allows one course repeat in the program, and the graduate handbook's dismissal rule permits a single MSN retake, yet a note in that same section speaks of two repeatable courses. Under the handbook, a second failed course ends the program. Ask your track program leader to confirm your limit in writing before you register for the retake.
Is starting clinicals before FIU approves my site a conduct problem?
Yes. The handbook names beginning clinicals before approval or a contract as an example of unprofessional conduct. That triggers a written warning, and you get 48 hours to reply in writing. Further trouble can bring clinical probation with an improvement plan, and a plan that fails can end in course failure or dismissal.
How long do I have to appeal an academic dismissal at FIU?
Under the Graduate School's academic standing rules, you have 10 working days to appeal a dismissal for GPA. Clinical probation in nursing has its own, shorter window: 5 business days to appeal to the Graduate Nursing Department Chair. Wider grievances follow the NWCNHS Student Academic Grievance/Appeal Procedure referenced in the handbook.
Do I have to retake health assessment if it is more than three years old?
Yes, under the graduate handbook. Health assessment (NGR 6002C), along with NGR 5141 and NGR 6172, has to fall within the 3 years before your first clinical course, with a B or better; anything older is retaken. The department chair hears appeals by email if you think your case deserves an exception.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against FIU's own graduate handbook, preceptor manual, plans of study, catalog and licensure pages. Your plan of study, your course faculty, your clinical faculty and FIU's Office of Clinical Education have the final word.
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