Registration, Drop/Add and Course Withdrawal

Cancellation of Courses

A fall or spring semester course is subject to cancellation when fewer than eight students are enrolled. Summer term classes are subject to cancellation when fewer than five students are enrolled.

The College reserves the right to cancel the course as late as the first day of classes each semester. Every effort will be made to work with students regarding program planning and placement in alternate courses that would be compatible with the cancelled course.

Course Schedules

A credit hour usually represents one hour of class work and at least two to three hours of preparation in a given subject per week throughout the semester.

Classes usually meet on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday, Monday-Friday afternoon or a Tuesday-Thursday schedule. Except for lab sessions, 3-credit Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes generally convene for 55 minutes and Tuesday-Thursday classes for 85 minutes. Four-credit classes meet for a total of 220 minutes per week. Most evening classes meet once a week for 2 hours and 45 minutes or twice a week for 85-minute periods. 

Hood also has blocked courses, which are courses that meet for double periods during a portion of the semester. Blocked courses are primarily studio art and education courses in the teaching internship semester.

Course Repeat Policy

A student may repeat a course under the following circumstances:

• Failure (F, U) in the course previously.
• Enrollment in a course on a credit basis after previously auditing the course.
• Course description states that a course may be repeated (e.g., MATH 335).
• Grade of “C-” or below has been initially earned in a 100- or 200-level course. Course may be repeated once.
• Failure to meet minimum grade required in a prerequisite course.
• All grades earned for a given course will remain on the academic record and included in the composite GPA. Effective Fall 2017, only the highest grade earned at Hood will be computed in the cumulative Grade Point Average. Credit will be awarded only once.
• Students may not repeat a course at Hood for which transfer credit has been awarded.

Course Load Full-time and Part-time Status

Full-time status requires 12 credit hours or more per semester. A typical semester program consists of 15 or 16 credits except in the first year when it may be 12-15 credits.

Part-time status is accorded students taking 11.5 credit hours or fewer per semester.

Students are normally limited to 12 credits completed during the summer. Exceptions to this credit limit require permission of the Committee on Academic Standards and Policies.

Limits/Restrictions:

• Enrollment in more than 18.5 credits in one semester requires a 3.0 cumulative average and permission from the Committee on Academic Standards and Policies. Enrollment in credits beyond 18.5 requires additional tuition for each hour or fraction above that number.
• A student may not enroll in two courses which meet at the same hour.

Drop/Add Period

Students may drop or add courses without academic penalty from the time of registration through the end of the drop/add period. See the Academic Calendar for dates.

During this period, students may also change to or from the S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) grading option, change to or from enrollment on an audit basis, or alter the number of credits in courses carrying variable credit.

Course Withdrawal After Drop/Add

If a student withdraws from a course after the end of the drop/add period and before the end of the eleventh week of the semester a W (indicating withdrawal) will be noted on the transcript. This notation will not be computed in a student’s grade point average.

A student may not withdraw from a class during the last four weeks of classes.