The Six Withdrawal Rule Should Be Dropped

In 2007, the Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 1231 that limits first time undergraduate or transfer students from dropping six classes upon entering colleges and universities. To some dropping six classes is a lot but to others it is a hassle to make sure nothing goes wrong to prevent them from dropping a class. There is a way around to drop a class to classify a drop as an Academic withdrawals or a non-academic withdrawal.

Academic withdrawal is not petitioned or need approval to dismiss the drop against the limit. This counts as a drop on their six-drop limit. Non-academic withdrawal is a drop that goes beyond the students control like getting sick, work schedule and personal reasons like loss of a family member. The student must complete a written petition detailing the reason of the request and include supporting documentation and evidence before the drop can be dismissed.

Dropping a class within the first 12 days of the classes that have started for the semester will not be counted as a withdrawal. It is a problem for students who might not yet realized how the professor teaches, the full workload and grading scale for the class. If students go past the six-drop limit they are not allowed to drop the class and are stuck with the grade they get at the end of the semester. This forces students to fail more classes if they don’t do well the first time. Students get three tries to pass the class and after that they are forced to pay higher tuition. This forces students to possibly fail a class that they are stuck in which lead to lowering a GPA.  There are many questions that come up from this issue. What if students want to pursue a dual degree? What if students need a good GPA to enter graduate school but can’t because these drops affected their GPA?

When first entering college, I knew there was a drop limit and I thought I never would drop a class but life isn’t always perfect. I would be in a class and the first week seems to go ok and already having an idea that I would pass the class until I faced problems with the workload or issues with the professor. Now I have to make sure I can do the workload, research the professor, review my schedule and make sure my work will not conflict my schoolwork. It adds unneeded stress for me to make sure I can finish my degree on time. I would love to pursue a dual degree but I realize if I am unable to drop a class, what is the point of taking a risk to lower my GPA and waste more time and money to get credit? Does this prevent students to take on a degree that they are passionate about and stick with something easy and safe?

Paying for college isn’t easy and cheap and I don’t think the state government should decide what happens in my college experience and success to get my diploma. Life throws obstacles and things don’t turn out to be perfect. Students can plan and study as much as they can but sometimes no matter how hard you try the grade you get might not be the grade you want.