Collegewide Academic Policies

Academic Course Load & Multiple Course Requests

To complete a degree or certificate program, students are enrolled in classes in the method associated with their degree level:

Bachelor Level Students
Students are enrolled in one academic course per term. This equates to a maximum of three credit hours in an academic course.

Master Level Students
Students are enrolled in one academic course per term. This equates to a maximum of three credit hours in an academic course. This can be coupled with a non-academic course, capstone or independent study.

Doctoral Level Students
Students are enrolled in a maximum of seven credit hours per term.

ACE recognizes circumstances may exist when a student determines he or she would benefit from taking several courses during a single term. ACE will consider student requests to take multiple courses simultaneously.

Students seeking to take a course load exceeding the amount listed above complete the Multiple Course Request Form for consideration. The request will be reviewed, and decisions will be based on the following:

• GPA: Must be in good academic standing.
• Course Completion: Must have completed at least one course at ACE prior to approval.

If a course is available for the term in which the student has been approved, they will be registered in the additional course(s) requested. Due to course availability, not all classes are scheduled each term; meaning that requests may not be able to be honored. 

Please realize taking more than one course at a time does not guarantee early graduation. Students taking multiple courses are no longer on the prescribed course map and future terms may not have required courses available.

Academic Integrity

American College of Education expects students to exhibit academic integrity throughout their educational experience and to avoid all forms of academic dishonesty.

Academic dishonesty, which includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, abuse of resource materials, fabrication, conspiracy to plagiarize, or cheating on an examination or other academic work, is subject to disciplinary action. Student work created for a specific assignment in a course will be subject to plagiarism sanctions if reused for any other purpose. 

Exception: Students are responsible for meeting all course requirements, including current discussion board postings, when retaking a course. The student may resubmit assignments from the same course. All coursework in the retaken course will be reevaluated. The student is responsible for communicating with the instructor about the re-submission of assignments.

For questions regarding self-plagiarism, students should visit the College’s Writing Center for assistance. 

Students are allowed to reference course materials while taking quizzes and tests due to their emphasis on application; however, exams must be taken independently.

Course Addition Request

ACE recognizes circumstances may exist when a student determines he or she would benefit from taking an additional course(s) that are not a part of his or her program. Students can be approved to take course(s) outside of his or her program if the following conditions are true:

• Student is in good academic standing (2.0 GPA for Bachelors and 3.0 GPA for Masters or Doctoral).
• Student has completed at least one course successfully at ACE prior to approval.
• The additional course(s) are at the same or lower degree level than the student’s program of enrollment (i.e. Masters level students can be approved to take masters level or bachelors level courses but cannot be approved to take doctoral level courses).
• The requested course(s) are available during a term prior to the student’s expected graduation date.

The student will be assessed tuition and fees associated with the added course(s). Furthermore, the additional courses will be factored in the student’s GPA and extend program completion time. 

Course Numbering

Course numbers are set by a defined, consistent system for course identification aligned with higher education standards and readily understood on transcripts. The course numbering system uses a prefix, unique course number identifier and credit hour value.

• The prefix consists of 2-4 alphabetic characters for the subject area designation. It may include a 2-letter state code for courses specific to a particular state. Course numbers begin with the course level designation as follows:
  • 3000-4000 level courses designate baccalaureate level courses.
  • 5000 level courses designate Master’s level courses.
  • 6000 level courses designate Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) or Doctoral level (Ed.D.).
• Course numbers end with the number of semester credits the student earns by successfully completing the course.
  • A course that ends in a “1” (i.e. LEAD6001) signifies a one (1) credit hour course.
  • A course that ends in a “3” (i.e. LEAD6003) signifies a three (3) credit hour course.

Course Registration

It is the practice of ACE’s registration office to schedule new enrollments for their first class immediately upon enrollment. This first class, in all degree programs, is a dedicated first class and is listed as such in the College’s catalog.

After a new student matriculates past the first week of class, future classes are scheduled by the registration office. The goal is to provide students the most optimal progression to complete their program in the shortest amount of time possible. For bachelor’s and master’s level students, a schedule for the remainder of the program will be produced for the student. For doctorate students, a schedule for the next term will be provided.

If a student wishes to make a change to this schedule, they are required to seek approval through the registration office. If the change can be made without impact to prerequisites, time to completion, or benchmark requirements, the change will be made for master’s and bachelor’s level students.

If a doctoral student wishes to either add or drop a course, they can do so by completing the Doctoral Schedule Change Request form. If a student wishes to take a course other than the one scheduled, they must utilize the appeal process to seek the approval of academic leadership in the applicable department. 

Credit Hour Requirements

American College of Education (ACE) assigns and awards credit hours in accordance with accepted practices in higher education. The College employs the federal definition of the credit hour in the assignment and awarding of credit hours as stated in the following policy:

At ACE a credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement, an institutionally-established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than: 

1. One (1) hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two (2) hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester.
2.  At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other activities as established by an institution, including laboratory work, internships, practicum, studio work, and other academic work leading toward to the award of credit hours. [Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 34, Part 600.2]

One credit hour consists of at least 15 hours of lecture, discussion, seminar, or colloquium as well as 30 hours of student preparation, homework, studying, and application.

All of the coursework at American College of Education is completed asynchronously over the Internet, facilitated by qualified faculty. Some programs may also include a face-to-face internship, student teaching, or other field experience.

Lecture/Seminar Courses
Credit hour policy is consistent with the standards of courses offered through face-to-face instruction, although some or all of content and faculty-student interaction occurs through one or more forms of distance education.

Student Teaching, Internships, and Field Experiences
Require at least 45 hours of professional practice for one credit hour, or the combination of such with required coursework.

Independent Study Courses
Credit hour policy is consistent with the standards of courses offered through face-to-face instruction, although some or all of content and faculty-student interaction occurs through one or more forms of distance education.

Capstone Courses
Credit hour policy is consistent with the standards of courses offered through face-to-face instruction, although some or all of content and faculty-student interaction occurs through one or more forms of distance education.

General Education Competency (Undergraduate)

General education competencies are assessed within the first two terms of all bachelor’s programs. Students will receive results of the assessments.  If proficiency, defined by ACE as minimum score of 70%, is not demonstrated on the assessments within the first two terms, students will be required to complete assessments in or before their Capstone course to ensure proficiency prior to degree completion.  

General Education Requirements (Undergraduate) 

American College of Education requires students enrolled in programs where a bachelor’s degree is conferred to complete thirty general education credits aligned with Indiana’s Statewide Transfer General Education Core (STGEC). The established framework for the Indiana Statewide Transfer General Education Core includes two categories: “Foundational Intellectual Skills” and “Ways of Knowing.” Each category includes three competency areas as depicted in the chart below. Indiana STGEC requires for students to earn a minimum of 3 credits in each of the competency areas (18 credits) and complete a minimum of 30 credits in the defined competencies. ACE has defined the additional credit hours needed to fulfill general education requirements as listed below:

ACE students can complete general education credits prior to enrolling at ACE or while attending ACE. All credits are required to be fulfilled prior to degree conferral unless required as a prerequisite in a course as listed in the College Catalog.

Maximum Number of Registrations in Courses

Students completing work as prescribed throughout their programs at ACE should be prepared to successfully complete their courses after the first attempt.  If a student is not successful after three course registrations, they will be administratively withdrawn from the college.

The Registration office will schedule students for their first registration according to program progression. If a student does not receive a passing grade during the registration, they will be required to retake the course per progression. This process will continue until one of the following occurs:

• Student receives passing grade and matriculates in program accordingly.
• Three registrations are reached.

If a student is administratively withdrawn, they will be subject to the Re-Entry policy.

A student has the right to appeal this decision per the appeal process.

Prerequisites and Corequisites

The American College of Education defines a course prerequisite is any requirement an academic program identifies as necessary for a student to complete successfully before taking the course. A course corequisite is any requirement an academic program identifies as necessary for a student to satisfy concurrently with the course (a corequisite may be satisfied prior to the course as well as concurrently). Prerequisites and corequisites typically are other courses but may also be some other requirement.

Course prerequisites and corequisites are published in the course descriptions within this catalog. Students are ultimately responsible for knowing and adhering to course prerequisites and corequisites requirements. Failure to follow such requirements may delay a student’s progress and/or place a student at academic risk.

Registration Hold

If a student is delinquent in the payment of any sum owed under any financing option used to fund his/her program with the College, the College will place a hold on the student’s registration for the next available subsequent term(s) (i.e. registration hold) until the student’s account returns to a Good Financial Standing status. The student will remain on a registration hold for up to four five-week terms. If the account is still unfunded at the end of this time, the student will be administratively withdrawn from the College in the manner outlined in the College’s Administrative Withdrawal Policy.  Conversely, if the student makes the required payments during the registration hold period, they will be scheduled for the immediate next term in the manner outlined in the College’s Registration Policy.  If a student repeatedly violates the terms of his/her financing plan and is not in Good Financial Standing in more than one term, at the discretion of the College, the student may be administratively withdrawn earlier than the end of the fourth five-week term. 

Repeating a Course

If a student repeats a course, both grades will appear on the student’s transcript. However, only the highest grade will be reflected in the student’s cumulative GPA.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Academic Achievement Standards & Satisfactory Academic Progress

To graduate from American College of Education, each student must achieve a standard of academic achievement as defined by their cumulative grade point average (GPA). This standard is determined based on the degree level of the student. Undergraduate students must earn a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA; graduate students and RN to MSN students must earn a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA.

Students must also complete their program in a specified amount of time:

• Undergraduate, RN to MSN, and master’s students are required to complete their program within 1.5 times the length of the program (without stop-outs).
• Specialist students must complete their program within 7 years.
• Doctorate students within 10 years (with or without stop outs).

A course in which a grade below a “C” is earned will not be counted toward graduation requirements and must be retaken. When the course is retaken, each course and grade will appear on the transcript, but only the highest grade will be reflected in the student’s cumulative grade point average.

To ensure students are tracking towards successful degree completion, students are required to maintain the academic achievement GPA.

If a student’s GPA does not meet the academic achievement level or if the student has been provisionally admitted, the following statuses and rules will apply:

Provisional Admission

If an applicant is ineligible for full admission due to GPA, rubric results, or as the result of an admissions appeal, the applicant will be allowed to enroll as a provisionally admitted student. The student will be placed on Academic Probation for their first two terms at the College.

Graduate and RN to MSN students cannot earn a grade below a “B” in either of the first two courses at the Master’s and Doctoral Level. Undergraduate students cannot earn below a “C” in either of their first two courses. Undergraduate students must have earned a cumulative GPA of 2.0 and graduate and RN to MSN students must have earned a 3.0 cumulative GPA by the end of their second course in order to be removed from Academic Probation status and be considered in good standing with the college.

Academic Warning
Academic Warning is assigned when a student’s cumulative grade point average falls below a 2.0 for undergraduate and 3.0 for graduate and RN to MSN students. The status is assigned for two terms to provide students the opportunity to raise their GPA. If the GPA is not raised to the academic achievement level at this time, they will be placed on Academic Probation. While placed on this status, graduate and RN to MSN students are required to earn a grade of “B” or better in each course; undergraduate students are required to earn a grade of “C” or better in each course. If these grades are not received, the student will be dismissed. 

Academic Probation
Academic Probation is assigned to a provisionally admitted student or when a student on Academic Warning status is not successful in raising his or her cumulative GPA to the appropriate GPA (2.0 for undergraduate and 3.0 for graduate and RN to MSN) within two terms. While placed on this status, graduate and RN to MSN students are required to earn a grade of “B” or better in each course; undergraduate students are required to earn a grade of “C” or better in each course. If these grades are not received, the student will be dismissed. 

Dismissal
A graduate or RN to MSN student on any student on a SAP status, may be dismissed if they receive a grade of “C” or worse in their courses. An undergraduate student on a SAP status may be dismissed if they receive a grade of “D” or worse in their courses. The one exception is if a student on Academic Warning receives a “C” and this grade results in raising his/her GPA to a 3.0 cumulative GPA, he/she will not be dismissed.

Students who have been academically dismissed are restricted to one petition for Re-Entry or Readmission to the College. The dismissed student is required to wait four terms prior to being allowed to re-enter (See Re-Entry or Readmission procedures).

Re-Entry after Dismissal or Withdrawal 
A student who leaves ACE for any reason while on an Academic Warning or Academic Probation status will return under this same status if he or she is granted Re-Entry or Readmission.

State Specific Course

It is the American College of Education’s policy to schedule students solely in courses listed in the course list for the program that corresponds to their student information. Specifically, some ACE programs list specific courses to be taken based on the state of residence for the student. ACE does this to ensure that key state components for potential licensure are covered during the student’s time at ACE. To meet this practice, the ACE registration team schedules students based on the state entered in the student’s record.

ACE recognizes there may be circumstances where students may live in one state or country; however, will be seeking licensure in a different state. To accommodate this scenario, students can be approved to be registered in state specific courses that differ from their state/country of residence if any of the following conditions are true:

• Student has a valid teaching certificate in the state for the request (i.e. Student lives in Iowa but has an Illinois teaching certificate).
• Student has current proof of employment in the state for the request (i.e. student lives in Indiana but is presently teaching in Ohio).
• Student lives overseas presently but will be returning to the United States and has proof of teaching certificate in a specific state.

Transferability of ACE Credits

American College of Education is regionally accredited, but it does not guarantee or allege coursework taken at the College will be accepted for transfer to other institutions. The acceptance of transfer credit is entirely at the discretion of the receiving institution according to its policies. Students are responsible for contacting the receiving institution about their transfer credit policies related to coursework taken at American College of Education.