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Academic Policies

Admission: Undergraduates and Graduates

Undergraduate, returning students who were not enrolled at Northwest during the previous semester must complete an Application for Admission. Transcripts must also be submitted from any other schools attended since attending Northwest. Additional information will also be required for students returning on probation or after an academic suspension.

New freshman and transfer students must complete an Application for Admission and submit appropriate transcripts.

Graduate students who have not been enrolled at Northwest during the past 12 months must complete an Application for Admission. Graduate, degree-seeking applications and transcripts should be submitted to the Graduate Office.

NOTE: All undergraduate and non-degree graduate applications and transcripts should be submitted to the Admissions Office (see University Academic Catalog for details.)

Add/Drop/Withdrawal Policies

Click link to view the Academic Catalog section on Add/Drop/Withdrawal Policy.

Academic Probation, Suspension and Dismissal

Click link to view the Academic Catalog section on Academic Probation, Suspension and Dismissal Policy.

Transfer Credit

Transfer credit is shown with Northwest equivalents. The following 900-series course numbers are used to show if transfer courses meet Northwest Core requirements, even though the courses are not directly equivalent, or transfer as electives only:

  • 900 ACT English Credit
  • 901 English 111
  • 902 English 112
  • 903 Oral Communication
  • 904 American Government (with Missouri)
  • 924 American Government (w/o Missouri)
  • 905 American History
  • 906 Social Science
  • 907 Psychology / Behavioral Science
  • 908 Literature
  • 909 Humanities / Philosophy
  • 910 Fine Arts
  • 911 Science
  • 912 Mathematics
  • 915 Information Technology / Digital Literacy
  • 916 Humanistic Studies
  • 918 Science Lab
  • 919 Anthropology
  • 920 Lower Division Elective
  • 990 Upper Division Elective
  • 988 B.T. (Technical) credit only

Email Policy

Northwest students are encouraged to use their University assigned email accounts for University correspondence. The email policy states that all University offices, staff and faculty should use only University-assigned student email addresses to encourage student responsibility for the information sent to them.

This information could include scholarship/financial assistance information, billing statements from Cashiering and notices from the Registrar as well as campus-wide emails.

Supersede Policy

Supersede Policy

Undergraduate students wishing to supersede a course should be aware of the Supersede Policy.  The complete policy is shown below, but a summary follows:   

  • A student may repeat a course if they previously earned a grade of “C”, “D”, or “F”.             
  • A student may only take a course a total of three times.   
  • A student is eligible to enroll for the course starting on their preregistration enrollment date based on their earned credit hours.
  • A student MUST submit an electronic Petition to Supersede before attempting to enroll in the class.  
  • The Petition to Supersede may be completed starting the first day of preregistration as follows:  
    • Log into CatPAWS.
    • Click on the Student tab.
    • Click on the Registration tile.
    • Click on the Supersede Petition link.
    • Choose the term in which the student wishes to supersede the course.
    • A list of courses eligible to be superseded will be displayed, grouped by Transfer, Northwest and Registered courses. Click on the course link to be superseded.
    • Review the course and click Submit Supersede.
    • Review the confirmation of the supersede petition completion.
    • Completion of the Supersede Petition places a Permit on the eligible course
    • A student should then go to the Registration menu and enroll in the class section
      • Providing the course is open, and there are no prerequisite or co-requisite issues, the student may self-register for the course.

Superseding Grades/Repeating Courses

A student who has received a grade of “C”, “D”, or “F” in a course may repeat a course in an effort to raise the grade. A student may supersede a given class at most two times, providing up to three opportunities to complete the given class. When a course is repeated, all of grades will appear on the student’s record, but only the highest grade earned will be used in determining the cumulative grade point average. A petition for superseding, available online through CatPAWS, must be completed prior to registration for the course Students will register for superseding courses during the normal registration period

A five-hour course may be superseded by a four-hour course if the five-hour course is no longer taught and the four-hour course is essentially the same in content as defined by the department which originated the five-hour course. Similar procedures apply to a four-hour course which has been changed to three hours.  

A student will not be allowed to supersede a grade earned at Northwest by completing an equivalent course at another institution.

Students must petition the Committee on Academic Petitions for exceptions to the above policies. Petition forms are available in the Office of the Registrar, and online at www.nwmissouri.edu/registrar.

A student with veterans’ benefits must advise the coordinator of Veterans’ Affairs when he or she plans to supersede a grade.