Frequently Asked Questions

A hold can be placed on a student’s record for reasons including but not limited to; non-payment of debt (parking tickets, library fines, tuition payments), academic standards, failure to meet the GPA minimum, missing required academic advising, missing admission credentials, or non-compliance with other University regulations/obligations.

A hold on the record can impact one or more of the following:

• Enrollment, ability to register for classes
• Receiving a transcript or diploma
• Disbursement of financial aid
• Refund from income accounting

To check if a hold has been placed on your account, log into the Banner Self-Service and click on the "view holds" tile on the student homepage.
For undeclared students with an advising hold, contact your undergraduate academic advisor at the Academic Advising Center (AAC).
For declared students with an advising hold, contact your faculty advisor in your department of major.
For other hold types, contact the specified reference from Banner to release the hold.

To learn how to register for courses online, click here.

After your first advising session, you should be getting yourself ready for the semester. During the first week of the semester, which is called drop/add week, you can come to see your adviser if you wish to make any changes in your schedule. Also, if you have any questions about any academic matter you should go to the AAC for assistance. And no, you are not left on your own. By the middle of each semester, you need to schedule an appointment with your adviser to plan your next academic semester.

It’s not a problem to drop and add a course as long as it’s still the first week of University. The first week is called the drop/add period, where students attend classes, in order to find out if it's a course they want to continue taking. You have a total of five days to change sections and courses through your academic adviser if it’s your first semester or through the Banner, if you are a returning student. If you exceed the first week of drop/add, you can only drop the course, but cannot add a course in its place. This will be discussed in the coming section.

Credit hours are the load that you are allowed to take during the semester. In other words, coursework is counted in credit hours. In general, a credit hour represents a one-hour class period that requires at least two hours of individual study each week for one semester. Thus, a course of three credit hours would meet for three hours a week and the student would be expected to study for six hours outside of class. Laboratory courses involve less outside work, so usually, one hour of credit is granted for a three-hour session. Hence most courses at AUC are 3 credit hours worth.

There are two regular semesters and two irregular ones at The American University in Cairo (AUC). The regular ones are the fall and spring and the irregular ones are the summer and winter.

Academic Load

• Fall/Spring: 12-16 credit hours for undeclared students
• Summer session: six-week session 6 credit hours and three-week session3 credit hours
• Winter session: 3 credit hours

As a student, you are encouraged to take the full load, which is 12-15 credit hours. However, if you have any reason that prohibits you from doing so, you automatically become a part-time student holding less than 12 credit hours. In this case, you will not be receiving any official form of enrollment or any financial aid from the University.

Declaring a major happens when you fulfill the major requirements that the department demands. After you meet these criteria, you should apply for a declaration, and when accepted you will be listed among the declared students of the department. You have up to your junior year or your third year to declare or change a major at AUC.

To learn more about the undergraduate academic requirements and regulations, Loading....

Sometimes as a student, you get overwhelmed by the courses you are taking. You end up not doing so well on one of the courses. On the other hand, you might change your mind about a certain major and want to switch to another, so what do you do about the courses then?

There are several options offered by AUC that can help you save your GPA such as:

• Withdrawal: If for any reason you cannot attend a course after you have registered for it, you should fill in an online course withdrawal form. Withdrawing from a course implies that its credits are removed from your schedule and you will not be graded for it.
• Incomplete work: In very rare cases, undergraduate students who are unable to complete a course may be permitted to continue work in that course beyond the examination period. In such a case, a grade of I, for "incomplete," is assigned. The students must make arrangements with the professor to complete the course within one month after the beginning of the new academic session, whether they are in school or not. Failure to complete the course within one month after the beginning of the new academic session causes the grade in that course to be recorded as IF, signifying failure.
• Repeat form: If you don’t do well in a course, you have the right to repeat it one time for the purpose of improving the grade. This policy is limited to a maximum of five courses during your entire undergraduate career and to courses taken at AUC within the previous two years. However, if an “F” grade is received for academic dishonesty, you will not have the privilege of removing the grade.
• Drop form: Students may drop a course approximately up to the end of the eighth week of classes in an academic semester, with no grade record being maintained. Check the exact drop date for each semester on the university calendar. We advise you to use this option cautiously, and check its financial implications with the Students Accounting Office, as the tuition fees for dropped courses are non-refundable beyond the drop/add period.

To access the above-mentioned forms click here.

Important Note: Make sure you use the previous orivileges within their assigned deadlines and time linits.

When you fail to maintain an overall GPA of 2.0 you are placed on probation. This will limit your academic load to 12-13 credits per semester. You will have two semesters to clear the deficiency in your GPA and get out of probation. Failure to achieve the required standard by the end of the probation period disqualifies the student from further attendance at the University. You shouldn’t worry about getting out of probation. There are several resources on campus that can help you with this matter:

• Always visit your adviser. Your adviser will assist you with getting back on track. 
• Use the online GPA calculator to make sure that you’re keeping your GPA on the right track.
• Check the Center of Student Well-Being, click here
• Visit the Writing Center, in the case of failing RHET courses, click here

To learn more about the Writing Center Reservation System, click here.

Check the AUC calendar regularly.