Academic Sanctions

Academic sanctions are penalties that school officials use to penalize students for poor academic performances. Legally, school officials have the right to use academic sanctions when students perform poorly academically. Some examples of academic sanctions are academic probation, retention, expulsion, denial of course credit, changes in ranking, modifying honors, or failing. Courts routinely uphold academic sanctions, even though they recognize that when officials implement academic sanctions, there may be negative consequences for students' futures: The sanctions may impact the students' academic records, affect their school standing, and/or limit their access to future military or government jobs. Legal actions related to academic sanctions are discussed in this entry.