Court Rules: 2.96 is Less Than 3.0

From Penzo v. South College of Tenn., Inc., decided in 2023 by Judge Travis McDonough (E.D. Tenn.), but just posted on Westlaw:

South College requires its physician-assistant-program students to maintain a grade point average (“GPA”) of at least 3.0 to remain in the program. This requirement and the consequences for failing to meet it are explained as follows in the South College Master of Health Science Physician Assistant Program Student Handbook (“Handbook”):

A student with a cumulative GPA below 3.0 at the end of any didactic quarter or clinical rotation will receive notification from the Student Progress Committee that they are on Probation. If the student fails to raise his/her cumulative GPA to 3.0 or higher at the end of the next didactic quarter or clinical rotation, he/she will be dismissed from the Physician Assistant Studies Program. If the student raises his/her cumulative GPA to 3.0 or higher at the end of the next didactic quarter or clinical rotation, he/she will be removed from probation. If a student’s cumulative GPA falls below 3.0 for a second time, he/she will be dismissed from the Physician Assistant Studies Program….

After three quarters in the physician-assistant program, Penzo’s cumulative GPA fell to a 2.96. In accordance with the Handbook, South College placed Penzo on academic probation and advised him that he would be dismissed if he could not raise his cumulative GPA to at least a 3.0 by the end of the next quarter. Because Penzo was unable to do so, he was dismissed for the first time from the program after completing his fourth quarter.

Penzo, however, successfully appealed his dismissal, attributing his underperformance to mental-health difficulties, and was allowed to return to the program for his fifth quarter. Though Penzo earned a 3.14 the next quarter, his cumulative GPA remained below 3.0 at a 2.97. As a result, South College again dismissed Penzo from the program, leaving him with “$140,000 in debt and [ ] no degree.” Penzo appealed his dismissal a second time [but lost]….

Penzo’s lawyer argued:

In regard to the termination of Mr. Perez’s enrollment in the PA Program, the Handbook provides that students may proceed to the clinical phase if they have “a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0.” [The motion used Perez as a pseudonym for Penzo, but the district court refused to allow pseudonymity in this case, and thus used Penzo's actual name. -EV] In fact, all references in the Handbook to a student’s minimum cumulative average present the minimum as a single-place decimal number, i.e., 3.0 rather than 3.00, and the only reference to a two-place decimal, i.e., 3.00, is on page 34 and is in reference to a course grade rather than a cumulative average. Moreover, the Handbook indicates via a chart on page 34 that South College applies standard decimal-rounding rules by showing that the letter grade “A” is applied for scores of 89.50% and higher, whereas 79.50% to 89.49% constitutes a “B” letter grade. Therefore, because Mr. Perez’s cumulative average at the end of his fifth quarter was 2.97, when converted to a single-place decimal, 2.97 becomes 3.0

Points for creativity, I think. But not for legal success, held the judge:

It is unlikely South College reasonably expected students to understand the 3.0 requirement to be a rounded cumulative GPA (i.e., that a 2.95 GPA and above would meet the 3.0 GPA requirement) rather than a hard cutoff. The Handbook clearly states probation or dismissal is warranted “[i]f a student’s cumulative GPA falls below a 3.0.” There are no qualifiers or caveats modifying this statement. Students’ cumulative GPAs are calculated to the hundredth’s place; indeed, Penzo invariably refers to his cumulative GPAs with two decimal places. If that number is under 3.0, per the unequivocal terms of the Handbook, the student is subject to probation or dismissal. It is not reasonable to believe otherwise.

The Handbook, as Penzo points out, contains a chart suggesting grades awarded within individual courses may be rounded up (i.e., a grade of 89.5% constitutes an “A”). But there is no reference to rounding or any adjustment of cumulative GPAs in determining whether a student has met the 3.0 GPA requirement. Accordingly, Penzo’s likelihood of success on this breach-of-contract argument is low and weighs against granting temporary relief….

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