<p>OP, every college student has to meet SAP, satisfactory academic progress. This usually means having a GPA of 2.0 or better. Granted, 2.0 isn’t stellar, but it’s a C, and if the major your student is studying is tough, a C is sometimes “average”. If your child isn’t making SAP, the college/university will deal directly with him, since he is the young adult. He will be put on probation for a semester, and then if no improvement is made, he would be told to leave school. You sent your child to college, but to the college he is an adult. Why not trust the process to work? If you speak to your son about other aspects of life, in a positive conversation, he may just open up about his grades. Maybe they are great, maybe not and he is embarrassed/frustrated. No one intends to do horribly in college, but it can be a tough adjustment. Come at it from a different view, when you and your son are relaxed and having a nice time together. The last thing you want to do is spy on him in dis-trust.
Also, the idea of demanding a certain GPA anywhere above a 2, is to me very unfair. Most kids try, hard. And sometimes courses can be tough with no way out past the “drop date”, so the honorable student who is not a “quitter” sticks it out and doesn’t get the best grade. Why be punished for trying? Isn’t learning about taking risks and trying something new? In our culture, we have become a country full of cheaters trying to get all A’s and 2400’s, but that is very unrealistic and is exactly what drives students to cheat and then get kicked out of school! I went to a tough college, graduated with a 2.98.The Horror! And I went on to get a masters, have had a great career, have a house and all the fixings, and am none the worse for sticking it out in a few courses that were NOT in my major but I really had an interest in! I’m glad I suffered and got C’s in those classes, because despite the low grade, I honestly learned something I never knew before, had never even thought of before, and THAT was the real value of my excellent education!</p>