Grading

Grading System

Students will be graded in all creditable courses as follows:

A (+ or -) Excellent
B (+ or -) Good
C (+ or -) Fair (lowest passing mark)

SP = Satisfactory Progress (for dissertation supervision or certain research courses re- quiring more than one semester for completion)

NRP = No Record of Progress. The grade may be assigned by dissertation supervisors only to students in 90000 courses (Dissertation Supervision), if the student has done little or no work on the dissertation over the course of the semester.

W = Withdrew without academic penalty. This is a student-initiated grade, which may be requested from the fourth through the 10th week of the semester. Under no circumstances can a student withdraw and receive a “W” grade after the 10th week of the semester without the written permission of the course instructor and the Executive Officer and the approval of the Vice President for Student Affairs. This grade carries tuition liability.

WA = Administrative withdrawal. This grade, which does not affect the grade point av- erage, is administratively assigned.

WU = A grade of “WU” is to be assigned to a student who attended a minimum of one class, completely stopped attending at any time before final exam week, and did not officially withdraw. A “WU” grade should never be given in place of an “F” grade. The “F” grade is an earned grade based on poor performance and the student not meeting the learning objectives/ outcomes of the course through the entire academic term/session.

F = Failure. A grade of “F” is a failure grade given to a student who completed the course and failed. A student who completed a course unsuccessfully should be granted the grade of “F” with the culminating academic experience of the course, i.e., final exam, final paper, etc. This grade can also be assigned if the student has completed a majority of the course and docu- mentation of failing course work is available. This documentation must be retained and available for review by auditors.

FIN = F from incomplete. To be used when the INC grade lapses to an F grade.

P = Pass. Each program is authorized to use the grade of ‘’P’’ for such courses and under such conditions as the Executive Committee of the program deems appropriate.

INC = Incomplete. The grade of “INC” should only be given by the instructor in consultation with the student, to be assigned only when student work has not been turned in and the instructor agrees to permit the student to complete the work at a later date. Graduate Students who receive an Incomplete (INC grade) must fulfill their academic obligation within one calendar year (or earlier campus deadline) of the end of the semester in which the grade of Incomplete is given. Incompletes unresolved in the above-mentioned time period will become FIN in students’ records and may not be changed thereafter.

Students with more than two incomplete courses will be brought to the attention of their Executive Officer to determine whether or not they are making satisfactory progress. Students will not normally be regarded as making satisfactory progress toward their degrees if they have more than two “INCs” on their records. Students should be aware that continued registration and most financial aid awards are conditional upon satisfactory academic progress. Students should also note that credits for which they have an “INC” as of the end of the third week of classes of a given semester are not counted toward advancement to the next level for that semester.

WN = Never Attended. A grade of “WN” is to be assigned to students who never at- tended and did not officially withdraw. This grade is to be assigned by faculty if a student never attended a class. The grade is nonpunitive and carries tuition liability.

Computation of Grade Point Average (GPA)/Cumulative Index

All credits with the following grades are counted in the total credits used to compute the grade point average/cumulative index: “A” (+ or -), “B” (+ or -), “C” (+ or -), and “F.” Credits for all other grades are not counted toward the average.

To compute the grade point average, complete the following steps:

1. Determine the total number of GPA credits by adding all the credits with letter grades “A” through “F.”

2. For each course with a letter grade that counts toward the average, multiply the number of credits by the appropriate quality point value, as indicated below:

3. Add the quality point values for all the courses to determine the total quality points.

4. Divide the total quality points by the total number of credits (as computed in Step 1).

The resulting figure is the grade point average/cumulative index. Please note that the index is computed to two decimal points and the index is not rounded off.

Credits with grades of “P” do not figure into the computation of the grade point average but do count toward the degree. Advanced standing transfer credits also count toward the degree but do not figure into the index. In some cases, credits earned at one of the senior colleges of The City University of New York may be calculated into the index. When a course for which a letter grade other than “F” was assigned is repeated, the credits for the course are counted toward the degree once, and the grade from the first attempt only is computed into the grade point average. Credits for undergraduate courses or for graduate-level courses taken for under- graduate credit are neither counted toward the degree nor computed into the average.

Any course designated by a program as not counting toward degree requirements also is not to be computed into the grade point average.