The Graduate School's grading system is as follows: A, excellent; B, good; C, fair; D, passing but poor; F, failure. Plus and minus letter grades are also used. Unless program regulations specifically state otherwise, all courses to be credited toward the degree must be taken for a letter grade (see also the paragraph on R credit below).
A letter grade is given to a student who has completed the required work in a course, including the final exam or paper, and it is expressed on a student's transcript by the letter grades A, B, C, D, or F. The grade of F is a final grade and is not subject to reexamination.
Students should seek advice from the director of graduate studies in their department if they wish to take a course Pass/Fail or for R credit.
IN (Incomplete)
The mark of IN is given to a student who has satisfactorily met all the requirements of a course except for the completion of certain assigned papers or reports or the final examination, which the student has been compelled to postpone for reasons that are 1) beyond his or her control and 2) satisfactory to the instructor. For a course in the Arts and Sciences, if the instructor does not submit a qualitative grade within one year, the mark of IN will be changed to an F, which will be not subject to change at a later date.
Leaves of absence and withdrawals approved by GSAS stop the clock on Incomplete deadlines. If a student is granted a Leave of Absence or withdrawal from the University within a year of receiving an Incomplete, the grade of Incomplete will remain on the student’s transcript while the student is not enrolled, and the time of the leave or withdrawal will not count against the student's one-year grace period. A grade of Incomplete received by a student who does not register but is not granted an approved Leave of Absence or withdrawal from the University will be changed to an F after one year.
Beginning with the Spring 2012 semester, the deadline for students to submit their outstanding work will be May 1 (for incompletes earned in the spring semester) and December 1 (for incompletes earned in the fall semester) of the succeeding year—e.g., a student who receives an incomplete in the Spring 2012 semester will have until May 1, 2013 to submit the outstanding work.
R (Registered for the course; no qualitative grade assigned)
The mark of R is awarded in place of a letter grade. Students who wish to be given R credit for a course must receive written permission from the instructor that specifies the instructor's expectations within the standard course-change period. In addition, they must hand in to the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School a Proof of Agreement for R Credit form (.pdf), signed by the instructor. The deadline to submit the form is the same date as the deadline to request to take a course Pass/Fail (see the Academic Calendar for fall- and spring-term deadlines; see the School of Continuing Education website for summer-term deadlines).
A student who has been approved to take a course for R credit is not required to take the final examination but is required to meet any other requirements established by the instructor of the course. It is assumed that the student will meet all course requirements other than the final examination unless the instructor states otherwise in writing when the permission for R credit is granted.
A course that has been taken for R credit may not be repeated for a letter grade.
Courses taken for R credit are applied toward the calculation of Residence Units for billing purposes in the same way as courses taken for a letter grade. The number of points of R credit acceptable for a degree, however, is set by each program in consultation with the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
P/F (Pass/Fail)
A few specific graduate-level courses are offered only on a Pass/Fail basis; typically these courses focus on the cultivation of professional or disciplinary skills (e.g., MUSI G6000, Professional Strategies & Skills; RSRH G4001 Scholarly Research and Writing; SOCI G4097, Designs of Social Research). In these cases, the instructor notifies the students of the P/F grading scale and submits grades accordingly.
Students who wish to be given a P/F grade for a course offered on a letter-grade scale must request the grade of P/F through the Office of the Registrar, not by direct request to the instructor. To submit a request, complete the Add/Drop form (.pdf) and submit it to the Student Service Center in 205 Kent Hall.
The deadline for requesting to take a course P/F in the fall or spring semesters is given on both the GSAS Academic Calendar and the University Academic Calendar; for Summer Sessions, see the School of Continuing Education website. Requests to take a course P/F will not be granted after this date.
The grade of F is a final grade and is not subject to reexamination. The number of points of P/F credit acceptable for a degree is set by each program in consultation with the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
The mark of YC (Year Course)
A mark given at the end of the first term of a course in which the full year of work must be completed before a qualitative grade is assigned. The grade given at the end of the second term is the grade for the entire course.
CP (Credit Pending)
The mark of CP implies satisfactory progress. It is differentiated from IN in that it is given only in graduate research courses in those rare situations in which the research project, by the nature of its subject, unavoidably and predictably continues beyond the end of the term. Upon completion, a final qualitative grade is assigned and credit allowed. If the CP is not removed within one year, it will be changed to an F. In exceptional cases, the Dean of the Graduate School may grant an extension for an additional year upon request made by the student before the expiration of the one-year grace period. The student must make the request to the Office of the Dean before the expiration of the one-year grace period. A justification for the request must be provided with approvals from the instructor and the Director of Graduate Studies. If no extension has been granted and the required work has not submitted to the instructor, the mark of F will be considered a final grade not subject to change at a later date.
UW (Unofficial Withdrawal)
The mark of UW is assigned to students who have registered for a course but who have never attended or have discontinued attendance prior to the due date of substantive work. Additional information is available on the Registrar’s website.
