Grade and symbol details

Authorized grades.

A student's performance is expressed by the following grades of scholarship:

A and A-, B+, B and B-, C+, C and C-, D+, D and D-, and F.

Valid symbols.

There are six valid grading symbols.

• * asterisk | Course is continuing. 
• X | Temporary delay of final course grade.  The symbol X is not issued for student or faculty convenience; it may be issued for one of the following reasons only in the case of compelling, nonacademic circumstances beyond the student's control:  1) missing the final examination; 2) incomplete classroom assignments; or 3) reexamination petition.
  
  If the final course grade is not reported before the end of the next long-session grade reporting period, a grade of F is recorded for the course. The X symbol remains on the student's record. For more, see General Information. | A graduate student may be assigned an X if the student has not completed all assignments before a course ends. If the final course grade is not reported by the end of the grade reporting period in the student's next long-session semester of enrollment, the symbol I (permanent incomplete) is recorded for the course. If the student is not enrolled during a long-session semester for twenty-four months following the end of the semester in which the X is reported, and the instructor does not report a final grade, then the symbol I is recorded for the course. For more, see General Information.
• CR | Credit. When the remarks column indicates that a student is registered for a course on the credit/fail or credit/no credit basis, the instructor must assign either CR to indicate that the student should receive academic credit for passing the course or F (for graduate students, NC ) to indicate that the student should not receive academic credit for the course. Grading for thesis, dissertation, master's report, departmental report, recital, and treatise is described below. | An undergraduate student who registers for a course on the credit/fail basis and earns a grade of D- or better is awarded a CR for the course. If the student fails a course for which he or she is registered on the credit/fail basis, the grade of F is assigned. | A graduate student who registers for a course on the credit/no credit basis and earns a grade of C or better is awarded a CR for the course. If the student earns less than a C in the course, an NC is assigned.
• NC | No credit. When a graduate student is registered for a course on the credit/no credit basis, the instructor must assign NC to indicate that the student should not receive academic credit for the course. Grading for thesis and dissertation courses is described below. | If a student is registered for a course on the credit/fail or credit/no credit basis but the instructor assigns a letter grade, that grade will be converted to the appropriate CR, F, or NC. | If a student is registered for a course on the letter-grade basis but the instructor assigns the symbol CR or NC, the symbol X will be recorded, and that X will be subject to the above regulations.
• S or U | Satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Use these symbols for Developmental Studies (DEV) courses only.

Grading for thesis and recital. The only valid grades for the first portion of thesis (698A) and recital (698RA) are CR and NC.

Grading for master's report, departmental report, and treatise. A grade of CR or NC should be reported at the end of each semester.

Grading for dissertation. A grade of CR or NC should be reported at the end of each semester.

Unknown names. If the roster lists a student for whom the instructor has no record, an F should be assigned. Note any special circumstances in the remarks column, such as "Stopped attending 3/1/05," or "Never attended." The student must resolve registration problems with the appropriate academic dean and the registrar.

Missing names. If a student's name isn't on the official class roster, the student was not officially registered for the course on the date the roster was created. A grade will not be recorded until the student resolves the registration problem with the appropriate academic dean, the registrar, and the Office of Tuition and Fee Billing.

The college/school column. Codes identify the college or school in which the student is registered. ARCH is for architecture, BUS for business, COMM for communication, ED for education, ENGR for engineering, F A for fine arts, GEOS for geosciences, GRAD for graduate school, GSB for grad business, L A for liberal arts, LAW for law, NSCI for natural sciences, NURS for nursing, PHARM for pharmacy, S W for social work, and UGS for Undergraduate Studies.

Displayed symbols.  We provide some student information through symbols on the gradesheet.

• To the left of the name on the gradesheet: *, an asterisk | Student is an official degree candidate for the current semester or summer session.
• In the grade column on the sheet: Q | Student officially dropped the course on the date given in the remarks column. No other grade or symbol may be assigned. W | Student officially withdrew from the University on the date given in the remarks column. No other grade or symbol may be assigned.
• In the remarks column on the sheet: CR or F | Undergraduate student officially registered on the credit/fail basis. Use no grade or symbol other than these two or an X. CR or NC | Graduate student officially registered on the credit/no credit basis. Use no grade or symbol other than X or these two.

For more information

To learn more, see Questions about grade reporting. For more about academic regulations, see current University catalogs and the Course Schedule.