Undergraduate Grading System
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Undergraduate Grading System
Instructors report final course grades at the end of each semester. The deadline to submit grades is 48 business hours after the course’s assigned final exam timeslot concludes regardless of whether a final exam is held.
Grades are reported and recorded as letter grades. The translation of numeric scores translate to letter grades is the purview of the instructor and/or program, and conversions may differ from course to course.
Student averages and class ranks are computed on the following grade point basis:
A | 4.0 |
A- | 3.7 |
B+ | 3.3 |
B | 3.0 |
B- | 2.7 |
C+ | 2.3 |
C | 2.0 |
C- | 1.7 |
D+ | 1.3 |
D | 1.0 |
F | 0.0 |
To determine the quality points earned for a particular course, multiply the number equivalent to the letter grade by the credit hours assigned to the course. To arrive at the grade point average (GPA), add the quality points for all courses and divide the sum by the number of credit hours attempted.
In certain instances, grades are assigned that appear on the transcript, but aren’t used in grade point calculation. These grades are:
Notation | Grade | Description |
|---|---|---|
AU | Audit | Student elected to take course for no academic credit. This is a permanent notation. |
UA | Unsuccessful Audit | Student registered to audit course, but did not regularly attend or participate. This is a permanent notation. |
I | Incomplete | Some assignments have not been completed for a legitimate reason. This is not a permanent notation. |
P | Pass | Student elected to take course on Pass/Fail basis. A grade of “P” may represent work completed at the “D” level or higher. This is a permanent notation. |
WD | Withdrawn | Student withdrew from the course and did not earn credit. This is a permanent notation. |
XT | Extended Credit | Course is linked to work across multiple semesters. Ungraded credit is earned at the end of the term, but final course grade is at a later date. This is not a permanent notation. |
Audit
Students may enroll in a course on an audit basis. An audit must be declared by the Drop/Add deadline. An audit is recorded on the student’s academic record as “AU”, but no letter grade or credits are assigned. The expectations of the audit are established by the instructor, who will verify successful completion of the audit to the Registrar’s Office at the end of the semester. An auditor is expected to attend classes, but is generally not required to complete assignments or to take examinations unless required by the instructor. An unsuccessful audit is recorded on the student's academic record as "UA" in cases when the student does not attend class and/or does not otherwise meet the instructor's expectations for the audit.
Pass/Fail
A course may be taken on a pass/fail basis as long as the course does not satisfy core, major or minor requirements. Students must select the course(s) they wish to take pass/fail and complete the Pass/Fail Grading Request form for each course. The deadline for converting a course to pass/fail aligns with the Withdrawal deadline for a given term.
Grading and GPA Implications for Repeated Courses
When a student repeats a course, both grades appear on the transcript and both are computed in the student’s cumulative grade point average. If a repeated course counts toward a student’s major or minor, only the higher grade is computed in the major/minor grade point average. The student earns credit for a repeated course only once. In accordance with the Transfer Credit Policy, if a course is repeated at another college or university, credit is only awarded if institutional credit was not already awarded (i.e. the student repeats a course for which they received an “F” at SMC). Grades in repeated transferred courses do not appear on the SMC transcript, nor do they count toward a student’s grade point average.