A-034 Grading
System of Grades
All courses offered by Southwest Minnesota State University shall be graded on the following system of letter grades: A, B, C, D, F, CR, NC, AU, W, NA, FQ, I, IP.
The following grades and shades may be used: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, F.
a. The A, B, C, D, F System
A: Greatly exceeding standards
B: Exceeding standards
C: Meets standards
D: Not yet meeting standards
F: Little to no evidence of meeting standards
b. The Credit/No Credit System
CR: Credit
NC: No Credit
c. The Optional System
Students must inform the instructor during the first week of class whether they want to be graded on the A, B, C, D, F System, or the Credit/No Credit System if this is an option for the course they are registered in. (Note: No more than twenty (20) credits outside the major graded on the Credit/No Credit System shall be counted toward graduation. (SMSU Policy A-010.)
In addition, the following symbols may be used with all systems: AU, W, I, IP, NA, FQ.
AU: Audited. AU is the grade assigned when students attend a course for educational purposes and do not receive a traditional letter grade or assessment of performance. Audit is a grade method selected by students at the time of registration.
NA: Never Attended. NA is the grade assigned when students who are registered for a course do not attend or participate during the drop/add period for the term.
FQ: Failed Quit. FQ is the grade assigned when students attend or participate in a course beyond the drop/add period for the term and then stop attending or participating in the course according to the attendance requirements in the course syllabus. FQ grades require a Last Date of Attendance to be submitted by the instructor.
W: Withdrawn. W is the grade assigned when students withdraw themselves from a course after the drop/add period and before the published withdraw deadline. Students may change an FQ grade to W before the published withdraw deadline, but the Last Date of Attendance does not change.
I: Incomplete. An Incomplete is given only when the student has been in attendance and has done satisfactory work up to or beyond the withdraw deadline and has provided proof satisfactory to the instructor that the work cannot be completed because of illness or other circumstances beyond the student's control. A written statement, agreed upon by the student and instructor, of the reason for the Incomplete, listing the work which the student will need to do to remove it and the timeline for the completion of the work, must be filed by the instructor with the department chair, the dean of the college in which the course is given, and the registrar.
To obtain credit, students must complete the remaining work within 4 months from the date the Incomplete was assigned. Students should never register for the same course again in order to remove the Incomplete. If students do not complete the work by the deadline, the registrar will change the I to an F or NC, depending on the grade method.
Instructors may approve under extreme circumstances an extension of an Incomplete one time for up to another 4 months, and an updated statement including the remaining work and timelines must be communicated to the registrar and dean’s office before the original deadline.
In no case shall a degree be posted when a student has an Incomplete grade.
In the cases where instructors are adjunct or taking leave, the department chairs or their designee will submit the final grades.
IP: In progress. The in-progress grade, IP, is for use in practicum, student teaching, internships, and clinical where it is expected that the student will not be able to complete the coursework in one semester. If course requirements are not completed within two years, the IP will be changed to an F if graded on the A, B, C, D, F System or to an NC if graded on the Credit/No Credit system. Subsequently, the student must repeat the course to receive credit.
In no case shall a degree be posted when a student has an In-progress grade.
In the cases where instructors are adjunct or taking leave, the department chairs or their designee will submit the final grades.
Grade Recording
All courses attempted at Southwest Minnesota State University and their grades shall be recorded on the student’s official transcript. Transfer credits are recorded but are not used in calculating the cumulative grade point average.
Grade Quality Points
Grades and quality points used in the GPA calculation include:
- A 4.00
- A- 3.67
- B+ 3.33
- B 3.00
- B- 2.67
- C+ 2.33
- C 2.00
- C- 1.67
- D+ 1.33
- D 1.00
- F 0.00
The following grades are not used in GPA calculations: W (Withdraw), AU (Audit), I (Incomplete), IP (In Progress), NC (No Credit), and CR (Credit).
CCR percentage
The following grades are not used in CCR calculations: AU (Audit), grades earned for development courses (courses number less than 100), and NC (No Credit) earned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related Documents
SMSU Policy, A-005, “Academic Standing”
Policy History
Date of Adoption: January 28, 1982
Date of Last Review: September 14, 2024
Date and Subject of Amendments
9/14/2024 - Removed A+ and D- from the list of grades, updated the list of grades used to include LDA grades, and updated and clarified the I and IP grading policies.