Pass Fail Grading Option
Undergraduate students may enroll in up to four semester courses pass/fail during their undergraduate career. Letter grades covered by "pass" ("P" for performance at the "C-" level or above) will not be used in computing grade point averages. Grades of "D"and "E" will remain letter grades, to be used in computing grade point averages, and will be considered by Committee on Academic Standing when determining academic standing.
The following constraints apply to the use of the P/F grading option:
- No more than one course may be taken pass/fail during a single term.
- One course may be used to fulfill a general university requirement, excepting First-Year Seminars, University Writing Seminars, writing intensive and oral communication courses, with the pass/fail grading. No more than one course (and never the final one) in the world language sequence may be taken pass/fail if the language is being offered in satisfaction of the world language requirement.
- Courses taken pass/fail will not satisfy major or minor requirements.
- In full-year courses, the elected grading option (pass/fail or letter grade) applies to both semesters and may not be changed at midyear. (Such a course taken pass/fail would expend two of the allowable four pass/fail semesters.)
- Election of the pass/fail grading option for a course must be made on or before the deadline published in the Academic Calendar in the semester they are enrolled in the course. A course attempted on the pass/fail basis, in which the student received a grade of C- or higher, may be converted to a P grade after the end of the semester and before the published deadline in the following semester. Students who wish to use the pass/fail grading option for an allowable general education requirement must indicate this when converting the received grade of C- or higher to the P. Electing a course pass/fail counts as one of the four semester courses, regardless of whether the final grade is converted to a P grade.
- In an undergraduate's final semester, conversion of a course attempted on the pass/fail basis, in which the student received a grade of C- or higher, must be converted to a P grade before the deadline announced in the University calendar for the receipt of senior grades, normally three days after the last day of final examinations.
Students must make all pass/fail option requests within the published deadlines — no exceptions will be made for a student missing the deadline to make an initial pass/fail option request nor to make a request to cover a grade for a course which had been elected on the pass/fail option earlier in the semester.
Petitions will not be entertained for exceptions to the above constraints and deadlines.
Please note: Arrangements between students and instructors do not constitute official pass/fail enrollment. Instructors are not informed of the grading option that a student has chosen. Students taking courses pass/fail must complete all assignments and examinations.
Undergraduate students elect the pass/fail option by completing the online Pass/Fail Option Request Form prior to the published deadline.