- The AF grade is equivalent to the grade of F in the determination of grade point averages and academic standing (Effective spring, 2017).
- The XF grade is equivalent to the grade of F in the determination of grade point averages and academic standing. (Effective fall, 2005)
- A candidate for a graduate degree must complete the program with a minimum overall grade-point average of 3.00. A course may be repeated for credit only when failed and only once; only the second grade is then considered. Both grades remain on the student's transcript.
- In certain instances, grades are assigned that will appear on the transcript, but will not be used in grade point calculation. These grades are:
AU: Students wishing to regularly attend a course, but not receive credit, may register as an auditor, with the approval of the dean and the instructor. Auditors have no claim on the time or service of the instructor. Students must meet minimum levels of performance set by the instructor at the time of registration in order to receive an audit grade. Tuition is charged at the applicable rate. Under no circumstances will changes be made after the add/drop period to allow credit for courses audited. Graduate College tuition scholarships do not cover courses taken for Audit.
INC: This grade may be assigned when course work is not completed for reasons beyond the student's control. Incompletes require the approval of the student's college/school dean. The incomplete course requirement will be satisfied at the earliest possible date, but not longer than the beginning of the corresponding semester of the next academic year. In cases of laboratory assignments, the student must complete all work the first time that the laboratory experience is offered again. Instructors will fill out an electronic incomplete grade exception request to the student's college/school dean and include the reason for the incomplete as well as the completion date agreed to by the student and instructor. It is the student's responsibility to learn from the student's college/school dean whether the request has been approved, the expected date of completion, and, from the instructor, the nature of all outstanding requirements. Incompletes may be approved due to extenuating medical, academic, or personal circumstances beyond the student’s control. An incomplete can only be issued with the agreement of the Dean’s office, the faculty member, and the student. The student’s Dean’s office is responsible for deciding whether a student’s circumstances meet the criteria for an incomplete, after which the faculty member should use the guidelines below to determine whether to offer the incomplete, and set the time frame for completion.
The following guidelines should be followed when assigning incompletes:
• Incompletes can only be offered after the Withdraw deadline has passed
• Incompletes should be requested of the Dean’s office by the last day of classes
• An incomplete can only be offered if a) it is still mathematically possible for the student to pass the course once missing work is graded and b) the faculty member reasonably believes the student will complete missing work at a level required to pass the course
• In general, an incomplete should only be offered if the student has completed at least 60% of the work for a course at the time of requesting an incomplete
• If the faculty member agrees that an incomplete should be offered but will be unavailable to assign a grade, the department Chair should take on this role or arrange for an appropriate available faculty member to do so
• An incomplete must be requested before the student has turned in the final assessment (exam, paper, project) for the course
• A student cannot be issued a third incomplete when they have two (or more) incompletes outstanding from a previous semester. Exceptions are at the discretion of the Dean’s office.
P/NP: Degree program students, not on academic trial, are permitted to take up to six courses (or as many courses as they have semesters remaining for future transfer students) on a pass/no pass basis, beginning in their sophomore year. Courses in the student's major department, either for the major or for the degree, and courses satisfying distribution requirements of a department may not be taken on a pass/no pass basis. This option may be used without condition for free electives. It also may be used for physical education (activity) courses, whether taken to fulfill a requirement or as electives, and shall not be counted as a part of the six standard courses described above.
Students must complete all work normally required in these courses to receive full credit toward graduation for passing them. The instructor will not be informed of the student's status and the Registrar will record grades of D- or higher as PASS and grades of F as NO PASS. The grade submitted by the instructor will not become available to the student nor to any third party.
To apply, a PASS/NO PASS Request Form, obtained from the Registrar's Office, must be approved by the student's academic advisor and submitted to the Registrar's Office during the first ten instruction days of the semester. Requests to be removed from that status must be filed during the same period. Any question about a course or courses being appropriately elected as pass/no pass for a student will be resolved by the student's dean. NOTE: Non-degree students may not take courses on a pass/no pass basis.
R: Undergraduate students who repeat a course only receive credit once for the course. Prior to August 30, 2020, the grades for all occurrences of the course remain on the permanent academic record and are included in computing the cumulative grade point average. Effective August 30, 2020, the student's transcript will be revised to replace the previous grade for the course with an R. The R is not included in the grade point average calculation. Graduate students may repeat a course for credit only when failed and only once; only the second grade is then considered. Both grades remain on the student's record. Certain UVM courses are defined as repeatable and may be repeated without the approval of the dean of the student's college/school. When repeatable courses are taken, the student receives both the credit and the grade, and the grade is calculated in the GPA. Please refer to the repeatable courses page for more information about courses which may be repeated for credit.
S/U: These grades are used in courses where the A-F grade is inappropriate, such as in seminars, internships, practica, etc. For graduate students, S and U are used to indicate levels of performance for credits received in research and may be used to indicate levels of performance in a Seminar. There are no quality points associated with the letter grades of S and U. For undergraduate students, the S/U grade is available only on a whole course basis and is available for courses that count toward degree requirements.
SP/UP: These grades are used in courses with a linkage in credits to multiple semesters such as thesis and dissertation research. Neither SP nor UP will be included in the student’s GPA. The grade of SP will be assigned when a student has made satisfactory progress during a semester prior to the final semester of the linked courses; credit will be awarded with the grade of SP. The grade of UP will be assigned when the student’s progress has been unsatisfactory and no credit will be awarded. For course work, the faculty member may change the grade of SP to a letter grade once the final grade for the multiple semester work is completed; the change must occur for all students in the course. A grade of SP cannot be changed to a UP or F based on a student not completing the final semester’s work satisfactorily. UP is a final grade. It can stand as it is, or it can be changed to an F. Grades of SP or UP for thesis or dissertation credits (Graduate courses only) may not be changed to letter grades.
Grade Reporting
Grades must be reported to the Registrar’s office as soon as possible after the course is completed but not later than 72 hours after the final examination for that course. If the final exam is on the Friday of exam week, grades are due by noon on the following Tuesday.
