Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement policy
The Graduate School requires that students maintain a graduate grade-point average (GPA) of 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) for all graduate courses (excluding research) to receive a degree. Many programs impose higher standards. Students should check with their program.
When a graduate student’s cumulative GPA drops below a 3.0 for one semester, they are notified via email (copy to grad coordinator) that they are placed on academic probation, and an enrollment hold is placed on the following semester. Students on academic probation cannot continue enrolling until the probationary semester’s grades are reported and their cumulative GPA is above a 3.0.
Courses taken for audit (S/NR), credit/no credit (CR/N), or pass/fail do not affect the GPA. Research courses graded on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) basis do not impact GPA. However, U grades are monitored by the Graduate School for satisfactory progress. A Permanent Incomplete (PI) grade does not impact the GPA. A No Report (NR) or Incomplete (I) grade does not impact the GPA, but in a graded course this is a temporary grade, indicating the instructor has not yet submitted a final grade.
See Auditing Courses, Credit/No Credit Grades, No Report (NR) Grades, Pass/Fail, Permanent Incomplete (PI) Grade, Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) Grades, Appendix 3 – Grading System, Appendix 4 – Grade-Point Average Calculation
Grade Change policy
Grade changes originate with the instructor of the course. The instructor submits a grade change through the MyUW Faculty Center. Instructions are available through the Office of the Registrar’s Grading FAQ webpage. If the change cannot be completed via the online system, the instructor submits a paper Grade Change Form, and the program chair signs and submits it to the Graduate School Office of Academic Services.
While changes from Incomplete or Progress to a final grade are routine and raise no questions, changes from one final grade to another are more serious matters. Doing extra work to improve a final grade is not allowed. Faculty legislation states that final grades can be changed only because of clerical error. Once an instructor announces course grades, a decision to re-evaluate the coursework for all or some of the students breaks faith with those students. The university’s primary concern is that all students in a course are treated consistently and fairly when assigned final grades.
Failure policy
Courses numbered 300 and above graded F are included in the graduate GPA and do not count toward the Graduate School’s minimum graduate residence, degree, and coursework (50%) credit requirements.
See Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement, Minimum Graduate Coursework (50%) Requirement, Minimum Graduate Degree Credit Requirement, Minimum Graduate Residence Credit Requirement, Repeating Courses
Credit/No Credit Grades policy
Courses that have been designated in the Schedule of Classes as credit/no credit are entered on transcripts as either CR, if students earned credits for which the course was offered, or N, if students did not earn any credit, even though they were enrolled for the course. Any course numbered 300 or above that is taken for credit/no credit will count toward the Graduate School’s minimum graduate degree credit requirement and the minimum graduate residence credit requirement (including 300-level courses in English as a Second Language). Visit the Office of the Registrar’s Valid Grades webpage for more information.