Grades & Quality Points

Grades may be withheld by the college for reasons such as unpaid parking fines and fees, overdue loans and library books, unreturned audiovisual or physical education materials and equipment, incomplete admissions records, disciplinary actions, academic probation, and expulsion. Residents of the College Dorms are responsible for loss, damages, or destruction of College supplied furnishings and equipment. Failure to make restitution to the college for loss, damages, or destruction of College supplied furnishings and equipment will result in the withholding of grades/transcripts.

A student’s Grade Point Average (GPA) is derived from the grading system/quality point scale.

Grading System/Quality Point Scale

How to Compute Grade Point Average (GPA)

The student’s GPA is used in determining academic standing, graduation readiness, eligibility for the Dean’s List, and in other academically related decisions.

Each letter grade has a quality point value on the Grading System/Quality Point Scale. A student may determine the grade points for his/her grade in each course by multiplying the number of quality points a grade is worth times the number of semester hours the course carries. Thus a “B” (worth 3 quality points) in a 3 semester-hour course earns 9 quality points, and an A (worth 4 quality points) in the same 3 semester-hour course earns 12 quality points.

The cumulative grade point average is determined by dividing the total quality points earned by the total semester hours for GPA (including transfer work). Grade quality points are awarded as follows:

17 Hours for GPA divided into 39 Quality Points Earned= 2.29 GPA

Grades of “S”, “P”, “U”, “W”, “X” and “XW” do not carry grade quality points. In general, credits for these grades do not count. However, in certain other circumstances, such as determination of repeat enrollments, and in computation of certain specialized GPA’s, credits which carry these grades may be included in the GPA computation.

Incomplete Grades

Incomplete grades are determined by the instructor and are then reported to the Admission and Records Office. An “I”, Incomplete grade, received at the end of any term becomes an “F” if not completed by the succeeding term.

“F”, “I”, “W”, and “X” Grades

Students should clearly understand the differences between “F”, “I”, “W”, and “X” grades and their effect upon GPA.

A grade of “F” shows that a course has been failed. The semester hours for the course count in the GPA computation, but no quality points are earned; thus, an F grade lowers the GPA.

A grade of “I” shows that a student has not completed the required work in a course for some valid reason (such as serious illness or death in the family), that he/she has discussed this with the instructor, and that the instructor has agreed to allow the student to make up the missed work. However, a grade of “I” will be computed into the student’s grade point average as if it were an “F”.

Students have until the end of the succeeding semester term to complete the work required to remove an “I” grade.

Both the semester hours and quality points received will be computed into the next semester’s GPA after the “I” has been replaced by a grade. If the work is not completed in the succeeding semester or term, the “I” grade will be converted to an “F”.

A grade of “W” shows that a student has dropped or withdrawn from a course after the drop/add period. The student receives neither semester hours nor quality points for courses in which the grade is “W”, and there is no effect upon his/her GPA.

A grade of “X” shows that a course has been taken for no credit. A grade of “X” carries neither semester hours nor quality points, and there is no effect upon the grade point average. Audits are not permitted for courses in limited access programs.

All grade changes must be initiated by the assigned faculty member and submitted to the Vice President of Instructional Affairs. All change of grade requests must be submitted by the end of the following semester in which the original grade was earned.

Required GPA

Students must have a 2.0 grade point average in all work attempted in order to earn the Bachelor’s, AA, or AS degree. (Students enrolled in the School of Education Bachelor Program must earn a 2.5 GPA.) While a student may earn a cumulative average of 2.0 and have grades of “D”, it is well to remember that grades below “C” are seldom transferable to some private or out-of-state colleges and universities.

Students whose GPA falls below 2.0 will be subject to the penalties described in the following “Standards of Academic Progress.”

Dean’s List

The college uses the Dean’s List to recognize academic achievement. To be included on the Dean’s List, students must earn a grade point average of 3.25 while taking a minimum load of 12 semester hours (excluding remedial work) during the fall or spring semester; or, earn a GPA of 3.25 while taking a minimum load of six semester hours (excluding remedial work) during a summer term.

Students graduating with honors based on the cumulative grade point average including transfer credit hours will be designated as follows:

The determination of the honor categories for the commencement ceremony is based on the cumulative grade point average at the end of the student’s last term of enrollment prior to the term of the graduation ceremony. Students who have met the criteria for honors prior to their term of graduation will be eligible for the honor cords at the commencement ceremony.

The transcript is the final and official record of a student’s standing at the time of graduation. Students meeting the honors criteria after the official analysis of graduation eligibility is determined will have the appropriate notation affixed to the diploma or certificate awarded.