Grading System
Final grades are submitted at the end of the semester to the Office of the Registrar, and these are made a part of a student’s permanent record. Copies of final grades are sent to the students, available in Banner for departmental chairpersons, and released to the parents and guardians upon approved request. The official grades with their meanings and quality points follow:
| Grade | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A | EXCELLENT: Four (4) quality points are allowed for each semester credit hour. |
| B | GOOD: Three (3) quality points are allowed for each semester credit hour. |
| C | SATISFACTORY: Two (2) quality points are allowed for each semester credit hour. |
| D | LOWEST PASSING GRADE: One (1) quality point is allowed for each semester credit hour. |
| F | FAILURE: Zero (0) quality points are awarded. This mark indicates poor scholastic work or failure to officially withdraw from the course. In such cases, students must take the required courses at the next opportunity. Students may repeat an elective course if desired. |
| WF | This symbol indicates withdrawal with penalty. This grades is used when calculating your GPA and zero (0) quality points are awarded. |
| W | This symbol indicates that a student was permitted to withdraw without penalty. Withdrawals without penalty will not be permitted after the midpoint of the total grading period. |
| I | This symbol indicates that a student has received an incomplete grade for a given course. For more information about this grade, please see below and follow the link to the Incomplete Grade Policy. |
| IP | The “IP” symbol indicates that credit has not been given in courses that require a continuation of work beyond the semester for which the student signed up for the course. The use of this symbol is approved for dissertation and thesis hours and project courses. Students may enroll in and take courses in which the “IP” symbol is awarded for up to three successive terms. With the exception of Learning Support courses, this symbol cannot be used for other courses. If the student has not completed the course(s) after successive terms, the student must request and be granted approval to re-enroll in the course(s) by the Department Chair, Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs. This symbol cannot be substituted for an “I” (incomplete). |
| S | This symbol indicates that credit has been given for completion of the degree requirements for work other than academic course work. Use of this symbol is approved for dissertation and thesis hours, student teaching, clinical practicum, internship, proficiency requirements in graduate programs courses. Exceptions to the use of this symbol for academic course work must be submitted to the Chancellor for approval and requested by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. |
| U | This symbol indicates unsatisfactory performance in a student’s attempt to complete degree requirements other than academic course work. The use of this symbol is approved for dissertation and thesis hours, student teaching, clinical practicum, internship, and proficiency requirements in graduate programs. Exceptions to the use of this symbol for academic course work must be submitted to the Chancellor for approval by the Vice President of Academic Affairs. |
| V | This symbol indicates that a student was given permission to audit a course. The student may not transfer from audit to credit status or vice versa during the semester. This is not calculated as part of your GPA. |
| K | This symbol indicates that a student was given credit for a course via credit by examination program, or prior learning assessment, and requires approval (CLEP, AP, PLA, etc.). |
| NR | This symbol indicates no grade reported by the instructor, and is designed for temporary use. |
The grade point average is the ratio of quality points earned to the number of credit hours attempted. The grade point will be calculated for each student at the end of each semester and will be printed on the grade report as follows:
- The term grade point average (GPA) is the number of grade points earned for the term divided by the number of GPA credit hours attempted for that term.
- The cumulative grade point average (GPA) is the number of all grade points earned divided by the total number of GPA credihours attempted.
- Incomplete “I” grades are not calculated in the grade point average (GPA) until the “I” is removed. For more information, please review the Incomplete Grade Policy.
| Grade | Meaning |
|---|---|
| * | A letter grade combined with this symbol indicates that the grade is not included in hours earned or academic GPA. |
| # | A letter grade combined with this symbol indicates that the grade is part of an approved Academic Renewal (Forgiveness). Courses that are part of an Academic Renewal are not counted in the computation of GPA and hours earned. Please see the Academic Renewal Policy in the catalog for more information. |
| ~ | A letter grade combined with this symbol indicates that the grade is not included in hours earned or academic GPA. |
| E | If this is shown in the repeat indicator column, this course grade is excluded from the academic GPA calculation. |
| I | If this is shown in the repeat indicator column, this course grade is included in the academic GPA calculation. |
| ! | Consolidated Grade (not counted in the institutional academic GPA). See footnote 1 below for more information. |
- 1
The consolidation grade (noted by ! following the letter grade) is applied to the academic record of students who attended both Darton State College and Albany State University prior to the Fall 2017 Semester. After the consolidation of student data, ASU identified the student's home institution in order to maintain the student's home institution institutional GPA. The home institution was determined by selecting the institution in which the student was last enrolled as a degree-seeking full-time and/or part-time student prior to January 1, 2017. Once identified, the grades at the non-home institution were updated with the consolidated grade, thereby retaining the student's home institutional GPA.