University Grading System

Instructors assign a grade in each course for which the student is registered. The course instructor is responsible for correcting any error in grading.

University grades assigned to undergraduate courses are:

A- Excellent
B- Good
C- Satisfactory
D- Poor, But Passing

F- Failing
Assigned to students who are (1) enrolled in a course all semester but fail to earn a passing grade, or who (2) stop attending a class without officially withdrawing

WX- Withdrawal
Assigned to students who officially withdraw from a course before the dates specified in the withdrawal policy.

CR- Credit
Assigned to students who do satisfactory work in a course which is offered only on a Credit/No Credit basis. Certain courses in the University are offered only on a Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) basis. Refer to University Policy 2.1.12 These courses must be approved in advance by the Office of the Provost.

NC- No Credit
Assigned to students who do not do satisfactory work in a course which is offered only on a Credit/No Credit basis. Certain courses in the University are offered only on a Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) basis. Refer to University Policy 2.1.12 These courses must be approved in advance by the Office of the Provost.

P- Passing*
Assigned to students who earn an A, B, or C grade in a course they have elected to take under the Passing/Not Passing (P/NP) option.  The Credit/No Credit (CT/NC) option was replaced with Pass/No Pass (P/NP) with the implementation of Campus Solutions in 2015. *For Passing/Not Passing Information refer to University Policy 2.1.12

NP- Not Passing*
Assigned to students who do not earn an A, B, or C grade in a course they have elected to take under the Passing/Not Passing (P/NP) option. The Credit/No Credit (CT/NC) option was replaced with Pass/No Pass (P/NP) with the implementation of Campus Solutions in 2015.
*For Passing/Not Passing Information refer to University Policy 2.1.12

I- Incomplete

An instructor may assign an incomplete (I) grade  to a student who is doing passing work but, because of reasons beyond the student's control (such as illness), is unable to complete the required work by the end of the term. The student must have attended class to within three weeks of the close of the semester or to within one week of the close of the summer session.

The instructor must also complete the required Incomplete Grade Form found at My.IllinoisState.edu> Academics > Teaching or at the Office of the University Registrar Faculty and Staff Resources page. The form allows the instructor, student, and Department/School to acknowledge the student’s remaining requirements, deadline date, and default grade to be assigned. If neither the Incomplete Grade Form nor a Grade Change Request form is submitted, the student’s I grade will lapse to an F after one year.  Exceptions to this policy may be granted by the University Registrar.

The grade of I (Incomplete) is considered a holding grade until replaced by the default grade. Students are not allowed to repeat a class while the grade of I remains on the record.

Students will not be allowed to graduate with an incomplete on their record.

AU- Audit
Important considerations: A class taken under the audit option does not count toward a degree; it does not count toward full-time student status for financial aid and other purposes, nor does it count toward total hours enrolled in determining registration priority. Students auditing a class will be charged all applicable tuition and fees. An auditor is expected to attend regularly. A student may register as an auditor in a class or classes if space is available. To audit, a student must obtain a Request for Auditor Registration form from the Registrar Service Center, request the instructor sign it and return the signed form to the Registrar Service Center by the published deadline.

M- Missing
Assigned when no grade has been received from the instructor after the grade submission deadline has passed.

S - Satisfactory
Assigned to students who satisfactorily complete a course offered only on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis.

U - Unsatisfactory
Assigned to students who do not satisfactorily complete a course offered only on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis.

Grade Point Average

In calculating major and cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA), the grade point equivalents are 4 for A, 3 for B, 2 for C, 1 for D, and 0 for all other grades. The 0 value of F is computed in the student’s GPA, the 0 value of grades I, AU, CR, NC, P, NP, M, and WX is not computed in the student’s GPA.

To be eligible for graduation, a student must have a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.00 (C) in all courses taken at Illinois State University for which grades of A, B, C, D, F are assigned. Certain majors may require a higher GPA for graduation. State licensure requirements in education majors mandate that no course in which a student receives a grade below a C can be used to fulfill a student’s required coursework in the program. Failures are considered in the total number of semester hours taken in computing the GPA.

The following table illustrates how grade points are counted to determine the GPA.

The GPA is computed by dividing grade points earned by semester hours counted for GPA. In the case above, a GPA of 2.67 is calculated by dividing 24 (total grade points) by 9 (semester hours for GPA). Grades of WX, P, NP, CR, I, and NC do not affect the GPA. 

Class Standing

Students in a bachelor’s degree program are classified as freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. A student must have completed 30 semester hours to be classified as a sophomore, 60 hours to be classified as a junior, and 90 hours to be classified as a senior. Students not working toward a degree at Illinois State are listed as Unclassified Students.