Grade Types and Policies

UC Santa Cruz has one of the more comprehensive systems for evaluating students’ academic performance of any research university in the United States. The evaluation system consists of two major components: the assignment of a final grade in the course and an optional evaluation of your performance.

Grades

For each course in which you enroll, you will receive a grade notation at the end of the term. Before the Grade Option deadline (the 15th day of instruction for graduate students; the ninth week of instruction for undergraduates), confirm your letter grade request for each course on the My.UCSC portal. If you complete the course, you will receive a final letter grade (A–F) unless you have elected the Pass/No Pass option for the course:

A excellent

B good

C fair

D poor

F fail

P passing

NP not passing

I incomplete

IP in progress

W withdrawal

If you withdraw from the course, you will receive a W notation. Under certain circumstances, when you have not completed all the requirements for the course, you may receive an interim grade of Incomplete (I) or In Progress (IP). The grades of A, B, C, and D may be modified by a plus (+) or a minus (-). You will not receive credit for graduation in any course in which you receive a final grade of F or NP. Courses in which you receive a grade of C-, D+, D, or D- earn credit toward graduation, but cannot be used to satisfy a major requirement or a general education requirement, and cannot satisfy a prerequisite for another course. The notation IP for graduate students is restricted to certain sequential courses that extend over two or three quarters of an academic year. The notation W indicates that you officially withdrew from the course before completing it. All grades, except I and IP, are final when submitted by the instructor. No change of grade may be made on the basis of re-examination or the completion of additional coursework with the exception of I and IP grades. Your official transcript contains a list of all of your courses and the grades that you receive.

Grade Points

Grade points are assigned to a letter grade as follows:

4.0 = A+

4.0 = A

3.7 = A-

3.3 = B+

3.0 = B

2.7 = B-

2.3 = C+

2.0 = C

1.7 = C-

1.3 = D+

1.0 = D

0.7 = D-

0.0 = F

The grades P and NP are not included in calculating your GPA and so are not assigned grade points. Courses in which the interim grades I and IP are assigned earn no grade points or credit until the interim grade is replaced by a final letter grade.

Grade Point Average (GPA)

Grade point average is determined by dividing the number of grade points earned by the number of credits attempted for a letter grade. There are three kinds of grade point averages: a current UCSC GPA, based on courses attempted in the current term; a UCSC GPA, based on all courses attempted at UCSC; and a summary GPA, calculated from all UCSC courses, courses taken through the Education Abroad Program, and courses taken at another UC campus as part of the Intercampus Visitor Program. Both UCSC GPAs are part of your official record and appear on your transcript.

Students are expected to maintain a GPA of at least 2.0, calculated from courses taken for a letter grade within the University of California system.

If you repeat a course in which you have received a C-, D+, D, D-, or F, only the last grade recorded shall be computed in your GPA for the first 15 credits of repeated work. After the 15 credit maximum is reached, the GPA will be based on all grades assigned and total credits attempted.

Undergraduates who entered UC Santa Cruz for the first time in or after fall 1997 and before fall 2001 have a UCSC cumulative grade point average only if they have elected letter grades in at least two-thirds of the cumulative credits attempted. Undergraduates who entered UCSC prior to fall 1997 cannot have an official UCSC grade point average calculated.

Pass/No Pass Option

Students in good academic standing may request to take specific courses on a Pass/No Pass basis up to the ninth week of instruction. Students receive a P (Pass) for work that is performed at C level or better. Work performed at below a C level receives a notation of NP on the student’s transcript, and no academic credit is awarded for the course. Requests for Pass/No Pass grading must be submitted and confirmed by the Grade Option deadline printed in the Academic and Administrative Calendar. If you request P/NP grading in a course and you are later placed on academic probation, your P/NP grading request will be canceled.

No more than 25 percent of the UCSC credits applied toward graduation may be graded on a Pass/No Pass basis.* This includes any credits completed in the Education Abroad Program or on another UC campus in an intercampus exchange program, but does not include transfer work from community colleges or other institutions.

Students must be careful about the use of the Pass/No Pass option. Some courses may only be taken Pass/No Pass, and therefore count against the 25 percent Pass/No Pass limit. Several majors require all or most major requirements to be taken for a letter grade; read the major requirements section carefully before using the Pass/No Pass option for any course in a major you are considering.

The following courses are not available for a letter grade:
Student Directed Seminars: Courses Numbered 42
Anthropology 283
Biomolecular Engineering 281G, 281Y
Chemistry and Biochemistry 8N, 110N
Computational Media 15, 20
Cowell 10
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies 45
Earth Sciences 190
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 75
Economics 93, 191, 193, 193F
Environmental Studies 83, 183, 184
Film 198, 198F
Global and Community Health 20
Graduate 215
History of Art and Visual Culture 198
Legal Studies 188A, 188B
Linguistics 190
Merrill 85B, 85C
Oakes 188A, 188B
Athletics and Recreation (all courses)
Psychology 193, 198
Stevenson 10
Theater Arts 45 (Student-Directed Production courses)
UCDC 194B
Writing 11A-B-C, 180, 191D

* Exceptions granted for 2019-2022 courses due to special circumstances: the Committee on Educational Policy has excluded Pass grades from the percent calculation for graduation (Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Summer 2021, Fall 2022), due to emergency circumstances. In addition, UCSC courses graded P when a letter grade was requested by the student will not be included in the calculation of the 25 percent maximum P grades allowed for graduation.

Incomplete

The notation I may be assigned, at the discretion of the faculty teaching the course, when your work for a course is of passing quality but for which some specific required work has not been completed. You must make arrangements with the instructor before the end of the course in order to receive an Incomplete. If it becomes apparent that you will not be able to finish the final coursework before the last day of the quarter, let the instructor know as soon as possible. Because an I grade carries no credit, you should talk with your college adviser about the possible consequences on your academic progress. Students already in academic difficulty could jeopardize their progress by taking an Incomplete. To remove the Incomplete, you must submit the remaining coursework by the deadline and file a Petition for Removal of Incomplete by the deadline printed in the Academic and Administrative Calendar (generally the end of the following quarter; the instructor may require an earlier date). Once you have completed the coursework and the instructor has submitted the paperwork, the grade change will appear permanently on your academic record.

If the coursework and Petition for Removal of Incomplete are not completed by the specified deadline, or the instructor fails to submit a final grade, that course is treated as an F (Fail) or NP (No Pass), which will appear on your official transcript.

Grade changes (except for I as above) are allowed only to correct clerical or calculation errors by the instructor and must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar by the instructor in charge of the course within one year of the close of the quarter for which the original grade was submitted. Your instructor may require you to fill out a Petition for Removal of Incomplete. This form must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar by the instructor/department, not the student. However, your instructor can change an Incomplete grade to the final grade in the system without using this form.

Academic Senate Regulation 9.1.6 contains the general policy on Incomplete notations. The Graduate Student Handbook also contains information regarding receiving and removing an Incomplete grade notation.

Evaluations

In each undergraduate course for which you receive a grade of D or better (or P), you may receive an evaluation of your academic performance. Faculty may also write an evaluation for a course in which you receive an F, NP, or W, but the evaluation does not appear on an official transcript. An evaluation may:

  • describe the strengths and weaknesses of your performance in the various areas of class activity (discussion, laboratory work, term papers, examinations);

  • assess your general understanding of the course content;

  • recognize additional or particularly outstanding work.

Evaluations may be used at UC Santa Cruz in academic advising, reviewing scholarship applications, and awarding honors in the major. Evaluations are a permanent part of your academic record. All students may request transcripts either with or without evaluations. An evaluation for your senior comprehensive examination or senior thesis also becomes part of your academic record.

You can view evaluations on MyUCSC.


Student Responsibility

Students are responsible for using the Academic Information Systems (AIS) to set and confirm choices for grading options and for ensuring timely completion of all requirements. Students view their schedule at MyUCSC.

Course Loads

Most courses at UCSC carry 5 quarter credits. The exceptions are described in the sections below. The usual course load for UC Santa Cruz undergraduates is 15 to 19 credits, most often as three 5-credit courses and associated laboratories and sections. After instruction begins, students with a UCSC GPA of 2.50 may enroll in up to 22 credits without special approval and may seek approval for higher loads from their college advising office. Students in their first quarter or with a lower GPA must seek approval from their college advising office for enrollment in more than 19 credits.

College approval is required to carry fewer than 15 credits unless the student is enrolled in the University Part-time Program.

Noncredit Courses

All physical education courses offered by the Athletics and Recreation Department and a few other courses identified in the UCSC General Catalog are noncredit. Noncredit courses do not count toward your 15-quarter credits program of study, and you may enroll in as many noncredit courses as you wish. Be sure to enroll; a record of these courses might be important to you at another institution, and your enrollment is used to justify the program’s financial support.

Workload Credit-Only Courses

Courses offered at UCSC which are preparatory for university-level work count for “workload credit only.” For example, the credits earned in Writing 11 are valid for financial aid purposes and academic standing, but do not count toward a baccalaureate degree. It is important that you officially enroll in these courses, because they affect your academic standing and/or eligibility for financial aid. These “workload credit only” courses are clearly identified as such in the catalog course descriptions.

One (1)-, 2-, and 3-Credit Courses

Some courses carry 1, 2, or 3 credits, because they require less work and meet for fewer hours than 5-credit courses (e.g., special interest seminars, laboratories, music lessons, and individual studies). The UCSC General Catalog shows the credit value for these courses after the course title, e.g., Music 9, Wind Ensemble (2 credits). The Schedule of Classes notes the number of credit hours for the course in the column immediately after the title: MUSC 9-01 Wind Ensemble 2.0.

If you are in the Part-Time Program, you are advised to pay special attention to the number of credits assigned for each course in which you enroll so that you do not exceed the 10-credit enrollment limit. Students in the Part-Time Program are assessed full fees if they enroll in more than 10 credits.

Credit by Petition

Regularly enrolled students may obtain full academic credit for a course by challenging the course. Challenging the course entails passing an examination or completing an appropriate body of work supervised by a regular instructor for the course. The petition for such credit must be approved by the instructor of the course, the chair of the department offering the course (or provost, if it is a course offered by a college), and the provost of the student’s college. Some courses are not considered appropriate for credit by petition.

For foreign language students, credit by petition may not be used by students whose language ability greatly exceeds the course level proposed for challenge. Petitions for credit for levels 4 and 5 cannot be filed in the same quarter. Contact the Language Program, 239 Cowell, 459-2054, for more information.

Academic Progress

Academic progress is a measure of the completion of courses with a D- or better, or Pass. Colleges monitor academic progress to ensure you are progressing toward your degree, which must be earned within 15 quarters of enrollment (five years). For full-time students that usually means completing the 180 credits needed for graduation in four years.

Your college will regularly check to ensure that you are making (at least) minimum progress toward completing your degree and, at the end of each term, will determine whether you are in good academic standing. You are required to make minimum progress toward your degree by maintaining total earned credits equal to or greater than the cumulative total of (a) 35 credits for the first academic year of full time enrollment, (b) 72 credits for the first two academic years of full-time enrollment (c ) 36 credits for each additional year of full-time enrollment, and (d) four-fifths of the credits attempted in part-time enrollment. Credit transferred from other institutions upon enrollment at the UC Santa Cruz, is not included in minimum progress calculations.

If you do not pass enough credits with a grade of C or better (or P), you may be placed on academic notice. If your academic standing or progress falls below minimally acceptable levels, your college may require you to take higher course loads, complete Summer Session courses, or make other adjustments to your study plan. You may be disqualified from further enrollment in the university.

Part-time students are held to the same minimum progress standards as full-time students by treating each 15 credits attempted as the equivalent of one full-time term. Consult with your college academic adviser for assistance in this calculation if you have questions about the calculation of your academic progress.

Note: The Academic Standing and Minimum Progress Standards monitored by your college is not the same as the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.

Academic Standing

Academic standing is a measure of performance in completed courses. You must maintain a 2.0 UCSC GPA in both current and cumulative courses in order to remain in good academic standing.

If your UCSC term or cumulative GPA falls below 2.0 at the end of any term, you will be placed on a form of academic notice for the next term. The Office of the Registrar and your college will contact you if you are placed on academic notice. You will need to work with your college and major advisors to determine the best way to return to good academic standing. Be sure to take full advantage of the many learning support services available at UCSC.

If your UCSC GPA for any term falls below 1.5, or if you are on academic probation and your cumulative GPA at the end of a term is below 2.0, you are also subject to disqualification. This means that your enrollment at UCSC may be barred for a specific period of time, or you may be disqualified indefinitely from attending the University of California. In many cases, a specific study plan can be developed with your college that will enable you to remain enrolled at UCSC. 

Financial aid's satisfactory academic progress policy (FASAP) is separate from the Academic Standing policy, and defines additional GPA and progress requirements for remaining eligible to receive financial aid. Information can be found on the Undergraduate Academic Progress and Financial Aid Information website.

Academic Notice

Academic notice is a serious call for you to take a careful look at your workload, study habits, choice of program of study, priorities, and motivation. The strategies for improving your academic standing differ depending upon the causes of your academic difficulty and whether the difficulty is a short-term problem in one term or whether it arises from a longer term pattern. Getting good advice from academic counselors will help you get back on the road to good academic standing. However, failure to actively address the problem may lead to a further decline in your academic standing to the point where you become subject to disqualification from the university.

Academic Disqualification and Barred Enrollment

If your academic standing declines to the point where you are subject to disqualification, your college will review your case and decide to take one of the following actions:

  • to bar your enrollment for a specified period of time with conditions on your readmission;
  • to disqualify you indefinitely from further enrollment in the university;
  • to waive your barred enrollment or disqualification for a term, based upon indications that you may be able to improve your academic standing. In this case, your status is called “Academic Notice —Subject to Disqualification.”

Students who are given “Academic Notice — Subject to Disqualification” status may still enroll in classes, and live in university housing.

If you are barred or disqualified, that fact is entered on your permanent academic record. Your financial aid is cancelled, and you cannot continue to live in university housing. You are not eligible to audit or attend classes during the regular academic year. You may not receive a degree while you are on barred or disqualified status.

Appealing Disqualification or Barred Enrollment

If you are subject to barred enrollment or disqualification, your college will notify you of the decision of the academic standing review committee regarding your status as soon as possible after the end of the term. The letter informing you of this decision will specify the time frame within which an appeal will be considered. If there is information relevant to determining your academic standing which you believe the academic standing review committee was not able to take into account, you may provide that evidence in a written appeal to your college provost. Students who appeal will receive written notification of the college’s decision. If you do not appeal by the appeal deadline, the decision of the review committee will take effect immediately.

Readmission After Barred Enrollment or Disqualification

If your college bars your enrollment for a fixed period, it may also stipulate certain conditions on your readmission to UCSC. For example, students who are subject to disqualification at the end of their first year may be barred for one full year. In addition, the college may require the student to complete the equivalent of a year’s coursework at another institution (for example, a community college) earning a certain GPA before the student can be readmitted to UCSC. In other cases, the readmission condition might not require additional coursework but would require a change of major or that personal or medical issues be addressed (courses taken outside of UCSC will not be used to improve your UCSC GPA).

Readmission after indefinite disqualification is more difficult. Generally students are indefinitely disqualified only after they have fallen into very serious academic difficulty. Readmission is approved for disqualified students only when there is reason to think that they have addressed the sources of their original academic difficulty and then only after more than one year has elapsed since their disqualification.

Readmission after barment or disqualification is not guaranteed, and will be carefully reviewed by the faculty at your college before being approved. In either case, you must make formal application to UCSC for readmission, observing the deadlines stated in the Academic and Administrative Calendar. Any conditions for readmission should be addressed in your application. See the section on Readmission.

 

 

Maximum Credits and Years

Students are expected to complete their degree objective(s) within four years, with maximum enrollment limits of at most 225 credits and five academic years (Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate units are not counted). Upper-division transfer students are expected to complete their degree objective(s) within at most 135 UCSC credits and three academic years.

Colleges may make exceptions to the credit maximum for students in certain cases. Such exceptions are conditional on maintaining academic standing, minimal progress, and progress toward the degree objective(s).

Students in danger of exceeding the credit limit or the five-year or three-year limit may be required to modify their degree objective, such as by completing a major without a minor or double major, or completing a related major with fewer course requirements.

Repeating Courses

Some courses are marked “repeatable for credit”, and may be taken multiple times. These are courses in which the course content varies from quarter to quarter. In general, however, a student cannot re-enroll in a course in which they received a grade of C (or pass) or better.

Undergraduates may repeat courses in which they earn a C-, D+, D, D-, F, No Pass, or W. For an undergraduate to repeat a course more than once requires approval of the student’s college. A grade of W counts as an attempt. Courses in which a C-, D+, D, D-, or F is earned may not be repeated on a Pass/No Pass basis. Courses in which a grade of No Pass is earned may be repeated on the same basis or for a letter grade.

For the first 15 credits of repeated courses, the original grade is excluded from the GPA, and only the grade from the repetition is used. Repeating a course in which you got a C-, D+, D, D-, or an F (and getting a better grade) is an effective way of improving your GPA and perhaps your academic standing as well. Repetition of a course more than once requires approval of your college. After the 15-credit maximum is reached, all grades are included in the GPA, however, credit is not awarded more than once for the same course.

Final Examinations

Final examinations are required in all undergraduate courses unless the department or other agency sponsoring the course has obtained permission from the Committee on Educational Policy to evaluate students in another manner. Final examinations are only given during the examination-week period at the time announced in the Schedule of Classes, usually in the same room used for class meetings during the quarter. No change in the time or date of a final examination may occur unless the course sponsoring agency has obtained the approval of the Committee on Educational Policy. Requests must be received by CEP no later than the first week of the quarter in which the course is occurring. When finals are administered, they must be completed at the scheduled examination time and may not require more than the scheduled three-hour time block. If a take-home examination is not assigned until the week designated for final examinations, it cannot require more than three hours to complete.

To avoid three final examinations on the same day, students may want to consider the final exam schedule when enrolling in courses.

Instructors may bar students from taking the examination if they arrive late. If a student misses an examination due to an unavoidable emergency, the instructor may agree to give an Incomplete grade and schedule a makeup examination provided that the student’s work is passing up to that point. When a final examination is one of the regular requirements in a course, no one taking the course may be individually exempted from it. Travel plans for vacation are not an emergency, and should not be made without checking the final examination schedule.

Closed Week

No examinations or tests other than laboratory examinations, quizzes, or individual makeup examinations may be given during the last week of instruction.

Examination Retention

An instructor may release to individual students the original final examinations (or copies). Otherwise, the instructor will retain final examination materials at least until the end of the next regular term. During that time students will be allowed to review their examinations.

Religious Observance

Given the diversity of religious practice within the campus community, academic and administrative units are encouraged to make reasonable accommodation when the schedule of a required campus event conflicts with an individual’s religious creed. It is the official policy of the University of California, Santa Cruz, to accommodate, without penalty, requests for alternate examination times in cases where the scheduled time for the examination violates a student’s religious creed.

Requests for accommodation for religious observance must be made directly to the faculty member in charge of the course within the first two weeks of the term or as soon as possible after an examination date is announced. Instructors are expected to make reasonable accommodation for such requests. Students who are unable to reach a satisfactory arrangement with an instructor should consult the head of the unit sponsoring the course.

Accommodations for Disability

Students with documented disabilities that require examination modifications will be accommodated in compliance with state and federal laws. Reasonable accommodations will be made based on recommendations from the Disability Resource Center.

Academic Integrity

The university is dedicated to the unhindered pursuit of knowledge and its free expression. It is essential that faculty and students pursue their academic work with the utmost integrity. This means that all academic work produced by an individual is the result of the sole effort of that individual and acknowledges the contributions of others explicitly.

It is the responsibility of students and faculty to be absolutely clear about what constitutes plagiarism, cheating, or other violations of academic integrity. Violations of academic integrity by students result in both academic sanctions (e.g., failing the course) and disciplinary sanctions (e.g., suspension or dismissal). Consult the campus’s undergraduate academic misconduct policy for more information.

Undergraduate Honors

UC Santa Cruz awards several honors for outstanding academic achievement.

Dean’s Honors

Full-time students will be eligible for quarterly Dean’s Honors if they have earned a minimum of 12 credits that quarter, of which at least 10 are graded, with a term grade point average equal to or higher than that required for University Honors at graduation in their group for the current academic year.Students on the University Part-Time Program are eligible with 10 or fewer graded credits, with a term grade point average equal to or higher than that required for University Honors at graduation in their group for the current academic year. Dean’s Honors are listed on student transcripts.

The notation “Dean’s Honors” will appear on the transcript. GPA thresholds for Baskin Engineering majors are calculated separately from those of majors in all other divisions.

Honors at Graduation

Honors at graduation are awarded by the university and by the separate majors based on a review of their graduates’ academic records. In general, honors are limited to 15 percent of the graduating class. University Honors are based on the cumulative UC GPA. Faculty review of major honors may involve additional criteria.

University Honors

To be considered for University Honors at graduation, students must have completed 70 or more credits at the University of California and have attained in their group* a UC GPA that places them in the rankings as follows: Summa Cum Laude, top 2 percent; Magna Cum Laude, next 3 percent; Cum Laude, next 10 percent. Each year and for each group, the registrar will calculate the GPA thresholds required for these levels of University Honors, based on the GPAs of recent graduates. The notation “University Honors” will appear on the diploma and transcript.

* Note: GPA thresholds for Baskin Engineering majors are calculated separately from those of majors in all other divisions.

Honors in the Major

At graduation, the department sponsoring a student’s major program may confer Honors or Highest Honors in the major. This notation appears on the transcript as well as on the diploma. In general, no more than 15 percent of the graduation class in a major will be awarded Honors at graduation.

Deadlines

To ensure consideration for honors in the major, students should apply to graduate by the Registrar’s deadline.

Any student who has a reportable disciplinary sanction for a violation of academic integrity policies may be ineligible for any honors designation, at the discretion of the agency that awards the designation.

Undergraduate Honors Opportunities

Honor Societies

Many UC Santa Cruz students are members of departmental, professional, local, and national honor societies whose goals are to recognize and improve scholastic standing in an area of interest. Among these are Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest national society that advances scholarship and recognizes excellence in the liberal arts and sciences; Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society that recognizes students of distinguished scholarship, exemplary character, and dedication to service; and Psi Chi, which encourages, stimulates, and maintains excellence in scholarship, and advances the science of psychology. More information is available on the Honors Societies website.

Awards and Scholarships

For more information about scholarship and merit opportunities, please visit the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office website.

Transcripts

Academic records are maintained by the Office of the Registrar, which will issue an official transcript only on your authorized request.

For information on ordering transcripts, please refer to Registrar's Registrar's transcripts website.

If you have outstanding financial obligations to the university, a hold may be placed on your transcript. Students may access their unofficial transcript on MyUCSC.

Transcripts for UCSC Extension courses should be requested directly from UCSC Extension.

Privacy of Records

UCSC students are informed annually of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and its provisions. This act, which the institution follows, was designed to protect the privacy of education records and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate or misleading data through informal and formal hearings. Students also have the right to file complaints with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Office concerning alleged failures by the institution to comply with the act.

UCSC policy explains in detail the procedures to be used by the institution for compliance with the provisions of the act. FERPA guidelines are available at Privacy of Student Records. The full text of the University of California policies applying to the Disclosure of Information from Student Records is online: registrar.ucsc.edu/records/disclosure/index.html.

Questions concerning the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act may be referred to the Office of the Registrar, email registrar@ucsc.edu.