Grading Information for All Schools

Grading and GPA: Most courses offer evaluation of student performance according to the grade and the quality point system listed in the “Grade and Transcript Key.” In some courses, students will receive a pass/fail grade instead of a letter grade. Grades submitted by faculty on Self-Service are final grades. Faculty members should discuss in each course the criteria and evaluation system used for grading. No grade changes are accepted after graduation. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure they understand the expectations of course requirements and grading procedures.

To compute a GPA, the student may use the key to the transcript to translate letter grades into quality points (for example, a three-credit course with a grade of “B” [3.0] is worth nine quality points), add all quality points earned, and divide the total by the number of credits attempted. The grades “P” (pass), “I” (incomplete), “W” (withdrawal), “AW” (administrative withdrawal), and “NA” (never attended) are not included, but “F” (failing) is always included in calculating the grade point average, except when the course is repeated.

CLAS Students: Two elective courses per academic year may be taken for a pass/fail rather than for a letter grade. The student must request authorization from the instructor to take the course on a pass/fail basis no later than the close of add/drop. The request may be granted or denied at the discretion of the course instructor. The pass/fail option can only be used with courses that are considered "free electives" (course credits not specially applied to a program of study or general education requirements) and the terms of the option for pass/fail grading cannot be retracted once they are submitted.

Veteran’s Administration Beneficiaries may take courses on a pass/fail grading basis only if pass/fail grading is the sole grading option. If VA beneficiaries are given a choice between pass/fail and grades on the A-F scale, they should always choose grades on the A-F scale.

Graduate degree students at the master’s, certificate of advanced graduate study, or Ph.D. levels must earn a grade of “B-” or better in all core or required courses for the course to count toward degree requirements. A student must re-take core or required courses for which a grade of “C+” or below was earned.

Graduate students may earn a maximum of three (3) credits of “C+” grades in elective courses to apply the courses toward degree requirements. A grade of “C” or below in elective courses is considered a failing grade and will not be applicable toward degree requirements. Elective courses may be repeated or another elective course may be added as a substitute. All grades will be recorded and appear on a transcript.

If a required course is failed, the course must be repeated or an equivalent course taken. No credit is accrued with a grade of "F". If a student repeats the same course, both grades will be recorded on the official transcript, but only the second grade will be used to compute the cumulative GPA.

Final Grades: Students may view their final grades via Self-Service. at the close of each semester. Grades are available in Self-Service to students in real-time, after the faculty member has entered them electronically. FERPA does not permit the posting or displaying of student grades.

Grade Submission: Faculty members submit grades via Self-Service at lesley.edu/selfservice to the Office of the University Registrar. Grades are due within 7 days after the final end date of the semester or term. All grade submission deadlines can be found on the academic calendar at lesley.edu/students/academic-resources/academic-calendars.

Grade Changes: Once final grades are submitted to the Office of the University Registrar they can only be changed by submitting the change of grade form available to faculty on the Provost's web page. Questions regarding grade changes should be submitted to the Registrar's Officer via the Support Hub at support.lesley.edu

Repeating Courses

A student may repeat any course once unless the student has earned a B- or greater in this course. A student will accrue no credit for courses in which the student receives a grade of "F" and a student will receive credit for a course only once. If a student repeats a course, both grades will be recorded on the student’s permanent academic transcript, but only the most recent (not necessarily the highest) grade will be used to compute the student’s GPA.

Note: Yellow Ribbon, GI Bill®, or other students receiving veteran's benefits are not necessarily eligible to repeat courses that were previously passed. These students should check with the University's VA Certifying Official, Thomas Graves (tgraves@lesley.edu or 617.349.8781), before electing to repeat a course.

Auditing Classes

Students who wish to audit classes (no grade/no credit) may do so with the following stipulations:

• Students may change their status from credit to audit by the end of the add/drop period;
• Students who wish to change from audit to credit must do so by the end of the add/drop period and must pay the balance of the tuition cost at that time;
• Classes taken as audits may not be applied toward degree or certificate requirements.

Requesting Transcripts

Students may request that an official transcript of their academic record be sent to the recipient(s) of their choice via the National Student Clearinghouse at studentclearinghouse.org or view an unofficial transcript online through their Self-Service account.