Section 8.01

Professors shall submit grades for their classes to the Registrar no later than three weeks after the end of the semester.  If this due date for grades falls on a Thursday or Friday, the due date will be the next Monday.

Section 8.02

The grading of students shall be indicated by the following letter and honor point equivalents:

• The grade "A+" is reserved for work of exceptional quality.
• The grades of "F," "UWF," and "U" are failing grades.
• The grade of "IP" is reserved for courses continuing over two or more semesters.
• Grades of "S" shall be recorded in the case of courses satisfactorily completed in other law schools and graduate programs and accepted for credit by the College of Law in accordance with the provisions of Section 8.05 of this rule. The grade of "U" will be reported for courses attempted but credit not given at another institution.
• For College of Law classes not graded by a traditional letter grade (A+ through F), the course will be graded on a scale of High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, or Fail. A grade of “Fail” will be treated as an “F”. High Pass is reserved for work that exceeds the professor’s expectations. Pass is assigned for work that meets the professor’s expectations. Low pass is assigned for work that in part did meet the professor’s expectations and in part did not meet the professor’s expectations. Fail is reserved for work that does not meet the professor’s expectations.
• A student who receives an Incomplete in a course must complete the course before the end of the semester next following the semester in which the Incomplete course was taken. An Incomplete may not be awarded to a student in the semester of graduation.
• After the first year of study, a student may take one course per year as an “Audit” if approved by the professor for the class. The student taking a class as an audit will not be required to complete class assignments, exams, papers, or other projects, but will be required to attend class. The audited class will be recorded on the student’s transcript with the grade of “T”, and this grade will not be used to calculate the student’s grade average. Courses taken as an “Audit” will not earn the student any credits towards meeting the degree requirements set out in Section 11.01, nor will they count as the minimum credits a student must take as set out in Section 1.01. However, students may not audit a course if the credits from that course would require the student to exceed the maximum credits as set out in Section 1.01. A student wishing to audit a course must first obtain permission from the professor assigned to teach the course.

Mandatory First Year Curve
Beginning with the Fall 1993-Spring 1994 grades, the following grade distribution policy applies to all first year courses.

Upper Level B+ Median
A median grade of B+ is expected in all upper-level courses with enrollments of twenty or more students.  This expected B+ median also applies to multi-section upper-level courses with fewer than twenty students.  A median grade of B+ is recommended for upper-level courses with fewer than twenty students that are not multi-section courses.

Section 8.03

Grade averages shall be computed by multiplying the honor point equivalent in each course by the number of semester hours allocated to the course and then dividing the sum of such products by the total semester hours allocated to the courses for which the grade average is sought, including courses in which the student has received a grade of "F" or "UWF." 

Courses in which the grades of "AW," "HP," "I," "IP", "LP," “N”, “NA,” "P," "S," or "U" have been recorded shall not be averaged with other courses in computing a student's grade average.

Section 8.04
Where a substantial number of courses are repeated in accordance with special conditions imposed incident to reinstatement of a student, only the grades received on repetition shall be included in subsequent computations of the student's grade average. In all other cases where a course is repeated in accordance with these rules, both the original grade received in the course and the grades received on repetition of the course shall be included in subsequent computations of the student's grade average.

Section 8.05

Courses satisfactorily completed in other law schools may be accepted for credit by the College of Law in the discretion of the Dean.

Courses thus accepted for credit by the College of Law shall be given grades of "S," without regard to the grade received where the course was taken as long as a grade of "C" or better had been earned. The provisions of this Section shall apply both to students who transfer to the College of Law from other law schools and to those enrolled in the College of Law who take courses elsewhere with the permission of the Dean in accordance with the provisions of Section 5.01 of these Rules.

Section 8.06
As soon as practicable after each examination period, the Registrar's Office shall distribute to each student an up-to-date transcript. A new transcript is also provided in the case of a change of grade.

Section 8.07 — Dean's Honors List
Effective Fall Semester 1994, the standard for qualification for the Dean's Honors List is a 3.33 grade point average. Students are eligible for this honor after the first full year and then each subsequent semester for work done in that semester by full-time students enrolled in at least 12 credit hours or flex-time students enrolled in at least 9 credit hours.

Section 8.08 — Latin Honors
Beginning Spring 2006 the College awards Latin honors to graduating students as follows:

• Summa Cum Laude — top 5%,
• Magna Cum Laude — top 15%, and
• Cum Laude — top 30%

As approved by College of Law Faculty on April 16, 2010.