Pass/No Pass Requests

In CCAS undergraduate courses, a letter grade of D- or better is considered a passing grade.

If you are taking a graduate-level course in CCAS or an undergraduate course in another school, you should confirm with that department or school what constitutes a passing grade in that graduate course. Grades for graduate level courses and undergraduate courses in some GW schools do not follow the same pass/no pass policy.

Any course may be taken pass/no pass, including general education courses (GPAC), WID courses, major/minor courses. A pass will suffice for courses that are prerequisites for another course. A pass will count to satisfy a minimum grade when a course has a designated minimum grade to move on to a higher- level course, to avoid repeating the class (e.g., UW 1020), or to satisfy a major requirement.

Students are responsible for following all requirements that may apply to their individual situations and for ensuring that they are receiving grades in courses that are required for medical or dental school, law school, graduate school, athletic, veterans, employment, or visa status, etc.

While students should understand that the COVID pandemic is a unique situation at this time, it is impossible to predict how future employers or admissions committees may weigh a decision to take courses P/NP at this time. Students are strongly advised to consult with their CCAS academic advisor, faculty advisor, or department program director.

We especially encourage students to carefully consider and consult with CCAS academic advisors and faculty advisors when considering whether to choose pass/no pass for major and minor courses. The knowledge acquired in major and minor courses is cumulative, with higher expectations as students move up through the curriculum. Later success in majors is predicated on knowledge gained in earlier courses. Students should thoughtfully consider if they will be well served by taking these courses pass/no pass.

In limited circumstances, students can petition (Select “Other” under Request Type) for more than one P/NP class before the Thursday, April 29th, 5pm EDT deadline. Students should carefully consider if other options such as incompletes, withdrawals, or academic forgiveness are alternatives. Students should consult CCAS academic advisors and faculty advisors to determine the best course of action.

To request an additional course to be converted to pass/no pass, students should submit an exception request form, personal statement, and relevant supporting documentation to their advisor (or [email protected]) who will forward it to the CCAS Undergraduate Dean. Students can find the petition form here. 

The Undergraduate Dean will consult as relevant with CCAS advisors, faculty, or program director/chair.

Students who encounter extraordinary circumstances after April 29th, 5pm EDT can contact the Undergraduate Dean’s Office through their CCAS advisor.

For students who entered the fall semester already on a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) warning, taking multiple pass/no pass courses can impact financial aid as they may not make sufficient progress.

Students who are currently on such warning should receive advice from their CCAS academic advisor and/or their academic success coach before deciding to take a course for pass/no pass. It is very important that students seek out support from the Academic Success program or the Office for Student Success so that they can continue to improve their GPA.

Some scholarships may require that students maintain a higher GPA. Students are encouraged to contact their CCAS advisor for guidance.

The federal SAP policy requires a student to pass 75% of the credits enrolled in each semester. In addition the student has to obtain a 2.0 semester and cumulative GPA (however the cumulative GPA requirement only goes into effect after the student’s sophomore year). Since a P/NP will not generate a GPA component, if a student currently is below a 2.0 going into the fall and then takes some or all courses P/NP, they may not be able to get their GPA up, and therefore that could have an impact on their financial aid if they entered the fall semester already on a SAP warning.

For example, if a student takes more than one course P/NP and this does not allow them to get back above a 2.0, if the student was on a SAP warning going into the fall semester, they will then move to a SAP denial for spring and lose spring aid eligibility. If they were not on a warning going into the fall semester, they would then move to a warning after the fall semester.

In most cases, P/NP will not suffice for prerequisite courses for internal transfers. The prerequisite courses which require a minimum letter grade are listed by school here. In SEAS and GWSB “passes” will not count for prerequisite courses for students who want to do internal transfers. SEAS and GWSB will view special cases by petition, but we recommend taking any prerequisites for these schools as graded for the fall 2020 and spring 2021

semesters. Milken, ESIA, and CCAS have no prerequisites so the policy does not apply. Students should speak with their CCAS academic advisor about the consequences of taking internal transfer courses P/NP.

Students should check to make sure that they are receiving grades in courses that are required for medical or dental school, law school, graduate school, veteran’s benefits, athletic or visa status, etc. Please consult your pre-health, pre-law, athletic, Yellow Ribbon, specialized scholarships, or ISO advisor about such requirements.

Students should thoughtfully consider if taking a major or minor course pass/no pass adequately prepares them for more advanced study.

No.

No. Academic standing will be determined at the end of the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semester. Undergraduate students are considered to be in good academic standing if at the end of any semester their grade-point average (GPA) for that semester and their cumulative GPA are 2.0 or above. The parameters for Academic Probation and Suspension can be found in the Bulletin.

Yes, you can use this during the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters as long as the Pass (P) option for the course can apply to your degree, and not affect your full-course of study enrollment or delay your graduation timeline.

However, receiving a No Pass (NP) could negatively affect your visa status if it affects your current credit number and time to graduation. Please reach out to Melissa Yuan in ISO if you have any questions ([email protected]).

We encourage student athletes to consult with their athletic advisor to discuss any potential impact on NCAA eligibility.

For ALL courses in P mode: P grades will show as Passed and Earned hours, but the GPA hours, Quality Points and GPA would be 0. For students with all classes with any NP grades, the GPA would still be 0 and any NP classes would not be reflected in Earned or Passed hours.

For a mix of P/NP and graded courses, the GPA would reflect the graded courses and P/NP would apply to attempted and passed/earned hours as appropriate.

Please review the impact of P/NP on students who are on academic probation.

The P/NP policy updates govern courses in which a student is currently registered (e.g., If a CCAS student is taking two courses in ESIA, Elliott’s policies will govern those two courses.) The Elliott School, School of Business, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Milken School of Public Health have the same pass/no pass policies as CCAS with a few policy exceptions (i.e., transfer credit).

A student who is repeating a course using academic forgiveness this semester may choose P/NP instead of a letter grade. Students may use the undergraduate forgiveness policy for courses in which they receive a “No Pass” (NP). Students may repeat a course for which they receive a “Pass” (P).

No. This policy only applies to courses registered for during the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. Previous semesters, including summer 2020, do not apply.

Students may use the P/NP option for courses specifically required for their CCAS major and/or minor for fall 2020 and spring 2021. This will not negatively impact their progress for pursuing their degree requirements.

However, students are strongly advised to consider if taking a pass/no pass in a major or minor course will adequately prepare them for more advanced coursework.

Additionally, with regard to aspirations to attend medical or dental school, law school, graduate school, veteran’s benefits, athletic or visa status, etc. --- students should consult with their pre-health, pre-law, athletic, Yellow Ribbon, specialized scholarships, or ISO advisor about possible ramifications.

If you know your likely field of future graduate study, it is recommended you consider your grade mode choice carefully and check in with your instructor(s), faculty adviser, or CCAS academic advisor before making your decision.

When instructors are processing final grades, they can see this in the GWeb final grade submission screen under the Grade Mode column. For undergraduate students, it will be P for Pass/No Pass and C for Letter Grade. Faculty will need to carefully check the Grade Mode column (P = Pass/No Pass and C = Letter Grade) before selecting the correct grade from the drop down menu when entering final grades to prevent grading errors.

Undergraduate students who, in any one semester, earn 12 credits or more,, attain a 3.75 in a minimum of 9 credits of letter graded coursework, pass all non-graded credit courses and all pass/no pass courses taken will be on the Dean’s list.

Students will receive Latin Honors with 60 credits minus the number of pass/no pass credits in these three semesters (spring 2020, fall 2020, spring 2021) under the current policy as well as any other courses that usually receive pass/no pass (i.e., internships).

As long as you receive a “P” in these courses, they will fulfill your degree requirements.

No.

Undergraduate students who are taking graduate courses as part of their undergraduate degree (i.e. an advanced course that is part of a major) may elect to take that course pass/no pass.

Undergraduates in combined undergraduate and graduate programs must follow the policies of their graduate program to determine whether a graduate course may be taken for credit/no credit (the graduate equivalent of pass/no

pass). Some graduate programs have determined that their field’s requirements and expectations make it impossible or inadvisable for students to take any courses for credit/no credit; others have concluded that it will be possible for students to take a single course or a single course that does not fulfill a core degree requirement for credit/no credit in each of the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters.

Please consult the CCAS Graduate Credit/No Credit Policy for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 to determine whether your graduate program has placed any restrictions on the courses you may take for credit/no credit. If your graduate program allows you to take courses for credit/no credit, please keep in mind that you must achieve a final course grade of C- or higher to receive credit for the course (versus the D- or higher required for a "pass" in an undergraduate course).

Students who currently have academic standing issues should receive advice from their graduate program advisor and/or their academic success coach before deciding to take a course credit/no credit since CR/NC courses will not improve your GPA