Credit/No-Credit Grade Options

James Madison University is providing students with expanded access to the credit/no-credit grading options for the Spring 2020 semester due to the transition from in-person to online course delivery.

JMU has chosen May 18 as the deadline to change grading options to provide maximum flexibility to students. Students will be able to make the decision to choose the credit/no-credit option after receiving their final grades.

Undergraduate Students

If undergraduate students choose to take a course as credit/no credit, they receive credits for successfully completing the course with a “C” or above and receive no credit or penalty for completing the course with a lower grade. At some universities, this option is called pass/fail.

Current credit/no-credit policies are suspended for the Spring 2020 semester only and will be replaced with the following:

• Students may change any course in which they are enrolled to credit/no-credit, except those being taken with a Repeat Credit or Repeat/Forgiveness option that were previously taken for a letter grade.
  
  
• There will be no limit to the number of Spring 2020 courses or credit hours that may be taken as credit/no-credit.
  
  
• Spring 2020 courses graded as credit/no-credit may satisfy general education, major, minor, degree and/or elective requirements.
  
  
• If students select the credit/no-credit option, grades of “A” through “C” will change to “CR” and will earn the number of credit hours designated for the course. These grade equivalents for “CR” align with current JMU policy and parallel practices at many other universities.
  
  
• If students select the credit/no-credit option, grades of “C-“ through “F” will change to “NC” and no credits will be earned for the course. These grade equivalents for “NC” align with current JMU policy and parallel practices at many other universities.
  
  
• Grades of “CR” and “NC” will not affect students’ grade point average.

 All students should review the Important Considerations for Credit/No-credit Option section below before making any decision. 

Important Considerations for Credit/No-credit Option

A student’s decision to switch to credit/no-credit is irreversible after May 18, 2020.

• To qualify for the honor of being placed on the President's List, a student must earn a grade point average of 3.900 or above and be considered by the registrar to be carrying a full time course load of graded credit hours (i.e., exclusive of credit hours taken on a credit/no credit or audit basis).

• Before deciding to choose the credit/no-credit option, students should discuss the changes with their academic advisers to ensure there are no unforeseen consequences of switching to credit/no-credit, such as accreditation requirements within the major or minor, or future application to graduate or professional schools.  Students should consult MyMadison should they need to be reminded of the names of their advisers.

• Course prerequisites that require a certain letter grade will not be satisfied with a “CR” grade.  In those instances, students must request overrides from their academic unit heads to enroll in those particular courses in future semesters. Students should consult their major advisers with questions regarding prerequisites.
  
  
• If a course counts as part of a group of courses required for admission to a major in which grades are averaged, “CR” will not be included in the GPA calculation. Students should consult with the appropriate major and other advisers prior to changing their grading option.
  
  
• Courses earning a grade of “CR” will count toward credits to graduate, but courses earning a grade of “NC” do not earn credits.

Graduate Students

For graduate students, The Graduate School will be distributing detailed information on options as soon as it is available.