Incomplete, Changed and Repeat Grades

Incomplete Grades

The ‘I’ grade is restricted to cases in which the student has satisfactorily completed a substantial part of the course work. No credit will be given until the course is completed and a passing grade received. When a final grade is received, all reference to the initial ‘I’ is removed.

Students must request an incomplete grade by the last class meeting. Faculty may determine whether to grant the request or not. Faculty are free to determine the conditions under which the incomplete is made up, including setting a deadline of less than one year. Under no circumstances should a student re-enroll in a class to complete an "I" grade. Enrolling in the class a second time invokes the "Repeated Courses" rules (see below).

In courses taken before 1994-95, satisfactory completion of the course work when an ‘I’ has been given is expected within a year from the date of the course’s final examination, but an alternate time limit may be set by the instructor. Students may petition that these courses with an ‘I’ grade be removed from their records.

In a course taken in 1994-95 or later, ‘I’ grades must be changed to a permanent notation or grade within a maximum of one year. If an incomplete grade is not cleared at the end of one year, it is changed automatically by the Registrar’s Office to an ‘NP’ (not passed) or ‘NC’ (no credit) as appropriate for the grading method of the course.

Top of page

Revision of End-Quarter Grades

When submitted via Axess or filed with the Registrar’s Office, end-quarter grades are final and not subject to change by reason of a revision of judgment on the instructor’s part; nor are passing grades to be revised on the basis of a second trial (for example, a new examination or additional work undertaken or completed after the end of the quarter.) Changes may be made at any time to correct an error in computation or in transcribing, or where some part of the student’s work was overlooked; that is, if the new grade is the one that would have been entered on the original report had there been no mistake in computing and had all the pertinent data been before the instructor, the change is a proper one.

In the event that a student disputes an end-quarter grade, the established grievance procedure should be followed (See the “Statement on Student Academic Grievance Procedures” section of the Stanford Bulletin.)

Top of page

Temporary Grades

Grading TGR 801 or 802 Courses ("N" Grades) Students working on projects, theses, or dissertations enroll in their department’s course. Students typically enroll in 801 or 802 courses for a number of successive quarters. To indicate that a student is making satisfactory progress on the project, thesis, or dissertation, a grade of “N” should be assigned. A grade of “S” is recorded during the final quarter when the project, thesis, or dissertation has been completed and accepted by the department.

The “N-” grade indicates unsatisfactory progress in a continuing course. The first “N-” grade constitutes a warning. The advisor, department chair, and student should discuss the deficiencies and agree on the steps necessary to correct them. A second “N-” will normally cause the department to deny the student further registration until a written plan for the completion of the degree requirements has been submitted by the student and accepted by the department. Subsequent “N-” grades are grounds for dismissal from the program.

The Registrar's Office runs an "N" grade report at the end of each quarter to use in updating the temporary "N" grades through the history of the project to it's permanent grade. When the grade of “S” or "NP" is submitted during the final quarter of the project, thesis, or dissertation the final grade will retro-actively replace the "N" grades. If the final grade has been reported, but the previous "N" grades have not been replaced, please send an email to the grading staff or the registrar@stanford.edu. Please allow several weeks after the end of each quarter before reporting unconverted "N" grades, as the process is performed manually by our staff.

Top of page

Repeated Courses

Students may not enroll in courses for credit for which they received either Advanced Placement or transfer credit.

Some Stanford courses may be repeated for credit; they are specifically noted in the Stanford Bulletin. Most courses may not be repeated for credit. Under the general University grading system, when a course which may not be repeated for credit is retaken by a student, the following special rules apply:

• A student may retake any course on his or her transcript, regardless of grade earned, and have the original grade, for completed courses only, replaced by the notation ‘RP” (repeated course). When retaking a course, the student must enroll in it for the same number of units originally taken. When the grade for the second enrollment in the course has been reported, the units and grade points for the second course count in the cumulative grade point average in place of the grade and units for the first enrollment in the course. Because the notation ‘RP’ can only replace grades for completed courses, the notation 'W’ cannot be replaced by the notation ‘RP’ in any cause.
• A student may not retake the same course for a third time unless s/he received a ‘NC’ (no credit) or ‘NP’ (not passed) when it was taken and completed the second time. When a student completes a course for the third time, grades and units for both the second and third completions count in the cumulative grade point average. The notation ‘W’ is not counted toward the three-retake maximum.

These policies reflect changes adopted by the faculty Senate on June 2, 1994.

Top of page