Grades and Transcripts
Grades
The following grades are given to graduate students and count in calculating a student’s cumulative GPA as noted by quality hours. GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of grade points earned by the total number of graded semester or quarter hours. Courses not taken at Illinois Institute of Technology are not included in computing the GPA. Students may access their grades online in the MyIIT portal (my.iit.edu), under the Academics tab.
| Grade | Grade Description | Instructor Assigned | Performance Evaluation | Attempted Hours | Earned Hours | Quality Points | Quality Hours | GPA Hours | FinAid Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | excellent | x | x | x | x | 4.00 | x | x | x |
| B | above average | x | x | x | x | 3.00 | x | x | x |
| C | average | x | x | x | x | 2.00 | x | x | x |
| E | fail | x | x | x | 0.00 | x | x | x | |
| I | incomplete | x | x | 0.00 | x | ||||
| R | research | x | x | 0.00 | x | ||||
| NA | non-attendance | x | x | 0.00 | x | x | x | ||
| NG | non-graded | 0.00 | |||||||
| P | pass | x | x | x | x | 0.00 | |||
| F | fail | x | x | x | 0.00 | ||||
| S | satisfactory | x | x | x | x | 0.00 | x | ||
| U | unsatisfactory | x | x | x | 0.00 | x | |||
| AU | audit | 0.00 | |||||||
| W | withdrawal | x | 0.00 | x | |||||
| X | no grade submitted | x | 0.00 | x |
Incomplete (“I”) Grade
The incomplete (I) grade is a temporary grade that must be requested in writing by the student to the instructor of record using the Incomplete Grade Request Form.
- The student must have substantial equity in the course as determined by the instructor.
- The student must complete the Incomplete Grade Request form online and submit the form to the instructor of record for review and approval. The form must be submitted prior to the week of final examinations.
- The request for an incomplete grade is to be approved by the instructor only in cases of illness or for unforeseeable circumstances that prevented the student from completing the course requirements by the end of the term.
- There must be a written agreement between the student and the instructor detailing the remaining requirements to complete the course.
- The Office of the Registrar will post the incomplete grade upon receipt of the approval from the instructor. Directions for the instructor on how to send the approval to the Office of the Registrar are provided in the email request from the student.
- Once remaining requirements have been completed, the instructor must submit a Change of Grade Request Form (available in the "Office of the Registrar—Faculty and Staff Resources" channel under the Teaching tab of the myIIT portal) to change the incomplete grade to a final grade by the deadline indicated on the Academic Calendar. Any remaining incomplete grades will automatically be converted to a failing grade (E, U, or F).
- If additional time is needed to complete the remaining requirements, students may request an extension with the instructor. If approved, the instructor will contact the Office of the Registrar to apply the extension (7th Monday of the following semester, excluding summer). Only one extension can be granted. If the extension is granted, then the instructor will be allowed to submit the Change of Grade Request Form by the new (extended) deadline as indicated on the Academic Calendar.
- The instructor cannot request that an incomplete grade be given for a student without the student first requesting it. If there is no request by the student, then the incomplete grade will not be applied.
Research (“R”) Grade
Applicable only to approved research courses, the grade of “R” may be assigned for students who have not completed research work in the course. Once assigned, the grade of “R” will remain on the student’s transcript until the research as determined by the research professor is completed and changed to a final grade of Satisfactory ("S") or Unsatisfactory ("U"). The grade of "R" does not fulfill the requirements of a graduate program.
Non-Attendance (“NA”) Grade
A grade of "NA'' indicates a student never attended classes, lectures and/or lab sessions of a course and there was no apparent participation by the student in that course. As of Fall 2023, the "NA'' grade is an option for midterm and final grades for both undergraduate and graduate courses and is equivalent to the failing grade of "E'' for GPA calculations.
Withdrawal (“W”) Grade
The withdrawal grade is issued to students who withdraw from a class after the last day to add and drop classes. The “W” cannot be changed to a standard letter grade and does not fulfill the requirements of a graduate program.
Satisfactory (“S”) and Unsatisfactory (“U”) Grades
Satisfactory (“S”) and unsatisfactory (“U”) grades are only used for the following courses: 591 (Research and Thesis), 594 (Project and Report), 691 (Research and Thesis), noncredit courses, and individual courses specifically approved to receive such grades. A student who receives a “U” in course numbers 591, 594, or 691 must demonstrate to his or her adviser, academic unit head, and the Graduate College, Office of Academic Affairs why he or she should be allowed to continue as a graduate student. Students registered for course number 597 are not eligible for “S/U” grades. “S/U” grades are not used in calculating the GPA. The grade of "U" does not fulfill the requirements of a graduate program.
Audit (“AU”) grade
Auditing of courses is discouraged, but a student may do so if the student has taken the necessary prerequisites, if the student’s presence does not exclude a student who wishes to enroll for credit, and if the student’s presence does not distract from the conduct of the course as determined by the instructor. An auditor must pay full tuition for the course but is not held for examinations and does not receive credit. Auditors may not change their registration to receive credit after the the add/drop deadline. The “AU” grade issued for an audited course can never be changed, used for graduate credit, or for fulfillment of degree requirements at the university.
Change of Grade and grade appeal
The change of grade request form is available only to faculty and authorized academic administrators in the myIIT portal on the Teaching tab in the Office of the Registrar Faculty and Staff Resources channel. Temporary grades of "I", "R", and "X" can be changed by the instructor directly with the Office of the Registrar to a final letter grade of: "A", "B", "C", "E", or "S/U" (if the class has a grading basis of satisfactory/unsatisfactory). Temporary grades of "I" or "R" cannot be changed by the instructor to another temporary or non-letter, administrative grade of "I", "R", "NA", "AU", "W", or "X". Other grade changes may require an additional level of approval by an academic officer or appeals committee. The student should check with his or her academic college dean's office for details.
The assignment of letter grades is at the discretion of the course instructor, and except for unusual circumstances, the assigned course grade is final.
Students who want to appeal a letter grade assigned in a course should first confer directly with the course instructor. If the student and instructor cannot come to an agreement, the student should contact the chair of the instructor’s department. If necessary, the student can appeal to the dean of the instructor’s college. If a grade dispute is not resolved through this process, the decision of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs shall be final, upon review of the matter.
All grade changes must be initiated by the instructor of record or the authorized academic administrator using the online Change of Grade Request Form available in the "Office of the Registrar—Faculty and Staff Resources" channel under the Teaching tab of the myIIT portal. Emails and paper forms are not accepted.
A final grade ("A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "AU", "P", "F", "S", "U", "NG", or "W") cannot be changed to a temporary grade ("I", "R", or "X"). For more information regarding the grade marks, consult the official Grade Legend.
Grade changes submitted within four weeks of the end date of the term require only the approval of the instructor. Grade changes submitted after four weeks of the end date of the term will require additional approvals from the department chair, academic college dean, and vice provost for Academic Affairs.
