Grades

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Grading System

Letter Grades

* Incomplete (I), in progress (IP), and not reported (NR) grade categories may appear transiently on a student transcript but will convert to other letter grades as described in the Grade Explanations below.

Note that the University of Houston operated under an interim grading policy during the early phase of the COVID 19 pandemic - specifically during Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Fall 2020, and Spring 2021; grades of NCR (meaning “no credit received”) may appear on student transcripts; the NCR carries no grade points and does not grant course credit. 

Grade Assignment

Grades are awarded in courses in which students are officially enrolled after the last day to drop or withdraw from a course without receiving a grade (Official Reporting Day). This date is indicated in the Academic Calendar for each enrollment period.

Assigning a grade for evaluating a student’s work performance involves the faculty’s professional judgment and is an integral part of the faculty’s teaching responsibilities. Students are encouraged to contact the instructor of record or submit written requests to the department chair whenever questions arise concerning a grade received in a course. Grade appeals must be made within 90 days after the posting of the grade. See the Undergraduate Academic Grievances  section of the Undergraduate Academic Catalog for more information.

Grade Explanations

1. Passing grades for which semester hours of credit are awarded are A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, and S. Note, however, that there are programs that place grade limits for academic progress. A grade may be considered passing but can still prevent a student from achieving course completion towards their major, minor, and/or course prerequisites. Refer to course descriptions and to academic policies for the relevant College, as well as major and minor programs, to ensure that a particular grade will qualify for successful programmatic completion requirements.
2. Grades of F do not receive passing credit for any program.
3. The grades of S (satisfactory) and U (unsatisfactory) may be awarded in certain specified courses.
4. The temporary grade of I (incomplete) is a conditional and temporary grade assigned when students for non-academic reasons beyond their control have not completed a relatively small part of all requirements for a course.

The student must:

• be currently passing the course or have a reasonable chance of passing the course, in the judgment of the instructor;
• contact the instructor immediately regarding the reasons that prevent the student from completing the course, final assignment and/or final examination;
• initiate the request for an I grade within 90 days of the posting of the course grade;
• make arrangements with the instructor to complete the course requirements, if assigned;
• understand that the only way to have an I grade changed to a passing grade is to fulfill course requirements in accordance with the conditions specified by the instructor;
• understand that the grade of I may be changed only to another letter grade. If the student does not complete the course requirements in the time allotted (a maximum of one year) the I grade will convert to an F grade and will be noted as a lapsed incomplete on the student’s transcript. An I grade once lapsed to an F grade may not be changed to a grade of W; and
• not re-enroll for the courses in which their grade is currently recorded as an I. Even when the conditions for fulfilling the course requirements include participation in all or part of the same course in another term, the student must not re enroll for the course.

All grades of I shall be computed as grades of F in calculating a student’s cumulative grade point average for purposes of determining fulfillment of grade requirements for a degree.

After the student has completed the remaining coursework, the instructor will submit a grade change via the myUH Faculty Center to change the I grade to the grade earned.

The temporary grade of IP (in progress) is a grade assigned when students are completing a Senior Honors thesis. Students will receive an “IP” (in progress) grade for 3399, which will be changed to a letter grade at the end of the semester when the thesis is finished (and defended).

All unreported grades (NR) automatically convert to a grade of F or U (as appropriate) 90 days after the formal closing of the term. The NR category is an administrative placeholder assigned when a course instructor leaves a student’s grade field blank when submitting the final grade roster.

The grade of W is assigned to a course only after the last day to drop or withdraw without receiving a grade by the official census date (ORD) (see Academic Calendar), and before the final day to drop or withdraw (generally the 14th week in a fall or spring term). Students are responsible for initiating action to drop or withdraw from classes. Students who fail to do so will be retained on the class rolls even though they may be absent for the remainder of the term. In such instances a grade of F (or U in S/U graded courses) will be awarded unless the conditions for a grade of I have been met.

Grade Point Average

Grade points are awarded as shown in the table above for each semester hour in which students receive a grade.

The grade point average is the quotient obtained by dividing the total number of grade points earned by the number of semester hours in which students receive a letter grade. Grades of S, U, NR, IP, I, and W are not assigned grade point values and are not used in the computation of the grade point average.

A change in grade (other than I, or IP) will affect the academic status of the term in which the grade was earned and all subsequent terms. Students should be aware that a change of grade from I or IP will affect the cumulative grade point average effective the term the incomplete is earned and all terms including the term the I or IP is completed (or changed to F or U).

Decimals beyond two places are truncated, not rounded, in computing the grade point average.

Cumulative Grade Point Average

The cumulative grade point average is based upon all work taken at the University of Houston, including courses that are repeated, for which grade point values are assigned.

A repeated course, including courses repeated during a summer session, is equivalent to a new course both in the determination of classification and in computing the cumulative grade point average.

All grades of I shall be computed as grades of F in calculating a student’s cumulative grade point average for the purposes of determining fulfillment of grade requirements for a degree.

First-year Grade Exclusion Policy

1. Grade exclusion will not retroactively alter academic or financial aid actions, decisions, or sanctions that resulted from the original grade or original semester GPA.
2. Students who receive a grade of D+ or below in a course within the first twelve months from students’ initial matriculation semester in residence are eligible to repeat the course and have the original grade excluded from the computation of their cumulative grade point average.
3. Grade exclusion may only be used once per course and is applicable to a maximum of three courses, only one of which may be at a 3000- level. No 4000 and 5000-level courses are eligible for grade exclusion.
4. The course must be repeated at UH within twelve months of earning the original grade.
5. The original course and grade will continue to appear on the student’s transcript with a notation that the course was repeated and that the original grade was not included in the computation of the student’s cumulative GPA.

The grade exclusion policy is not applicable for course(s) in which the student’s grade of D+ or below resulted from a UH Academic Honesty policy violation.

Final Grade Reports

Students may view and/or print grades by logging into their myUH account at https://accessuh.uh.edu.

Instructors submit final grades through myUH. During the final exam period for each term, grades are posted every three hours and are viewable after posting.
All unreported grades (NR) automatically convert to a grade of F or U (as appropriate) 90 days after the formal closing of the term.

Students are encouraged to contact the instructor of record or submit written requests to the department chair whenever questions arise concerning a grade received in a course. Grade appeals must be made within 90 days after the posting of the grade.

Scholastic Requirements

A minimum of a 2.00 (average grade of C) minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) is required for graduation, undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students are expected to maintain a 2.00 or higher GPA throughout their academic career. Students who do not maintain a minimum 2.00 GPA are subject to scholastic action in any term in which one or more semester credit hours are attempted.