Grades

Upon completion of each course, a grade is assigned by the instructor and recorded on the student’s official transcript.

Grades are posted a few weeks after the semester ends. To find out their grades, students may either log onto the Online Academic Student Information System (OASIS) or call the Touch–Tone grades system at (213) 740–9088.

Letter Grades

USC uses the A-F grading system:

• A = excellent
• B = good
• C = minimum passing in courses for graduate credit; fair in undergraduate courses
• D = failed in courses for graduate credit; minimum passing in courses for undergraduate credit
• F = failed

Plus and minus grades are also used. Minimum passing are “C” for graduate credit and “D–” for undergraduate credit.

Credit/No Credit  Grades

Certain courses have been authorized by the University Curriculum Committee to be graded Credit/No Credit. Students may only enroll in a course on a Credit/No Credit basis if the course is listed as being offered as Credit/No Credit.

• CR = credit (passing grade for a non–letter graded course equivalent to “B” or 3.0 quality or better for graduate credit and “C–” or 1.7 for undergraduate credit)
• NC = no credit (for a non–letter–graded course equivalent to a “B” or less for graduate and less than “C–” for undergraduate)

Pass/No Pass Grades

• P = pass (passing grade equivalent to a “B” or 3.0 quality or better for graduate and “C–” or 1.7 for an undergraduate credit course taken on a Pass/No Pass basis)
• NP = no pass (less than the equivalent of a “B” for a graduate or “C–” for an undergraduate for a letter–graded course taken on a Pass/No Pass basis).

Graduate students must receive departmental approval to enroll in a course on a Pass/No pass basis. To enroll, students must complete the Pass/No Pass Request for Change of Program. USC Price will not allow graduate students to apply courses taken on a pass/no pass basis towards an USC Price degree.

Undergraduates may take one General Education Course Pass/No Pass. Otherwise, no coursework taken Pass/No Pass may be applied to the degree or the minor. No coursework may be taken Pass/No pass for minor programs.

A maximum of 24 units of undergraduate course work taken on a pass/no pass basis may be used toward an undergraduate degree and a maximum of 4 of these 24 units may be applied to the general education requirements. Use of Pass/No Pass course work to fulfill major requirements must be approved in writing by the academic department. Individual academic departments may have additional restrictions in place. For additional information, please go to the Undergraduate Students page in the Requirements for Graduation section of the USC Catalogue.

Other Marks

• W = withdrawn. A mark of “W” appears on the student’s transcript if he/she withdraws after the third week of class. It is not possible to withdraw from a course after the 12th week of class or if the student has committed or been accused of committing an academic integrity violation.
• IP = in progress. An interim mark for a course exceeding one semester. (Failure to complete courses in which marks of IP appear will be assigned grades of NC.)
• UW = unofficial withdrawal. This mark is calculated into the student’s graduate point average with 0 grade points, as if the student had earned an “F” in the course.
• MG = missing grade. An administrative mark used in cases when the instructor fails to submit a final course grade for a student.
• IN = incomplete. Work not completed because of documented illness or other emergency occurring after the twelfth week of the semester. Arrangements for the “IN” and its removal should be initiated by the student and agreed to by the instructor prior to the final exam.
• IX = expired incomplete. This mark is calculated into the student’s graduate point average with 0 grade points, as if the student had earned an “F” in the course.

For additional information, reference the Academic Standards page in the USC Catalogue.