Pass/Fail Option

Policy statement

A student may elect to change the grading basis of a class to Pass/Fail under the following conditions and with the following limitations:

1. The Pass/Fail option may be adopted a maximum of eight (8) times during the student’s undergraduate career and no more than two (2) times per academic year. For the Pass/Fail option, the academic year is defined as beginning with the start of the fall academic term and ending with the end of the summer academic term.
2. The class selected for the Pass/Fail option must be an elective.
   1. A class that carries General Education or College of Arts and Sciences Education (CASE) attribution(s) will not be considered an "elective" for the purpose of this policy until the General Education or CASE requirement(s) in question has been fully satisfied with the appropriate number of classes that carry a grade. In-progress classes as well as those with a grade of not recorded ("NR"), incomplete ("I"), or deferred ("R") do not count toward this determination.
   2. Students are not permitted to enroll in foreign language classes on a Pass/Fail basis—even if the class is a different language than the language the student intends to use to fulfill the requirement—until the CASE Foreign Language requirement has been completed.
3. A grade of P is not counted in computing grade point averages; a grade of F is counted.
4. Instructors are not informed that the student has elected the Pass/Fail option. The instructor shall assign the student the letter grade earned, and a passing grade (A – D-) shall be converted to a P by the campus registrar.
5. A grade of P cannot be changed subsequently to any other letter grade.
6. Classes completed with a grade of P may only apply to the following requirements where appropriate and consistent with other policies:
   1. Overall degree hours (degree requirement)
   2. College of Arts Sciences hours (degree requirement)
   3. Upper division courses (degree requirement)
   4. College residency (degree requirement)
   5. College breadth (major requirement; distinct from the Breadth of Inquiry degree requirement)
7. Students who wish to use the Pass/Fail option must submit the Pass/Fail form to the Student Records and Services division of the Office of Undergraduate Curriculum, Policy, and Records by the relevant deadline. See the IUB Official Calendar for the deadlines by academic term (semester) and session.