S/NC Grading Policy Information for Graduate & Professional Students

University of Pittsburgh S/NC Grading Policy Information for Students
Spring 2020 Semester (COVID-19)

From: The Office of the Provost
Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Communication to All Pitt Students from The Provost, March 20, 2020

The uncertainty of this unprecedented situation is a source of anxiety for many of our students and their families, and to help decrease stress and facilitate your continued academic success, the University is adopting a significant level of flexibility in course grading for the spring 2020 semester.    

The following is preliminary information for graduate and professional students about this policy.

After the end of the term when grades have already been posted, all Pitt students enrolled in courses for a letter grade during the 2204 (spring) term may choose to convert the grading of any of their courses from a letter grade basis to a satisfactory (S)/no credit (NC) basis.

• S/NC is not a “pass/fail” grading system. S stands for Satisfactory. NC stands for No Credit.  For graduate and professional classes, this conversion differs somewhat by school. Please see the chart below for school specific conversions.
• All courses that are awarded S grades will count toward graduation/degree requirements and satisfy future course prerequisites. Courses awarded NC grades will not count toward graduation/degree requirements nor fulfill course prerequisites.
• Neither S nor NC grades will impact a student's GPA. That is, a term-based GPA (and cumulative GPA) is calculated solely based on those credits that maintain a letter grade.
• Courses that are awarded NC grades will need to be repeated if the course is required for graduation in the student’s program or if a minimum grade of S is required.
• While extension requests will be considered, students will be asked to make a decision with respect to S/NC grading one week after course grades have been posted. This will allow timely processing of graduation transcripts, thus it is especially important for graduating students to adhere to this deadline.  
• Students are strongly encouraged to thoroughly discuss the decision with their academic advisors and mentors. It is important to recognize that these conversations can begin prior to grades being posted.
   

S/NC Conversion Chart

Students should have a thorough conversation with an Academic Advisor or Mentor before making the decision to change their letter grade to S or NC. 

For information on the grade change process, please visit personaled.pitt.edu [note: page removed after Spring 2020 semester]. 

If you have questions or concerns, please contact VPGraduate-Urban@pitt.edu.