Not all campuses use the same grading system. According to an inventory completed in March 2018, 7 grades are used consistently throughout all campuses, and additional six grades are used at 4-6 campuses, and there are three grades used at 3 or fewer campuses. The rubric below can be used as a reference for grading, but to determine all current grades used at each institution, a combination of individual queries, cleaned by research with registrars, is usually needed. Additionally, each institutions course catalog can be referenced for the most up-to-date grading information.
The Grading Basis also needs to be looked at in addition to the grades themselves. Fresh Start Grading Basis and Forgiveness Grading Basis. Ideally we would all code these identically; policies may remain different across campuses. Financial Aid requires ability to pull these courses/grades/grading bases for Satisfactory Academic Progress. This issue relates to Admissions as well as Financial Aid; potentially a Service Indicator/Milestone should be added to a student's account when the application results in Fresh Start or Forgiveness-based applications/students.
| Grade used at all 7 campuses | University of Maine System Grades March 2018 | ||||||||||||
| Grade used at 4-6 campuses | |||||||||||||
| Grade used at 3 or fewer campuses | |||||||||||||
| USM | UM | UMA | UMF | UMFK | UMPI | UMM | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Superior | A | Superior work. | A | Excellent | A | excellent | A | Highest Honors | A | High Honors | A | |
| B | Good | B | Good work. | B | Good | B | good | B | Honors | B | Honors | B | |
| C | Satisfactory, successful meeting of the course objectives | C | Satisfactory but undistinguished work. | C | Satisfactory | C | satisfactory | C | Satisfactory | C | Average | C | |
| D | Low-level work, below the average required for graduation for an undergraduate, and a failing grade for a graduate student. | D | Poor work that does not adequately prepare students for more advanced work in the discipline. | D | Low-Level passing; below average | D | minimal pass | D | Low Passing | D | |||
| F | Failure to meet the course objectives | F | Failure. No credit is earned for a failed course. | F | Failure | F | failure or fail (in a pass/fail course) | F | Failing | F | Failure | F | |
| P | Pass; pass with a grade of C- or better in a pass/fail course | P | for a course passed on the pass/fail grading option with a C- or above. | P | Pass (for Pass/Fail course; not computed into GPA) | P | pass (C-minus or above) | P | Pass/Fail (grade of “C” or better) | P | Passed, (grades A through C-) | P | Successful completion of a pass/fail course. These hours are not included in point average calculations. |
| I | Incomplete; a temporary grade given, agreed upon by instructor and student, in extraordinary circumstances when the student has failed to complete the course requirements. | I | “Incomplete.” | I | Incomplete | I | incomplete | I | Incomplete | I | Incomplete | I | Incomplete: a temporary grade indicating that specific arrangements have been made with the instructor to complete work by a later date not to exceed 210 days. |
| MG | Missing Grade; Faculty may fail to submit a grade for a particular student in a course. | MG | Missing grade (no grade submitted by instructor) | MG | missing grade | MG | Missing Grade | MG | No grade supplied by instructor. | ||||
| AU | Student attended courses on a noncredit basis. | AU | assigned only for courses taken under the audit option. | AU | Audit | AU | Audit | AU | Audit registration; no credit hours attempted or earned. | ||||
| L | Stopped attending; The grade of L may be assigned to students who stopped attending a course without officially dropping the course. | L | Failure for lack of participation | L | Stopped attending; not officially withdrawn; computed into GPA | L | dropout | L | Stopped attending, computed as an F | L | Stopped attending. The grade of “L” may be assigned to the student who stopped attending a course without officially withdrawing. | ||
| W | Withdrawal after the end of the drop period through 60% of a course. | W | indicating that the student officially withdrew from the course. | W | Withdrew (dropped during first half of semester, or dropped while passing during second half of semester; recorded on transcript; not computed into GPA) | W | withdrew | W | Withdrew | W | Withdrawl | W | Withdrawal or administrative withdrawal. |
| DG | Satisfactory progress after one semester of a two-semester course; grade and credits to be given upon completion of second semester. | DG | deferred grade. This is used only for courses that extend beyond a single semester. | DG | deferred grade | DG | Deferred | DG | Deferred Grade: Satisfactory progress in a course that extends beyond a single semester. | ||||
| LP | Low Pass; pass with a grade of D-, D, or D+ in a pass/fail course | LP | Low Pass, for a course passed on the pass/fail grading option with a D+, D, or D-. | LP | low pass; for pass/fail course; not used in computing grade point averages but counted towards degree credit; represents grades of D+, D, or D- | LP | low pass (D-plus or below) | LP | Low Pass (D+, D, D-) in a Pass/Fail course; hours are not included in GPA calculations | ||||
| F* | for a course failed on the pass/fail grading option. No credit is earned and the GPA is not affected. | F* | failure; pass/fail course; not computed in GPA | F* | Pass/Fail | ||||||||
| INC | Permanent Incomplete; | TH | final grade deferred | WF | Withdrew failing (dropped failing course(s) during second half of semester, recorded on transcript, computed into GPA) | T | transfer grade | NP | Not sufficiently proficient | ||||
| H | High performance in a pass/fail course | ||||||||||||
| UMA & UMM | |
|---|---|
| * | Quality points count toward GPA; credits do not count toward degree credits earned. |
| # | Quality points do not count toward GPA; credits do count toward degree credits earned. |
| ~ | Quality points do not count toward GPA; credits count toward degree credits earned. |
CRSE_GRADE_OFF - Official Grade - Below are the various grades in the official grade field.
Although not noted above, plus and minus grades are used to determine GPAs. Refer to course catalogs for each institution for the academic year in which you are reporting to determine which grades were used.
| Grade | ||
|---|---|---|
| *A | A | H |
| *A- | A+ | I |
| *B | A- | I* |
| *B+ | ACC | INC |
| *B- | AU | L |
| *C | B | LAB |
| *C+ | B+ | LP |
| *C- | B- | M* |
| *D | C | MG |
| *D+ | C+ | NC |
| *D- | C- | NP |
| *F | C-* | P |
| *I | D | R |
| *L | D+ | W |
| D- | W/D | |
| DG | WF | |
| F | ||
| F* | ||
