Jump to
Grading System
A single final grade will be entered for each course on a student’s permanent record. Grades are indicated by one of five letters, representing the student’s overall success in that course: A: excellent; B: above satisfactory; C: satisfactory; D: below satisfactory; and F: failing. The undergraduate school does not issue a grade of A+.
Babson College undergraduate courses are graded using the following letter grading scale:
- A: 4.00
- A-: 3.67
- B+: 3.33
- B: 3.00
- B-: 2.67
- C+: 2.33
- C: 2.00
- C-: 1.67
- D+: 1.33
- D: 1.00
- D-: 0.67
- F: 0.00
For certain advanced level courses, a pass/fail grading option is available. Students are limited to two pass/fail courses during their undergraduate career. Students can select the pass/fail grading option up until the course withdrawal deadline. To earn a P (passing) grade, students must earn the equivalent of a C or higher in the course. P grades do not contribute to a student’s GPA.
Students can compute their cumulative GPA by multiplying the number of credits from each specific course by the points associated with the grade received in the given course, adding those numbers for the period they wish to compute, then dividing the total by the total number of letter-graded credits taken in that same period. Grade point averages are rounded to the hundredths place.
Grades are available online in Workday. No formal grade report will be sent at the midterm or end-of- term. At the discretion of the individual faculty member, instructors may notify the Registrar of those students who are at or below the grade of C- around the midpoint of each fall and spring semester. At that time, the Registrar’s Office will notify students via their Babson email account that they received a mid- semester warning, along with any comments the faculty member provided. The Registrar’s Office issues these warnings approximately one week before the end of the course withdrawal period. Students who receive warnings should make an appointment with their faculty member to discuss their academic standing and ways to improve in the course. The Department of Student Advising & Success also encourages students to take advantage of Peer Tutoring, the Math Resource Center, Speech Center, Writing Center, and/or meeting with their Student Success Advisor for additional resources and support.
Instructors will retain final examinations for one complete semester immediately following the final examination. Students have until the last day of classes of the fall or spring semester immediately following the semester in which a grade was earned to request a review of specific grades. This policy applies to all students regardless of the student’s status in the following semester. Students who have questions about, or a disagreement regarding, a final course grade or any other coursework grade (quizzes, papers, exams, etc.) should first make an appointment to discuss the matter with the instructor(s) involved as a review meeting to check the accuracy of the process and to learn about inadequacies or strong points. This procedure does not require instructors and students to agree upon the final result. The obligation is simply to help the student understand the process the instructor(s) used in determining the grade. If, after such an appointment, students disagree with the grade they received, they should appeal to the appropriate Division Chair. Further appeal, after these steps, should be directed to the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs.
Incomplete Grades
Incomplete, denoted by the letter ‘I’ on a student’s transcript, is not a grade; rather, it indicates a status wherein the grade will be determined later. Students must make the necessary arrangements with their instructor to resolve an incomplete grade. Undergraduate students must resolve the Incomplete by making up the necessary work or taking needed examinations in the timeline agreed upon with the instructors, with a deadline of no later than the end of the add/drop period of the following semester. Requests for exceptions to this timeline must be submitted in writing to the instructor(s) with a copy sent to the student’s Student Success Advisor and Registrar by the end of add/drop. Instructors will make a determination on the exception.
All Incompletes will be changed to a grade following the end of the next semester’s add/drop period. In the case of students who do not make up the work within this period, instructors will award the grade based upon the normal requirements for the course. In effect, instructors will award a grade of 0.00 for the work not made up, then calculate the final course grade. The Academic Standards Committee may, at its discretion, consider any listed Incomplete on a student’s transcript as a failed grade.
Incomplete courses that are required as prerequisites for the following semester must be completed 72 hours before the end of the add/drop period. This earlier deadline provides instructors time to grade the outstanding work or exam and submit the final grades to the Registrar’s Office before the end of the add/drop period.
Failing Grades
Students must earn passing grades in all required courses. If a grade of “F” is earned in a required course, that course must be repeated. If a grade of “F” is earned in an elective course, the student must either repeat the course or successfully pass another elective. In any case where a student receives an “F,” the original “F” grade and any subsequent passing grade are both factored into the student’s cumulative GPA. The original “F” grade will remain on the student’s transcript.
Makeup of Failed Courses
Students who receive an F in a required Babson course must repeat the course at Babson. Students who receive an F in an elective Babson course must make up the credits if needed, but may choose to take a different course. Any failing grade for a Babson course remains on the Babson transcript permanently and will be calculated into the overall grade point average.
Students have three opportunities to earn a passing grade in required course (excluding withdrawals). Students who receive a grade of F for the same required course three times or for three courses that would all satisfy the same academic requirement will be academically dismissed and may not return to Babson College.
Students may not repeat a course for which they received a passing grade.
Grade Disputes
Students have until the last day of classes of the fall or spring semester immediately following the semester in which a grade was earned to request a review of specific grades. This policy applies to all students regardless of the student’s status in the following semester. Students who have questions about, or a disagreement regarding, a final course grade or any other coursework grade (quizzes, papers, exams, etc.) should first make an appointment to discuss the matter with the instructor(s) involved as a review meeting to check the accuracy of the process and to learn about inadequacies or strong points. This procedure does not require instructors and students to agree upon the final result. The obligation is simply to help the student understand the process the instructor(s) used in determining the grade. If, after such an appointment, students disagree with the grade they received, they should appeal to the appropriate Division Chair. Further appeal, after these steps, should be directed to the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs.