Policy Statement
The grade base for most study abroad courses is A-F. In the rare cases where pass/fail grading is an option, students must indicate if they want to take a class pass/fail within the initial add/drop period. Students may not change their grading option for a course after the initial add/drop period.
Grades earned on study abroad programs (for UofM resident credit) are converted to UofM grades according to pre-established grade conversion criteria. The UofM does not award A+ grades nor D- grades on the UofM A- F grading scale.
On the UofM S/N grading scale, an S represents achievement that is satisfactory, which is equivalent to a C- or better. An N represents no credit and signifies that the work was either (1) completed but at a level of achievement that is not worthy of credit or (2) was not completed and there was no agreement between the instructor and the student that the student would be awarded an incomplete.
Procedures
Students must first inquire with the Learning Abroad Center program staff. If the LAC allows pass/fail grading for the program, students should then consult with the program staff onsite to request to change the grading method. Typically, a course with a grade of pass/fail will not count toward a student's major or minor degree requirements.
Requests for retroactive grade base changes are very rarely approved, and typically require documentation of a technical error to be considered.
Non-UofM students have an additional responsibility to ask whether their home university accepts S/N grades, even if it is allowed by the particular UofM program. If a non-UofM student inadvertently enrolls for a class with an S/N grade option, and their home university does not accept a grade of S for credit, the Learning Abroad Center substitutes the earned A-F letter grade, if available, for the S grade. Otherwise, the Learning Abroad Center substitutes a grade of C- for the S grade. In both instances, students must first provide documentation from an adviser or registrar from the home institution that the S/N grade option is not accepted.