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4.16 Grading

The grading scale at the Law School is as follows:

180-186 A
174-179 B
168-173 C
160-167 D
155-159 F

Law School grades are recorded as numerical grades for all LAWS-prefixed offerings, unless otherwise explicitly noted in the offering’s description. The Pass/Fail grading scale is not available upon request for LAWS –prefixed classes.

The median grade in all courses and all seminars in which students are graded primarily on the basis of an examination must be 177. The median grade in all paper seminars, clinics, and simulation classes must be no lower than 177 and no higher than 179. Courses in which all students write papers, as well as courses and seminars in which students have the option to write a paper or sit for an examination, must have a median of 177 or 178. All classes designated as first year electives must have a 177 median, regardless of the basis for grading in those classes. The median grade in first year Legal Research and Writing and Legal Research, Writing, and Advocacy classes must be 178. The Law School may permit minor deviations from these mandatory medians for classes with very low enrollments when the instructor certifies that the students’ performance was unusually strong or weak relative to students’ performance in the same class during prior years.

In the absence of any contrary statement, it is understood that a student’s grade in a course will be based entirely upon the written examination or paper in the class. Professors may choose to add a class participation component to the grade. 

Students who fail a required class must repeat the class. Ordinarily, a student may only repeat a required class for which they received a failing grade one time. Both classes will remain on the student’s transcript and both classes grades will calculate in the student’s GPA. However, the only credits that will count towards the total of number of credits required to earn the degree are those credits attached to the passing grade for that class.  

Non-law students should refer to section 3.13 of the Student Handbook for more specific information on grading.