Penn State
Lewis Katz Building, University Park, PA
twitter   facebook   linkedin   Instagram   webmail
Give Now Apply Now

Pass-Fail Rules

Students may elect to take a course Pass-Fail during the first three weeks of the semester. The following rules apply to Pass-Fail courses:

Students may not elect to take Professional Responsibility or courses meeting the graduation writing requirement Pass-Fail.   Experiential Credit courses may be taken Pass-Fail, if designated by the professor. Courses graded credit/no credit are not pass/fail courses under this policy. 

  1. A student may take only one course (maximum of 4 credits) Pass-Fail during their entire J.D. program. Note: Fundamental Skills for the Bar Examination (BAREX 900) is graded on a pass/fail basis, but does not count against the one pass/fail course a student may take.
     
  2. A student who receives a grade below C+ in a Pass-Fail course, including in Fundamental Skills for the Bar Examination (BAREX 900), will have the letter grade actually earned entered on the transcript and used for all purposes. A student who earns a grade of C+ or higher will have a "P" entered on the transcript; the course is then ignored in the computation of grade point averages; the actual letter grade is not provided to the student. Students electing pass/fail grading may not elect to receive the course letter grade earned after the semester pass/fail election period is past.
     
  3. In addition to Fundamental Skills for the Bar Examination (BAREX 900), only courses designated "Pass-Fail eligible" by the professor, as listed in the registration materials, may be elected Pass-Fail.