University Of California, Berkeley
Office of Undergraduate Advising

  College Policies  

College of Letters & Science

  Grade Policies  

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Below, you will find answers to the questions students ask most often about Incomplete (I) grades and taking courses on a Passed/Not Passed (P/NP) basis. For complete details and more information about grading policies and options, please see the General Catalog. The catalog also discusses procedures for grade appeals.

Grade Requirements

You must maintain at least a C average (2.0 grade-point average) in:

  • all UC courses, including UCB Extension XB courses, UC Summer Sessions, UC Education Abroad Program (EAP), and UC Berkeley-Washington program (UCDC) courses,
  • all upper division courses undertaken at Berkeley required for your major, and
  • all upper division courses required for your major.

If you fall below a C average in your major, the department or committee in charge of the major may, at its option, drop you from the program. You would then have to be admitted to another major in order to continue in the College.

Incomplete Grades

If your work in a course is of passing quality but you cannot complete it for reasons beyond your control (for example, illness), you may ask your instructor to assign an Incomplete (I) grade. If the instructor agrees, you and the instructor must determine in writing what you must do to finish the course and which percentage of your grade will be based on the remaining work. Your instructor will keep a copy of this written statement at the department office.

Deadlines for Completing I Grades

Receive Incomplete Deadline
Fall semester First day of instruction of the following fall semester
Spring semester or
Summer Session		 First day of instruction of the following spring semester

Guidelines for Incompletes

  • Finish your work as soon as possible (preferably at least a month before the deadline). Complete a Petition to Remove an Incomplete Grade, available at the Office of the Registrar. You will need to pay a processing fee and get the petition stamped by the Office of the Registrar before submitting the petition and your course work to your instructor.

  • If you cannot finish by the deadline, you must request an extension from your instructor. If the instructor agrees, you must complete a Petition to Extend an Incomplete Grade, available in the Office of Undergraduate Advising, by the deadlines listed in the chart. Approval is subject to evaluation by the dean.

  • You must meet your deadline for finishing incomplete work even if you are not enrolled in classes at Berkeley. This includes participation in the Education Abroad Program.

  • If your deadline lapses and you have not completed the work or submitted an appropriate petition, you will fail the course. You may repeat the course subject to the rules for repeating courses.

  • If you don't want to finish an Incomplete, you have the option of "freezing" up to two I grades. "Freezing" means that the I grade will stay on your record and not lapse to an F or an NP. To freeze an I grade, complete the Petition to Retain Incomplete Grade Permanently on Record, available in the Office of Undergraduate Advising, by the deadlines listed above. Once you freeze an I grade, it cannot be changed, and you may not repeat the course. Take special care to make sure that you do not need the course for your major.

For more information about Incomplete (I) grades, consult the General Catalog or make an appointment with a College adviser.

Passed/Not Passed Grade

The Passed/Not Passed (P/NP) grade is designed to encourage you to take challenging courses outside your normal academic sphere without having to worry unduly about your grades. To receive a grade of P, your level of performance must correspond to a letter grade of C- or higher. P/NP grades are not counted in your GPA; however, students who have received 12 or more units of NP grades may be blocked from future registration in the College.

Guidelines for P/NP Grades

  • To take a course on a P/NP basis, you must be in good academic standing.

  • You may receive unit credit for courses graded P (including P/NP units that you take through EAP) up to a limit of one-third of the total units taken and passed on the Berkeley campus at the time you graduate.

  • Remember that you can't take courses to fulfill the Reading & Composition, Foreign Language, and Quantitative Reasoning requirements on a P/NP basis - you must take them for a letter grade. This is generally true also for courses in your major.

Please Note: If you are planning to apply to law school, be advised that the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) counts NP grades as F's in computing a student's GPA. LSDAS does not count P grades in the GPA.

For more information about the P/NP grade, consult the General Catalog or make an appointment with a College adviser.

Repeating Courses

It can be to your advantage to repeat a course in which you have received a deficient grade. See a College adviser to discuss your particular situation.

Guidelines for Repeating Courses

  • You may repeat a Berkeley course in which you have received a grade of D+, D, D-, F, NP, or U (XB courses taken through University Extension may be used to repeat Berkeley courses, and vice versa).

  • If you have received a D+, D, D-, or an F in a course and you want to repeat the course, you must repeat it for a letter grade.

  • If you have received an NP in a course and you want to repeat the course, you may repeat it for either a P or a letter grade.

  • For the first 12 letter-graded (D+ or lower) units of repeated courses, the grade you receive in the course the second time will replace the original grade in the calculation of your grade-point average (GPA). Your original grade will remain printed on your transcript. The second grade replaces the original grade, even if the second grade is lower.

Note: Some professional schools, including law schools, use both grades in calculating your GPA for admission.

  • If you have repeated more than 12 units, both new and original grades will be averaged into your GPA.

  • You may not take a course for a third time and receive grade-points for it unless you have obtained special approval from the dean.

  • If you repeat a course in which you received a grade other than a D, F, NP, or U, the course will count as part of your class schedule for the semester and the grade you earn will be listed on your transcript. However, the grade will not be included in your GPA, and the course units will not count toward graduation.

For more information about repeating courses, consult the General Catalog or make an appointment with a College adviser.