Grading Policies

General information regarding the Law School's grading policies is shown below. For additional information, please refer to the Student Handbook.

The School of Law operates on a semester calendar. All academic credit is computed in semester units. The school uses a four-point scale to calculate a grade point average (GPA). Grade point values are assigned as follows:

Grade	Description	Grade Points
A	Outstanding	4.0
A-	Above Average	3.5
B	Above Average	3.0
B-	Acceptable Competence	2.5
C	Work indicating that considerable improvement is necessary to complete the school's academic program	2.0
C-	Unsatisfactory	1.5
D	Unsatisfactory	1.0
F	Failure	0.0
WF	Withdrew Failing	0.0

The following have no grade value and are not used in the calculation of the grade point average (GPA):

Grade	Explanation
CR (Credit)	Equivalent to "C" or higher
NC (No Credit)	Equivalent to "C-" or lower
W (Withdrew)	Student withdrew from course after end of instruction
AU (Audit)	Student audited course
I (Incomplete)	Petition required; Grade will change to "W" if coursework not completed by deadline
NR (Not Reported)	No grade was reported by instructor
IP (In Progress)	Year-long course in progress

Only courses completed at GGU are used to compute the GPA. Transfer credit from other law schools is not included. A cumulative GPA is calculated for each degree program. The GPA begins calculating anew after the term in which a degree has been conferred. JD students may elect to take up to 9 units, and LLM students may elect up to 6 units, on a credit/no credit basis. This option is limited to elective courses only. Courses that are only offered for credit/no credit (see list below) are not counted toward the limit. A JD student may use the credit/no credit election for one course per term, except in the student's final term. To elect to take a course credit/no credit, students must complete the Election for Credit/No Credit Grade form and submit it to the Law School Registrar's Office. The deadline to elect to take a course credit/no credit is the day of the last class meeting for the course, or the last day of instruction for the term for courses that do not meet for instruction (e.g. independent study).

Once the student has submitted the election form, the decision to take the course credit/no credit may not be revoked unless a grade of "NC" (No Credit) is received. Students receiving a grade of "NC" may submit a written request to restore the actual letter grade received. Requests to restore the actual letter grade must be received by the deadline indicated in the table below, or the request will be denied.

Term	Deadline to submit request to replace "NC" (No Credit) grade with letter grade
Fall	January 31
Spring	June 30
Summer	September 15

The following courses are always graded on a "Credit/No Credit" basis. Letter grades are not an option, and the units do not count towards the maximum number of "Credit/No Credit" election units.

Course Number	Course Title
LAW-896J	Capital Post Conviction Defense Clinic
LAW-896A	Civil Field Placement Clinic
LAW-899C	Competition - Mock Trial
LAW-855	Courtroom as Theater
LAW-896F	Criminal Litigation Clinic
LLM-395	Curricular Practical Training
LLM-307	DOJ Internship
LAW-862C	ELJ Associate Editors
LAW-862D	ELJ Editorial Board
LAW-862A	ELJ Writer I
LAW-862B	ELJ Writer II
LAW-834C	Environmental Law and Justice Clinic
LAW-834I	Environmental Law Clinic
LAW-834D	Environmental Law Practice
LLM-375E	Environmental LLM Externship
LAW-863H	HLP Legal Drafting Lab
LAW-809B	HLP Skills Lab
LAW-807I	HLP Wills & Trusts Lab
LAW-842E	Immigration and Refugee Policy Clinic
LLM-309	IRS Internship
LAW-896C	Judicial Externship
LLM-393	Judicial Externship (LLM Tax)
LAW-869B	Landlord-Tenant Law Clinic
LAW-861A	Law Review
LAW-861C	Law Review Associate Editors
LAW-861D	Law Review Board
LAW-801E	Legal Analysis
LAW-863C	Legal Methods
LAW-735A	Legal Reasoning
LLM-306	Pro Bono Tax Clinic
LAW-883	Real Estate Clinic
LAW-886	Street Law
LLM-308	Tax Aid Clinic
LLM-397	Tax Fieldwork

Where compelling circumstances arise that prevent a student from completing the requirements of a course in a timely manner, the student may request an incomplete grade by submission of a Petition for Incomplete Course Attempt form. Students unable to complete a course may either request an extension of deadline to complete course requirements, or may request permission to re-enroll in the course within the next year. First-year JD students generally are not granted approval for incomplete courses, but should immediately consult with the associate dean or director for student services if they feel the need to petition for incomplete grades.

To receive approval for an incomplete, JD students must obtain the approval of the associate dean or director for student services, and LLM and SJD students must obtain the approval of their program director. The instructor's approval is also required when the student is requesting an extension of deadline to complete course requirements.

Deadline: The petition for an incomplete must be submitted by the date of the last class meeting of the course for courses that have class meetings, or by the last day of instruction for the term for courses that do not have class meetings, such as clinics and independent study courses. However, a petition for an incomplete may not be submitted after all work upon which the student will be graded is due. Failure to request an incomplete by the appropriate date results in an automatic waiver of the right to request an incomplete.

If a student's petition is denied, the student may consider dropping or withdrawing from the course. If a student's petition is successful, the student should not drop/withdraw from the course. Students who receive permission to re-enroll in a course will be allowed to enroll in a subsequent term and will take the exam or complete other course requirements for the new section. When the student requests re-enrollment in the course, the grade for the original attempt will be changed to a "W" (Withdrawn) and, provided there is room, the student will be enrolled at no tuition charge into the student's preferred course section to complete the course. The student will be required to fulfill all of the requirements (including attendance) for the new section. When the instructor reports a final grade, it will be recorded for the term the student completes the course.

Students who are attempting to complete an incomplete course in which they have received permission to re-enroll should not register for the course again. View registration instructions for incomplete course attempts. If a student receives an extension of deadline to complete course requirements for the term after which the student intends to graduate, the student must resolve the incomplete course by the deadline indicated below or the student's graduation will be postponed until the term in which the course is completed. The deadline for resolving an incomplete course before the grade is automatically converted to "W" (Withdrawn) is not altered by these deadlines. The incomplete course is deemed to be resolved when the instructor submits the final grade to the Registrar's Office.

Term	Deadline for resolving an incomplete course attempt in order to graduate
Fall	January 31
Spring	June 30
Summer	September 15

The Law School Registrar's Office begins recording grades in the student information system after the end of the exam period for a term. First-year course section grades are not recorded until all instructors have submitted their grade rosters to the Registrar's Office. Once grades are recorded, students may be view them on GGU4YOU. Grades will not be released to students over the telephone. Grade reports will not be automatically mailed to students, but are available upon request by e-mailing lawreg@ggu.edu. Grade reports may also be held for students to pick up at the Registrar's Office. Reports will be mailed or be made available for pick up one business day following receipt of the request.

When the office begins recording grades, they are recorded section by section as the instructors submit their grade rosters. Larger sections generally take more time to grade -- sometimes a month or more. If a student is graduating, and his or her grades are needed to certify him or her for a bar exam, the Law School Registrar's Office will contact that student's professors to alert them to the urgency of submitting the grades for that course section and will obtain a temporary "CR" grade if necessary in order to certify the student.

Students will receive one of the grades in the grading system for each course in which they are enrolled. An "NR" (Not Reported) indicates that the instructor has submitted the grades for that course but did not submit a grade for the student. Students who receive "NR" grades should contact the Law School Registrar's Office immediately to help resolve the problem. Students who receive "NR" grades should not contact their professors. Students must resolve the "NR" grades within seven days (one week from date of notification) or they will be changed to "WF" (Withdrew Failing) or "NC" (No Credit) for Credit/No Credit graded courses. Although instructors are encouraged to review exam answers with their students for educational purposes, the instructor will not change a grade after its submission to the registrar because of a substantive re-evaluation of the quality of an exam or paper. An instructor may change a grade after its submission to the registrar only if the grade was incorrect because of a mathematical or clerical error by the instructor.

The determination of the grade to be assigned to each student shall be made by the instructor for each course, and his or her determination is final. However, if the academic standards committee determines that the exam on which the grade is based, or its administration was unfair or improper, it may direct the registrar to change a grade.