The scale runs A at 90 to 100 worth 4.0, B at 80 to 89, C at 70 to 79, D at 60 to 69, F at 59 and below, with P outside the GPA and W, AW, and MW as the withdrawal family. Good standing wants a 2.0 cumulative for undergraduates and a 3.0 for graduate students, general-education requirements need a C or better, and the I grade carries a fuse: unfinished Incompletes convert to F. Course-path grades assemble weekly in Canvas from boards, papers, quizzes, and the proctored finals many courses carry, while the credit-by-exam route bypasses the gradebook entirely for the requirements it clears, one more reason the fork decision is strategy.
The scale, exactly
| Grade | Band | Points | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 90 to 100 | 4.0 | The guarantee target on every order here |
| B | 80 to 89 | 3.0 | The graduate floor's exact height |
| C | 70 to 79 | 2.0 | The gen-ed minimum; below it, requirements do not clear |
| D | 60 to 69 | 1.0 | Passing arithmetic, failing strategy in most programs |
| F | 59 and below | 0.0 | Also the destination of expired Incompletes |
The floors, where the scale bites
Ten-point bands feel forgiving until the floors apply them: a graduate student's 3.0 cumulative makes B the working sea level, and the gen-ed C-or-better rule means a 68 in a required composition course clears nothing at all, repurchasing the credits at per-credit rates. Our drafting targets the A band as margin on every order for exactly this reason, and mid-course gradebooks drifting toward a floor get flagged for intervention, not reassurance. Send a screenshot any time; the recovery arithmetic is free.
The special codes, decoded
- I: an Incomplete with a fuse, it converts to F unfinished; if life forces one, calendar its completion like a course
- P: pass-graded credit outside the GPA, where programs use it
- W, AW, MW: the withdrawal family; a clean W beats a floor breach every time the math has already failed
- Credit-by-exam results: cleared requirements without gradebook entries, the fork's quiet GPA shelter
Playing the scale well
- Know your floors: 2.0 or 3.0 cumulative, C in gen-ed, and your program's own overlays per syllabus
- Target 90-plus margin; clean scales still price band edges in whole letters
- Never let an I drift; its fuse is real
- Use the fork strategically: exam-cleared requirements never touch the GPA
- Map both clock formats before each trimester, per the calendar manual
Keep the average above every floor
Send your course and gradebook screenshot. The scale read and the plan come back free, same day.
Sources and verification
Facts on this page come from official and independent sources, and anything that matters is worth checking against the originals:
- www.excelsior.edu/policy/grade-scale-gpa-and-credit-application: the official grade-scale policy, primary source for the bands and codes
- www.excelsior.edu: Excelsior University's official site
- www.msche.org: the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the institutional accreditor
- www.acenursing.org: the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, the nursing accreditor
- apastyle.apa.org: APA Style, the official style authority