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Princeton University Grading Policies

Approved by the University Faculty, April 26, 2004

Institutional Grading Expectations

• In undergraduate courses, A's (A+, A, A-) shall account for less than 35 percent of the grades given in any department or program in any given year.
• In junior and senior independent work, A's (A+, A, A-) shall account for less than 55 percent of the grades given in any department in any given year.
• Recognizing the responsibility of each faculty member to be cognizant of institutional grading expectations, it shall be up to each department or program to determine how best to meet these expectations. In so doing, the department or program shall take into account the range, size, and level of difficulty of undergraduate courses and the collective expectations of the faculty for independent work. The Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing shall provide the faculty with models drawn from actual practice to illustrate how the grading expectations might be met. It shall be the responsibility of the department chair or program director to lead faculty colleagues in adhering to these expectations.

Reporting and Monitoring

• Each fall, the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing shall report to the faculty on the grading record of the previous academic year.
• The reports to the faculty shall document the grades they have actually given (that is, grades before P/D/F conversions are made).
• All members of the faculty shall have access to grading data for all departments and programs, all divisions, and the University as a whole.
• Each fall, the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing shall review the grading record of the previous year with a Committee on Grading, whose membership shall consist of six members of the faculty (one department chair from each division, and two other faculty members) elected by the faculty according to its usual procedures, and (ex officio) the Dean of the Faculty, the Dean of the College, and the Registrar. The Committee on Committees shall, in selecting nominees, at its discretion give preference to candidates with previous service on the Committee on Examinations and Standing. In the case of departments or programs that have notadhered to institutional grading expectations, the Committee on Grading shall advise the Committee on Examinations and Standing on an appropriate strategy to assure adherence in the future.
• The standard by which the grading record of a department or program will be evaluated will be the percentage of A's given over the previous three years.

Contextual Information

• Information about each student's cumulative class standing at the end of the semester most recently completed shall be reported to the student on My Academic Record. That standing shall be reported in terms of quintiles — e.g., 1st quintile, 2nd quintile.

Grading Standards and Definitions
Standards:

• The Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing shall publish and distribute to the faculty an expanded version of the Guide to Good Grading Practices that incorporates a number of examples of the grading standards adopted by the departments.
• The Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing shall undertake to redefine the meaning of each of the letter grades. This information shall be incorporated in the Undergraduate Announcement and, more briefly, on the back of the transcript.
• Each year, the Dean of the College shall inform new members of the faculty about the University's grading expectations and policies and shall provide some historical background and context for the faculty's efforts to address grade inflation.

Definitions:

• Grading Policies Transcript Statement (.pdf)