Courses will be marked as follows:

Students must maintain an overall grade point average of 3.0 in graduate studies and 2.5 at the undergraduate level to advance. A student will be subject to review if less than satisfactory grades occur. The grade I (incomplete) is used when the professor is not prepared to give a definite mark for the term in view of illness or some other justifiable delay in the completion of certain assignments on the part of the student.

An incomplete must be removed within 30 days after the beginning of the next regular semester or be replaced by an N (no credit).

The grade W (withdrawal) is assigned when a student withdraws from a course after the drop/add period.

Courses for which a student received I, W, N, S or U are not computed in the QPA.

An overall average of B is required for graduation. It is the student’s responsibility to ascertain that all requirements are fulfilled in a degree program.

Repeat Course Policy

A student can use this policy to repeat a course taken at Niagara University that he/she has:

1. Failed and not received credit
2. Previously passed and earned credit

In either case, under this policy, the student is limited to receiving credit for up to 6 repeated courses in the calculation of his/her cumulative GPA. The grade received for the second attempt of the course — for up to six courses — will be calculated in the student’s cumulative GPA regardless of whether the grade is better or worse than the original grade earned, not including W’s.

If a student wishes to repeat a course for which he/she has already passed and received credit, the student must consult with Financial Aid to discuss possible financial aid implications. In most cases, a course for which a student has already received credit cannot be used to satisfy full time status requirements. In most cases, a student must be enrolled in twelve or more “new” credit attempts in order to receive funding for the repeat of a course for which he/she has already received credit.

A student may repeat any course taken at Niagara University, including courses which the student completed before the new Repeat Course Policy became effective (May 2012) The repeated course must be repeated at Niagara University and must be the same course as the one taken the first time even if it is a Special Topics course. The grade change can only be processed (calculated in the student’s cumulative GPA) after the course has been completed a second time.

Please consult the complete policy on myNU.

Quality Point Average (QPA)

To determine a student’s quality point average, consider each course taken at Niagara University for which the student has received A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C- or F. Convert this mark to the corresponding quality points given in the preceding chart. For each course, multiply the number of quality points by the number of semester hours assigned to that course. (Number of semester hours are indicated at the end of the course descriptions in this catalog.)

Compute the quality point average by adding these products and dividing by the total number of semester hours for which a student received marks of A+ to F. Courses for which a student received I, W, N, S, U or R are not computed in the QPA.

Good Standing

Students are considered to be in good academic standing as long as they are permitted by their dean to remain in school matriculated toward a degree.