How to Earn Pass/No Credit (P/NC)

  1. Some courses are only offered on a P/NC credit basis. For a course to be offered P/NC, a faculty member’s request must be approved by the faculty, and the course must be so designated on the course schedule;
  2. Students may elect, at the time of registration, to take a regularly graded course on a Pass/No Credit basis. Students must formally register for the course via the web or with a Course Registration Form, and must complete a Pass/No Credit Request form found in Registrar Forms.

Students may change the grade mode of a course from a letter grade to P/NC, or vice-versa, only during the first two weeks of the 12-week, during the first week of the 8-week, or during the first three days of the 3-week parts of term. Absolutely no changes from a Pass/No Credit to a letter grade or vice-versa will be permitted after these deadlines.

If the course is taken P/NC, the faculty submits a P or NC; the grade of P is recorded if the student receives a C- or better in the course, and the student is awarded credit hours which will be counted in the hours earned towards graduation. However, there will be no effect on a student’s grade-point average. If a student receives a grade of NC for a course, no hours will be awarded.

If available, letter grades are revealed only to other colleges and universities in the event they should require them for the transfer of credit or admission, or to prospective employers, and then only at the request of the student. Students are permitted to know the letter grade for courses taken P/NC and should contact the faculty member of the course for this information. Students preparing to attend professional or graduate schools are reminded that excessive use of the P/NC option may endanger admission or the granting of graduate fellowships.

Courses taken to fulfill requirements for graduation within a student’s major, minor, or core curriculum requirements cannot be taken Pass/No Credit.

Students may elect to take only one P/NC course per semester. Study Abroad trips cannot be taken Pass/No Credit. Students, with the exception of transfer students, may take a maximum of twenty semester hours under the Pass/No Credit option. Transfer students may take a maximum of 1/6 of their Hiram coursework under the P/NC option.