Grading System for Graduate Work

Traditional letter grades are used for all courses taken by graduate students except for field work, thesis, project, individual study, and internship courses, which are usually graded credit/no credit. Graduate students do not have the option of choice between the traditional or non-traditional grading system. A grade of Credit in a graduate-level course indicates performance by the student equal to a letter grade of "C" or above.

The cumulative GPA for advancement to candidacy for the master's degree (3.0 minimum) includes all letter-graded work in 100-level or 200-level courses completed within the preceding seven years and for which the student received graduate credit, excluding transfer courses taken as an undergraduate at SJSU, or at another institution. For the award of the master's degree, all of the course grades on the student's candidacy form are included in the GPA, with the exception of the transfer courses indicated above, and must be at least at the 3.0 level.

The cumulative GPA of the graduate student is computed by dividing the total number of grade points earned by the total number of graded units attempted at SJSU, excluding Open University courses, subsequent to enrollment in the graduate school.