Academics and Regulations
Class Standing
Undergraduate students — Class standing is determined by the total credits you have earned.
| Class standing | Credits |
| Freshman | 0 – 29 |
| Sophomore | 30 – 59 |
| Junior | 60 – 89 |
| Senior | 90 |
Transfer students are given class standing based on the number of transfer credits accepted by UAF. Non-degree students are registered without class standing.
Graduate students — Students are given the class standing of "graduate” only after being officially admitted to a master’s or doctoral program.
Full- or Part-time Status/Study Load
Undergraduate students — Undergraduate students registered for 12 or more semester credits are classified as full-time students. To complete an undergraduate program in four years, you must earn 16 or 17 credits each semester. You may enroll in up to 18 credits per semester without special permission. To enroll in 19 credits or more, you need a 3.0 cumulative GPA and an overload approval from your advisor.
Credits carried at any UAF unit are used to determine study load hours and full-time or part-time classification. Courses that are audited or taken for credit by examination are not included in the study load computation. Only semester-based correspondence study courses count in the study load.
Graduate students — A graduate student who is registered for 9 or more semester credits, with 3 or more at the 600-level, is classified as a full-time student (audited credits are not counted toward workload). You may enroll in up to 18 credits per semester without special permission. To enroll in 19 credits or more, you need a 3.0 cumulative GPA and an overload approval by your advisor and department head.
Except in unusual circumstances, enrollment in the fall/spring semesters is limited to 1 credit per week. Enrollment in the three-week summer session is limited to 3-4 credits per week, and enrollment in the six-week summer session is limited to 6-8 credits per week.
Credits carried at any UAF department are considered in determining study load hours and full-time or part-time classification. Courses that are audited are not included in the study load computation.
Grading System and Grade Point Average Computation
All course grades are letter grades unless otherwise specified in the class schedule. The method of grading (letter or pass/fail) is an integral part of the course structure and is included in the course description. Instructors are expected to state their grading policies in writing at the beginning of each course. Grades appearing on academic records are as follows:
| Grade | Description |
| A | An honor grade, indicates originality and independent work, a thorough mastery of the subject and the satisfactory completion of more work than is regularly required. |
| B | Indicates outstanding ability above the average level of performance. |
| C | Indicates a satisfactory or average level of performance. |
| D | The lowest passing grade, indicates work of below-average quality and performance. |
| F | Indicates failure. All F grades, including those earned in pass/fail courses, are included in the GPA calculations. |
| P Pass | The pass grade indicates satisfactory completion of course requirements at either the undergraduate or graduate level. A pass grade does not affect your grade point average but credits earned with pass grades may meet degree requirements and may be used as a measure of satisfactory progress. Satisfactory performance is the equivalent of a C grade or better in undergraduate course work and B grade or better in graduate courses. The entire class must be graded pass/fail and the grading system is noted in the class schedule. |
| Cr | Indicates credit was given under the credit-no-credit option. |
| DF Deferred | Indicates that the course requirements cannot be completed by the end of the semester. Credit may be withheld without penalty until the course requirements are met within an approved time. This designation will be used for courses such as theses and special projects, which require more than one semester to complete. |
| AU Audit | A registration status indicating that you have enrolled for informational instruction only. No academic credit is granted. You may be given a W if you fail to attend a course you are auditing. |
| W Withdrawn | Indicates withdrawal from a course after the first two weeks of a semester. |
| I Incomplete | Indicates that you have not been able to complete the course during the scheduled course time. When the I grade is given, the instructor will include a statement of the work required of you to complete the course and the time limit you have to complete the work. The maximum allowed time is one year. At the end of the defined time limit, the instructor may issue a grade based on the work turned in. If the instructor does not change the I grade, it becomes permanent at the end of one year. The I grade is not computed in your GPA. You cannot graduate with an I grade in any required course. |
Computing your GPA
Your grade point average (GPA) is a weighted numerical average of the grades you earn in your courses at UAF. To compute your GPA, divide the total number of credits you have attempted into the total number of grade points you have earned. Grade points are calculated by multiplying the number of grade points awarded, according to the chart below, by the number of credits attempted for the course. The following grades are figured in your GPA: A, B, C, D and F. Grades of I, DF, W, P, AU and CR do not carry grade points and do not affect your GPA.
| Grade | Grade points per credit |
| A | 4.0 |
| B | 3.0 |
| C | 2.0 |
| D | 1.0 |
| F | 0.0 |
The table below shows an example GPA calculation.
| Example of Grade Point Average Computation | ||||
| Course | Credits | Grade | Credits x Grade points per credit | = Grade points |
| BIOL 111X | 4 | A | 4 cr x 4 pts | 16 |
| COMM 131X | 3 | D | 3 cr x 1 | 3 |
| ENGL 111X | 3 | C | 3 cr x 2 | 6 |
| MATH 107X | 3 | B | 3 cr x 3 | 9 |
| HIST 131 | 3 | F | 3 cr x 0 | 0 |
| Total | 16 | 34 | ||
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34 grade points ÷ 16 credits = 2.13 GPA
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Non-credit courses, transfer credits and credit by examination do not affect the GPA calculations. Once you complete your bachelor’s degree, your GPA in future work is calculated only on the credits and grades earned since your degree was awarded. An exception to this is made for students officially admitted to a second bachelor’s degree program.
Repeating Courses
All grades (original and retakes) for a course completed at UAF are included on your academic record, but only the last grade earned for a course is computed in your GPA unless the course is one that can be repeated for credit.