Graduate (Master's & PhD) - The Grading System

The Grading System

Students are graded on course work completed, and most colleges and universities use letter grades as follows: A being excellent or outstanding; B means above average; C, average; D, below average; and F, failing. Roughly, the following percentage values and point scales are applicable:

A	93-100%	or	4.00 points
B	80-92%	or	3.00 points
C	70-79%	or	2.00 points
D	60-69%	or	1.00 points
F	below 60%	is failing

An undergraduate student must maintain a C or 2.00 average in general and a B or 3.00 average in his or her major field in order to receive a degree.

Some schools may also use the "Pass/Fail" grading system in which there are only two possible grades. The student either passes and receives credit for the course or fails and receives no credit. Many schools combine both the "Pass/Fail Option" with the conventional grading system. In this case, a student may take a certain number of courses for a Pass or Fail grade, and his other courses using the conventional A - F grading system.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There are no real equivalencies between the Belgian and American grading systems. Therefore, when supplying U.S. universities with information on the courses you have taken here and the results, always give those results in their original form, i.e., 15/20. Do not attempt to translate the Belgian system into American terms.

A student's academic standing is often measured by his or her grade point average (GPA). This is the average of the grades that a student has had for all his years of college or for each term. The grade point average is computed by dividing the total number of grade points by the total number of credit hours. For example, a student takes four 3-unit courses with the following results: Business 101 - A; Introduction to Business Law - B; Mass Media and Marketing - A; and Computer Science Techniques applied to Business - B. The average is determined as follows:

Grade			Units or Hours		Grade Points		Grade Point Average
A	=	4.0	*	3	=	12
B	=	3.0	*	3	=	9
A	=	4.0	*	3	=	12
B	=	3.0	*	3	=	9
				----		----
				12		42	3.5