College of Letters & Science Pass/Fail Privilege

The purpose of the pass/fail privilege is to provide students with the opportunity to take elective coursework outside of their major field of study and learn without concern for the grade impacting their grade point average (GPA).  In short, the pass/fail grading option was created for the following reasons:

1. to encourage students to take courses of interest outside of their major/field of specialization
2. to provide students who have not decided upon a major the opportunity to explore their talents in a particular field of study that may be of interest

Pass/fail is an option where, instead of taking a course for a grade, a student takes the class with only two options: pass or fail. A course taken pass/fail earns credit if passed and no credit if failed; no letter grade or grade points are given. Pass/fail allows eligible students to take some elective course work outside their major field of interest of interest and learn without concern for their grade point average (GPA).

For detailed information regarding this topic, please refer to disruption grading option.

Any UW-Madison undergraduate student in good academic standing is eligible to take one (1) course on a pass/fail basis per term and a maximum of sixteen (16) credits during his/her undergraduate career at UW-Madison. First-semester freshmen and transfer students without an established UW-Madison GPA are eligible to take a course on a pass/fail basis.

For L&S undergraduate students, good academic standing means a student is not on probation or in dropped status.  An L&S undergraduate student is not eligible to declare pass/fail if she/he is:

• on probation
• on strict probation
• on continued probation
• on continued strict probation
• in dropped status

Pass/fail course registration must be completed by the end of the fourth week of classes (or the appropriate deadline date during the summer sessions). No changes to pass/fail registration are permitted after the registration deadline.
  Students should make sure they take very few courses on a pass/fail basis if they are planning to apply to graduate or professional school. Students planning to apply to medical school should not take any coursework on a pass/fail basis. For more information regarding pass/fail, please see what does it mean to take a course pass/fail.

Warning:  If a student is ineligible for pass/fail, the L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans’ Services unit will cancel the pass/fail registration, and the course grade will count for a grade. Notification of this change may arrive too late for you to drop the course or to add another. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that courses qualify for pass/fail (i.e., elective work not needed to fulfill any major or degree requirements).

L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans’ Services makes an effort to ensure the elective status of each class for which pass/fail is requested for each individual student, but cannot guarantee that we will be able to communicate with the student regarding ineligible courses before the deadline to drop or add classes.

• Students should expect a two-week turnaround time period for reviewing pass/fail requests. Thus, it is best that students submit their requests as early as possible as possible and not wait until the last day to request pass/fail.

Thus, it is the student’s responsibility to make sure that s/he qualifies to take a course on a pass/fail basis AND to confirm the course’s elective status before registering for a course on a pass/fail basis.

• Only elective work may be taken on a pass/fail basis. See what does it mean to take a course pass/fail for more information.
• Students are allowed to count pass/fail courses toward the intermediate/advanced level credit requirement (60-credit rule) and the 108 Liberal Arts & Science (LAS) credit requirement.
• Students may not take a course that counts toward their major requirements on a pass/fail basis even if the course is not offered in your major department.
  • For example, a student majoring in Biology cannot take Bmolchem 503, Agronomy 338, or Microbio 470 on a pass/fail basis since these classes count toward the foundational courses in the major.
• Courses required for a major but offered by another department (e.g., chemistry for the zoology major) may not be taken on a pass/fail basis.
• Student can take coursework in their major or major department on a pass/fail basis if the courseworkis not being used to fulfill major requirements
  • Any coursework taken in the major or major department on a pass/fail basis will not count toward fulfilling any major requirements. Thus, students should consult with the major advisor before declaring pass/fail in the major or major department.
• A student may not take University General Education Requirements (GER) courses or fulfill the Ethnic Studies requirement on a pass/fail basis. Any courses taken on a pass/fail basis that fulfill the GER or Ethnic Studies will not satisfy any of these requirements and will only count as elective work.
• Directed Study courses may not be taken on a pass/fail basis.
• Students cannot take any prerequisite coursework required for a major or a degree program on a pass/fail basis.
  
• A student may not take a foreign language course on a pass/fail basis until s/he has completed the BA or BS foreign language requirement.
• Courses taken on a pass/fail basis must be outside the BA or BS breadth requirements. A student may carry pass/fail work in humanities, social science, or natural science courses prior to completing the L&S breadth requirements.
  • Any coursework taken on a pass/fail basis will not satisfy the breadth requirements or the University General Education Requirements (including Ethnic Studies). Classes taken on a pass/fail basis will not be converted back to a grade at a later date if a student realizes that s/he needs the class to satisfy any requirements.
  • Students will need to take additional courses on a graded basis to satisfy the L&S breadth requirements if earlier breadth coursework was taken on a pass/fail basis.
  • Pass/fail declarations will not be cancelled after the official deadline to add or cancel pass/fail requests. For more information, see taking a UW-Madison course pass/fail.
• Individuals who are undecided about a major should avoid taking a course (or courses) on a pass/fail basis that might later become a required course needed to complete a major. Classes taken on a pass/fail basis will not be converted back to a grade at a later date if a student realizes that s/he needs the class for his her major or certificate program.

Pass/fail courses count toward four requirements:

• 120 total degree credits needed for graduation,
• 108 liberal arts and science (LAS) credits needed for graduation,
• 60 credits of intermediate or advanced work (if the course is designated as I, A, or D level),
• Residence requirement (if the course is taken within the last 30 credits before graduation).

Pass/fail cannot be declared or used to fulfill the following requirements:

• Major or major department required coursework (if the student has not already fulfilled his/her major requirements)
• Breadth (humanities, literature, natural science, social science)
• Foreign language (if the student has not already fulfilled his/her BA or BS foreign language requirement)
• Mathematics (coursework required to satisfy the BS mathematics requirement or needed to enroll in required math courses)
• Ethnic Studies
• General Education Requirements (Comm A, Comm B, QR A, QR B)
• Directed Study Courses (e.g., 199, 299, 699, etc.)
• Senior Thesis (e.g., 681, 691, 682, 692)

• For courses taken under the Pass/Fail option, the grade of “S” (Satisfactory) will be recorded by the Registrar’s Office in place of an instructor’s grades of A, AB, B, BC, or C.
• The grade of “U” (Unsatisfactory) will be recorded in place of an instructor’s grades of D or F and no credit will be granted.
• Neither S or U will have an impact on a student’s grade point average (GPA).
• The identity of students selecting to take a course on a Pass/Fail basis will not be made known to the course instructor.
• Instructors are not informed which students have registered for pass/fail and assign a regular letter grade to all students in the class. The Registrar’s Office converts the letter grade to a pass/fail grade of S or U.
• Pass/Fail courses have no effect on a student’s probation status.
• Pass/Fail courses may affect Dean’s List eligibility. Students must earn a minimum of 12 graded degree credits in either the fall or spring semester to be eligible for the Dean’s List.

1. In My UW click on the “Student Center” tile and then the “Manage Classes” tile
2. Click on Course Change Request.
3. Select the appropriate term and “Continue”.
4. Your classes will appear with checkboxes next to them. Please click in the box of the class you wish to declare Pass/Fail.
5. This will expand and give options. Choose Add Pass/Fail (or “Remove” to remove Pass/Fail).
6. Please disregard the message that says ‘print and obtain necessary signatures to complete this process.’ You do not need to do this.
7. Scroll down and click “Save”. L&S Undergraduate Academic Services will receive your submitted request.

Please note that L&S undergraduate students do not need to submit a paper copy of the pass/fail form to the L&S Academic Deans’ Services unit or obtain a dean’s signature.

• Online records will indicate that a student has recently completed a request for Pass/Fail designation for a class via the Course Change Request in the individual’s Student Center.
• Students should confirm L&S Academic Deans’ Services approval by going to My UW Student Center’s “Academic Records” tile. Click on “View Grades”, select the appropriate term, and view the grading basis for the course in the “Grading” column. Once the pass/fail request is finalized, that column will display Pass/Fail instead of Graded.
• Record deadlines for Pass/Fail. The online request is FINAL (paper requests after the established deadlines will not be accepted). Students cannot change a course back to graded credit after the established deadlines. Thus, students must add or cancel their Pass/Fail requests by the official deadline.
• Students will receive a grade of “S” (satisfactory) for passing (if the student earns a grade of C or better) or a grade of “U” (unsatisfactory) if the student earns a grade of D or F.

Deadlines

• spring and fall term: the Friday of the Fourth week of class (see Registrar’s official semester calendar located at dates and deadlines for exact dates)
• summer sessions and modular courses: the Friday of the week where 1/4th of the course is completed. (In a four-week class, it would be the Friday of the first week of class, for example).

Prior to the pass/fail deadline, a student may cancel pass/fail registration and take the course on a regular graded basis. For more detailed information about pass/fail, please refer to taking a UW-Madison course pass/fail.

If you have questions, please contact your assigned academic advisor or the College of Letters & Science Undergraduate Academic Deans’ Services at (608) 262-0617