Penn State is once again offering an alternative grading option for undergraduate students who encounter significant challenges beyond their control this semester:
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SAT (Satisfactory). This grade option will be available if you earn a C or better in a course. This option is to be used very sparingly and an adviser should be consulted before electing.
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V (Pass). This grade, which will be available if you earn a D in a course, will be considered a passing grade. You will earn credits for the course, and a V grade can be used to meet requirements for which a D is an acceptable grade.
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Z (No Grade). This grade will be available if you earn an F in a course. Z can be used to replace an F grade and will be treated similar to Late Drop (LD).
Alternative Grading GPA Calculator - Click here.
All three of these alternative grades will have no impact on your GPA calculation, and you will be able to see your final grades before deciding whether or not to take an alternative grade in any or all of your classes for the semester.
Students should use alternative grading very cautiously and with a lot of attention to the potential long-term implications of this decision, especially for the selection of SAT grades. Academic transcripts represent the full record of each student’s academic achievements, and all C-or-better grades indicate that undergraduate students have successfully achieved the learning outcomes for those courses. Masking this achievement with an SAT grade may be interpreted negatively by outside entities such as graduate schools and employers, some of which are likely to recalculate GPAs, making their own assumptions about what is behind an SAT grade. While the use of some form of pass/fail grading was common across higher education in spring 2020, it is much less common in fall, and we therefore urge students to think carefully about their selections, especially for SAT grades.
There are still good reasons to keep a letter grade—i.e., the grade is required for entrance to major, you continue to perform well, you are taking a class for professional licensure, or you are considering going to graduate, law, or medical school in the future. Be sure to speak with your adviser before making any decisions about using the alternative grading options.
More information on Alternative Grading can be found here.
