Pass/No-Credit Courses

Pass/Fail or Pass/No Credit - An engineering student may take one elective course (tech elecitve, h/ss elective, general elective) on a Pass/Nocr basis in any two terms of the curriculum (meaning, only 1 Pass/Nocr in a semester). Grades of A, B, and C correspond to Pass, and D and F correspond to No-Credit. A No-credit is like a failure in that it cannot count towards anything for graduation.

Pass/Nocr applies only to h/ss electives, technical electives, and general electives (excluding courses taught by one's engineering department, required courses, substitutes for required courses, English courses before Expos, Math courses before calculus). If you take a course as a substitute for a required course (ex, an 198:112 in place of 332:252), you may NOT make it a Pass/Nocr course. Ineligible courses: departmental courses, courses required for your major, required courses like calc, chem, physics, statics, etc. Students taking a course for Pass/NoCr must take all quizzes and examinations and are subject to attendance requirements.

Note: Effective Fall 2018, Departmental SOE courses of the student's major are not eligible for pass/nocr.

Note: Effective Fall 2015, Expos (and any writing course below Expos) and Micro no longer eligible for pass/nocr, all electives (except capstone) are eligible for pass/nocr.

The last day to submit an application for P/NC is the 10th week of the semester. This is NOT reversible. For courses taken during Summer Session, the application must be submitted by the end of the first week of classes.

For those students pursuing a minor, you should be aware that certain departments do not honor Pass/Nocr courses for a minor. For example, the Economics Dept will not accept a Pass/Nocr course towards the fulfillment of an Econ minor.

A grade of B (or better) looks better on the transcript than a PASS (as a Pass could have been a C or C+). IF the Pass will keep you on Dean's list or make you graduate with highest honors as opposed to high honors for example, then the PASS grade is a good idea. Otherwise, let the letter grade stand. The instructor will not know that the student has elected to take a class pass/nocr, and will submit the appropriate letter grade earned. The Registration system will make the appropriate conversion.

The student must fill out an online Pass/No credit Form.

Due to COVID-19, pass/nocr is extended to any or all spring/summer 2020 courses. Click Here for more information.

Repeating Courses, E-Credit, Grade Replacement

A grade of D or F received in any course (except for Capstone Design) may be "E-credited" by retaking the class AT Rutgers. This means that the original grade (D or F) will be "E"xcluded from the GPA calculation. You will however still see both courses and the grades denoted on the transcript. If you choose to retake the course outside of Rutgers University, the course is not eligible for E-credit. This may be done with up to 4 times (meaning a maximum of 4 grades can be removed fromt he gpa calculation).

D grades and E-credit: Students must repeat a course, particularly when the grade is a D, right away. If the student earns a D in a course and then moves on in subsequent coursework, removing the D from the gpa is no longer an option.

Example 1: A student receives a D in 640:152, then moves on to take either or both 180:243 and 640:251 (640:152 is a pre-req for both of those courses). The student cannot later repeat 640:152 to have the D removed from the gpa. The student also cannot take 640:152 together with 640:251 and 180:243.

Example 2: Similarly, if you have received a D in 440:221-Statics, you must retake it prior to completing a course that has Statics as a pre-req. If you have completed Dynamics-440:222, Mechanics of Solids/Materials-180:243/650:291, then you cannot retake Statics to get the grade out of the gpa. The student also cannot take 440:221 together with 440:222,180:243, 650:291.

Example 3: Again, if you have received a D in Physics 1a or 1b (750:123/115 or 750:124/116) and have gone on to take 750:227 or 440:221, you cannot retake Physics 1a or 1b to get the grade out of your gpa. The student also cannot take 750:123/124 together with 750:227 and 440:221.

To summarize, if a student wants to re-take any D/F course for E-credit, it must be re-taken and completed at Rutgers University before moving on to the next course.

Once the course has been taken the second time, the Office of Academic Services will process the E-credit automatically (no form required by student). However, if the student has taken a substitute course (ex. 160:161 instead of 160:159), or if there is an unprocessed repeated course from the past, the student must contact their dean or advisor in the Office of Academic Services via email: Contact Us

Note: There is a set of courses that if you fail any of them twice, you will not be able to register for a third time without approval from a dean. If you are in this situation, please see your dean. The set of courses comes from the following subjects: math, chemistry, biology, and computer science (01:640:111, 01:640:112, 01:640:115, 01:640:135, 01:640:151, 01:640:152, 01:119:115, 01:119:116, 01:160:161, 01:160:162, 01:160:307, 01:160:308, 01:198:111, 01:198:112).