All Gracelyn University students must comply with the Standards of Academic Integrity and University Code of Conduct. The consequences for violating these standards are described on the linked pages.
Gracelyn University currently uses the Carnegie Credit Hour Policy, which states “for every three-semester-credit-hour course, students must complete 45 hours of academic engagement and 90 hours of preparation”.
All online courses demonstrate compliance with the policy on 45 or more hours of “contact time” no extend no more than 48 hours of “contact time.” In the online program, compliance is demonstrated by a variety of alternative instructional equivalencies (AIE).
Instructional equivalencies should be assessed in online to ensure that courses are equivalent across delivery modalities and is in compliance with the Higher Learning Commission and federal requirements for distance education.
The definition of “credit hour” is based on the Carnegie unit of academic credit and is defined in as “an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:
1. “One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately eight weeks for one term or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or
2. “at least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.”
The academic policy of Gracelyn University is designed to meet ultimately the graduation requirement of a “C” average (2.00 GPA) on all work taken through the university, including credits accepted via transfer from other institutions.
To remain in good standing, a student must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average according to the number of credits completed at Gracelyn University, or accepted via transfer. The unit of credit is the semester hour.
The following minimum grade point averages apply to associate’s degree students;
The following minimum grade point averages apply to bachelor’s degree students:
To review Gracelyn University’ Satisfactory Academic Progress policy, which applies this standard specifically to students receiving financial aid, click the link below:
https://www.gracelyn.org/satisfactory-academic-progress
Students who fail to earn the grade point average indicated above will be placed on Academic Probation for the next 6 credits of study. Students who are on Academic Probation and whose term achievements show substantial improvement but whose cumulative GPA is still just below the appropriate GPA for their Credits Completed level and thus would be subject to Academic Dismissal may instead be placed on Probation Continued status at the discretion of the Academic Oversight staff (Dean, Department Chair, or President).
If a new student (who has not passed any Gracelyn courses) has withdrawn from six or more Gracelyn courses, they must either wait a year or complete a course at another school before they can sign up for courses again.
Each course is given a final grade with the number of quality points per credit hour assigned as follows:
| Grade | Significance | Quality Points | Percentage |
| A | Excellent | 4.0 | 95-100 |
| A- | 3.67 | 90-94.99 | |
| B+ | Good | 3.33 | 87-89.99 |
| B | 3.00 | 84-86.99 | |
| B- | 2.67 | 80-83.99 | |
| C+ | Average | 2.33 | 77-79.99 |
| C | 2.00 | 74-76.99 | |
| C- | 1.67 | 70-73.99 | |
| D+ | 1.33 | 67-69.99 | |
| D | 1.00 | 64-66.99 | |
| D- | Passing | 0.67 | 60-63.99 |
| F | Failure | 0.00 | <59.99 |
Students may repeat courses in order to earn a higher grade and more quality points. The credits will be counted only once, and the grade earned the second time will supersede the earlier grade. The record of the earlier grade will remain on the transcript, although it will not enter into the computation of the grade point average.
For more details on how the GPA is calculated, see here.
See the “Dropping Courses and Grading” policy below for information on incomplete courses.
Graduation honors are awarded for academic work performed by the student during his undergraduate program. Honors will be conferred as follows:
The grade point calculation is made on all credits earned from Gracelyn University and transfer credits.
Students must register for courses before or on the first day of classes. Students may request an exception to register for courses after the first day of the term during the first week. Later course registrations are allowed only in exceptional circumstances, but not beyond the second week.
Our preferred method is that students should drop courses using the official drop request form that may be requested by emailing support@gracelyn.org or discontinuing participation in the course. Students that no longer participate in courses may be administratively dropped for lack of attendance (see date of last attendance policy below).
0 to 2 weeks. Courses that are dropped by the end of the second week of classes do not appear on the official transcript and are listed as a “W (unofficial)”.
2 to 5 weeks. Students have until the end of the 5th week of the term to drop courses (34 days after the first day of courses) and receive a mark of “W” for the course. The drop date for a course will be counted as the date on which the student last submitted any graded assignment or forum, based on the date of when the assignment was submitted (not when it was due).
If a student stops participating in a class or the class forum before completing the fifth week and does not present a withdrawal request, then they will be marked as having withdrawn on the last day they submitted a graded assignment such as a paper, class forum, or quiz.
“W (unofficial)” grades will not count toward pace requirement when calculating Satisfactory Academic Progress. Courses dropped before completing the 5th week, but after the end of the second week, result in a mark of “W”, and will not count toward GPA calculations, but will count toward pace requirement when calculating Satisfactory Academic Progress.
After 5th week. If a student stops working on a course after the 5th week, they will receive credit for all work already submitted. If their current grade result at that point would be a failing grade, it will be recorded as failing as a “WF” and if it is passing it will be entered as a “WP”. WF and WP grades will figure into GPA calculations.
“W (unofficial)” grades will not count toward pace requirement when calculating Satisfactory Academic Progress. Courses dropped before completing the 5th week, but after the end of the second week, result in a mark of “W”, and will not count toward GPA calculations, but will count toward pace requirement when calculating Satisfactory Academic Progress. Also note that a student may not withdraw without penalty from a course in which they have committed an academic integrity violation – if the student chooses to withdraw, he/she will receive a “WF” for the course.
Students’ attendance in Gracelyn University courses will be evaluated at least every 14 days. Because this is an online program, attendance is based exclusively on the date of submission of coursework which would receive a grade, such as a written assignment, class forum post, or quiz. Simply logging into the online classroom is not counted as attendance; neither is simply sending a message to a professor.
If a student has not attended a course, by the definition above, within the past 14 days, it will be determined whether the student is withdrawn from that course.
If a student could not submit gradable work in the past 14 days, this determination will be made on the following basis:
Students may be notified weekly by Gracelyn if they are late in submitting assignments. Students that have a 14 day gap in submitting items for grading are administratively dropped unless they are granted an extension by their instructor or academic administration. The instructor or academic administration may grant an extension either through a documented email or by continuing to grade the late assignments. As of the 18-19 academic year, all extensions must be documented by email.
The Last Date of Attendance is defined as the last date on which course work is submitted (such as a graded written assignment, class forum post, or quiz).
If a student fills out an official form to withdraw from the institution, his or her Date of Determination of Withdrawal (as used in the R2T4 calculation) will be the date of submission of that form. If he or she does not fill out a withdrawal form, the Date of Determination will be no greater than 14 days after their Last Date of Attendance, as stated above, unless the student completes one term but does not continue attending in the following term. In that case, the Date of Determination will be the end of the add/drop period in the next term.
A student who is dropped from a course due to non-attendance may submit an appeal to support@gracelyn.org. An appeal must be based on a compelling personal circumstance that seriously impacted academic performance. Examples are: serious illness, severe injury, death of a family member, and other similar situations. The appeal should include a description of the personal circumstance, as well as what has changed in the student’s circumstances so he or she will be able to complete the course.
Appeals will be reviewed by the academic administration. Simply submitting an appeal does not guarantee that the student will be reinstated in the course. All decisions on appeals are final.
Note: Course extensions will only be granted to students who have completed at least half of the assignments in a course. Students who do not submit any graded items within the first two weeks of the course will be dropped without exception.
Week Eight is the last class session with assignments posted. All course work must be completed by the student and submitted to the instructor by the end of the week after the course ends (the ninth week since the start of the course). No credit will be given for work submitted after this date, unless the student is granted an extension on the course, as described below. This policy applies to weekly assignments, as well as examinations and final projects, unless the exams specifically give students until the 9th week to complete it. Faculty and academic administration may place additional timeliness requirements on individual students that have shown a history of submitting late assignments.
Incomplete grades are assigned at the discretion of the instructor, with consultation from the Academic Oversight staff (Dean, Department Chair or President) overseeing the course in question, and other academic staff as needed. When incomplete grades are issued, the student will be informed as to how they may be resolved and the timeframe for resolution. This timeframe will be reasonable in length, and shall never exceed one academic term after the course was initially to have been completed. If the student does not meet the agreed upon timeframe, the grade will be converted to whatever grade the student would have received based on the work completed up to that point.
As specified by the Gracelyn’s Standards of Admission, all Gracelyn students must comply with the Proctor Requirement policy.
Students may not request an official Leave of Absence from Gracelyn University, for financial aid purposes. Their financial aid status, as reported to NSLDS for Enrollment Reporting and used in R2T4 calculations, is always either enrolled or withdrawn. This policy supersedes any previous policies of Gracelyn pertaining to Leaves of Absence.
Applications for extension must be submitted via email to registrar@gracelyn.org no later than two days before the course ends.
