Academic Policies

Full-time students may register for 12-17 credits during the 14-week terms. Students in good academic standing may register for up to 18 credits. There is an additional charge for registration in excess of 18 credits. Students wishing to register for more than 18 credits must obtain approval for the overload from the Subcommittee for Academic Review and Recommendation no later than the last day to add a regular course.

Many courses are not taught every term. Most course descriptions in the College Catalog indicate the terms in which departments intend to offer the courses. This schedule information is an aid to planning, but the College reserves the right to revise such course plans in response to changes in student interest, enrollment demand, and staff availability.

Courses primarily designed for freshmen are numbered 1000 to 1990; those for sophomores and juniors are numbered 2000 to 3990; those for seniors are numbered 4000 to 4990.

• Freshman: 0-31 credits
• Sophomore: 32-67 credits
• Junior: 68-101 credits
• Senior: 102 or more credits

The College maintains progress records that are furnished to students on a regular basis. At the completion of a course, each student is assigned a letter symbol: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, S and P for passing grades; I for incomplete, which is given only in special cases of illness or some other uncontrollable factor; W for official withdrawal; U for unsatisfactory; and F for failure or unofficial withdrawal.

A student who has received an I must finish the incomplete work within 30 days following the end of the term in which it was received, or the grade will be recorded as an F. Letter grades convert into the following point system for determining cumulative grade point average i.e., an A is worth four points per credit.

• A 4.00
• A- 3.67
• B+ 3.33
• B 3.00
• B- 2.67
• C+ 2.33
• C 2.00
• C- 1.67
• D+ 1.33
• D 1.00
• D- .67
• F No points

Grades of P, S, and U do not affect the grade point average.

Auditing Courses

A student who wishes to audit a course must seek the permission of the instructor and file a report with the Registrar’s Office by the add deadline for the term. There is an additional fee for students wishing to take a course as an Audit. Courses taken as an audit will not count in the credit totals toward graduation requirements.

Repeating Courses

Only courses with a grade of C- or lower may be repeated. When a course is repeated, the earlier grade remains on the student’s transcript, but the new grade is factored into the cumulative GPA and the old grade is removed from the calculation. On multiple attempts the most recent grade will be used in computing the cumulative grade point average. If a student is repeating a Carthage course for the purpose of replacing the earlier grade, the repeat must be with a course in class at Carthage. A course may not be repeated by correspondence study, by independent study, or by study at another institution.

A credit hour at Carthage College is determined by the Carnegie credit hour definition. This standard commonly used by the Federal Government indicates that:

A credit hour is 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 fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, 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 activities as established by an institution, including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading toward to the award of credit hours. (HLC website)

No student is permitted to add or drop a course after the deadline. Any course changes after the add/drop deadline date must be made with the permission of the Subcommittee for Academic Review and Recommendation.

A student may withdraw from a course after the add/drop deadline. (Please refer to the academic calendar for specific dates.) The course will show on the student’s transcript with a W. Students who wish to completely withdraw from the College must secure a withdrawal form from the Registrar. If students withdraw within the first nine weeks of the term, they receive a W in each course. Exceptions must be authorized by the Subcommittee for Academic Review and Recommendation or by the Provost of the College. Any student who does not complete all steps in official withdrawal is assigned an F in all courses.

Students may not receive credit from any course in which they are not properly registered. Responsibility for proper registration rests with the student. The student is also held responsible for observing the requirements of the degree and the proper sequence of courses. The student accepts responsibility for class attendance. Since there is no college-wide attendance policy, instructors determine their own class-attendance policy.

The College permits students to elect up to two courses on the pass-fail (P or F) grading system, subject to the following conditions:

• The student must have achieved junior or senior standing.
• A student may not register for more than one pass-fail course during a term. A student may not enroll for a final grade of P or F in:
  • Any course used to satisfy the general education requirements.
  • Any course required for your major or minor programs (including any course in related fields) or offered by the major department, except those courses designated in the catalog as pass-fail courses.
• A student at the time of registration will indicate the course to be taken for a final grade of P or F; this information will reside with the student, the advisor, and the Registrar; the course instructor will be informed at the end of the term.
• To receive a P grade for a course graded pass-fail, the student must receive a letter grade of D- or better. The P grade does not calculate into the GPA; however, if the student receives an F for the course, it does calculate like a regular F into the grade point average.

After the last day to drop courses, students who register for grades of P or F will not be permitted to change that registration in order to receive regular grades; nor will students who register for regular grades be permitted to change that registration in order to receive pass-fail grades.

In some cases, depending on the course, an enrolled student may challenge the course by examination, but credit is prohibited in courses that the student has audited previously or attended officially or unofficially. Students may not challenge fieldwork, field placements, or student teaching courses by examination. Students should contact the chairperson of the department to make arrangements for an examination. A grade of C or better on the examination is required to excuse the student from the course and to give credit toward graduation. The cumulative grade point average is not changed by the examination because no grade is recorded for a course completed in this manner. There is no tuition charge for courses earned through examination. However, an administrative fee is assessed. A maximum of 32 credits may be earned by examination for credit.

A student enrolled at Carthage who wishes to apply transfer or correspondence courses taken elsewhere to Carthage must secure advance approval from the involved department chairperson and the Registrar by the end of term prior to enrollment in the course.

Upon receipt of an official transcript from institutions accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and similar regional associations, appropriate value will be given for comparable courses or areas taught at Carthage.

Courses at other institutions are counted as part of a student’s term load. Credit will only be transferred for courses in which a grade of C- or better is earned. Credit will not be transferred from a junior college after a student has accumulated 68 credits.

College-level courses taken in high school are credited on the same basis as other transfer credits, provided that the courses have not been counted for entrance requirements. These courses must appear on a college transcript.

The maximum total credits allowed for specialized testing (CLEP) and correspondence courses is 32.

Transcripts from institutions outside of the United States must be evaluated by Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE).

At the midpoint of each term, all faculty members are asked by the Provost to submit midterm low-grade reports for all students doing D or F work. Reports are distributed through the Registrar’s Office to the students and their advisors.

If a student receives two or more reports, the student’s parents also will be informed unless the student is financially independent. Financially independent students must bring proof of their independence to the Office of Student Financial Services at the beginning of the academic year. Students who have not shown proof of their independence are assumed to be financially dependent on their parents.

Students are required to have a minimum of a 2.0 grade point average overall and in their major(s)/minor(s) in order to graduate from the College. Students with a 2.0 or above are in good academic standing. The records of students who are not in good standing are reviewed at the end of each term by the Subcommittee for Academic Review and Recommendation.

Academic honesty is a necessary corollary to academic freedom; each concept presupposes the other. The goals and objectives of Carthage fall within the implicit context of academic honesty. Therefore, Carthage expects academic honesty from all of its members and maintains college-wide honesty guidelines and penalties that must be supported by the whole academic community. The guidelines and penalties are found in the Faculty Handbook and Students’ Community Code.

A student who wishes to withdraw from the College may be eligible to receive a full or partial refund as outlined by the refund policy below. The impact of course withdrawal on final grades is determined by the associated week of withdrawal.

Semester Students

 Note: The grade of a “W” has no bearing on term or cumulate GPAs.