Credit/No Credit Limit and Credit/No Credit Option

A number  of the  Law School's elective courses are graded on a Credit/No Credit (CR/ NC) basis or an Honors/Pass/Low Pass/No Credit (H/P/LP/NC) basis. After the first year of study, students may take up to a total of 17 credit hours of courses graded on a CR/NC or H/P/LP/NC basis.

The CR/NC option allows J.D. candidates who are not transfer students to take up to 6 credit hours of non-required law courses that are regularly graded on a letter-grade basis on a CR/NC basis. Course credit earned under the CR/NC option counts toward the 17-hour limit. In courses where the CR/NC option has been elected, the following rules apply: (1) the option may be elected for only one course during a semester or summer session; (2) the final day for an election of CR/NC in a regularly graded course will be the Monday of the fourth week of a semester or third week of a summer session; (3) the decision to exercise the CR/NC option is irrevocable after the final day of the CR/NC election period; (4) a student  must earn a grade of C- or better to earn a grade of CR; if a student  earns less than a C- in a course in which the option is exercised, a grade of NC will appear on the student’s transcript; (5) an unexcused failure to take an examination or submit a required research paper in a course taken on a CR/ NC basis will result in a grade of F.

The CR/NC option is intended to facilitate course experimentation. It is not a license for inadequate class preparation or participation. The faculty advises students to consider care- fully whether to elect to take courses on a CR/NC basis. Exercising the option may adversely affect employment opportunities because of the importance attached to grades by prospective employers. In addition, students should exercise great caution when electing the CR/NC option during their final semester. Students who receive the other-wise passing grade of D in a course in which the CR/NC option is exercised in the final semester will receive no credit. Such students may not have sufficient credits to graduate in a timely fashion.

Transfer  students  enrolling at the Law School may not register on a CR/NC  basis in any course regularly graded on a letter-graded basis; however, such students  may take  up to a total of 8 credits in courses regularly graded on a CR/NC or H/P/LP/NC  basis. In exceptional circumstances, the dean of students may authorize a transfer student to exceed the 8 credit maximum. Such authorization shall be made in writing, in advance of the semester or session in which the registration is planned.