Grading Policy
Assignment Grades
As faculty review student assignment submissions, they look for three broad quality areas to be appropriately evident:
- Demonstrated Comprehension: Evaluation is primarily focused on the demonstrated quality of thought and the comprehension of the subject matter.
- Synthesis and Analysis: Instructors evaluate critical thinking and synthesis of the core material, through an appearance that demonstrates thought provoking analysis of the core concepts, including original ideas presented as an extension of course material.
- Research and Quality of Resources: Research and quality of resources are an integral element of a student’s work and will constitute a large portion of assignment work. Textbooks are introduced as a single resource amongst many, with the expectation that students will conduct a substantial amount of additional research in order to present a cohesive, multi-faceted view of subject material.
To assist in the evaluation process, students are provided with an assignment rubric that is used by faculty to score their assignments. These rubrics are available in each D2L classroom and are specific to the assignment type. A signature assignment is a student artifact that represents scaffolded learning across a course. It is usually that final assignment of the course, generally in Module 8, e.g. a research paper or a capstone project. As such, the assignment is summative in nature only and directly measures course learning objectives, program learning goals, and university mission-based outcomes for both assignment grading and assessment of student learning purposes. In some cases, students who do not pass the signature assignment also do not pass the course. Signature assignment rubrics permit faculty evaluation of student performance along a task-specific set of assignment criteria aligned with 4 standardized expectation levels—Does Not Meet, Approaches, Meets, and Exceeds Expectations—and point values assigned to each rubric cell.
The balance of assignments in a course are graded with rubrics designed for specific deliverable types and are not used for university assessment data collection and analysis. Examples include rubrics for a PowerPoint, for an essay, for a journal entry, for discussion questions, for an article analysis, etc. These rubrics reflect the degree level—undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral—and use the same 4 standardized expectation levels described above and appropriate point ranges for each cell. Usually, assignments in Modules 1-7 are scored on these rubrics.
Both signature assignment and assignment type rubrics are scored by faculty and provide a numeric value for an assignment that is averaged in with all course assignment grades to calculate the final grade of the course. Students are encouraged to review all assignment rubrics prior to assignment submission as a means to assist them in assignment construction.
At Aspen University, grades are not rounded to a whole number. Grades are carried to the second decimal place.
Proctored Assessments
Proctored assessments (exams, etc.) at Aspen University have a two-fold purpose. First, they are designed to test a student’s overall knowledge of the learning goals and are administered at predetermined points during a program. Second, proctored assessments are used for identity verification; government-issued photo identification or other means are used to confirm student identity. This helps ensure integrity and academic honesty. The number of proctored assessments and their placement in the curriculum is determined at the program level. Most of the proctored assessments in the online programs are in the capstone or last course of a program. Students are advised to complete the proctored assessment in full within that course as failing to do so may cause the course to be failed.
In the BSN Pre-licensure program, students are subject to program-specific proctored exam requirements, including the HESI A2, HESI content exams, an NCLEX Predictor exam, and the Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT). All are course-specific and scheduled by cohort. The CAT follows an intensive 3-Day Live event conducted by Elsevier-trained facilitators in N455B.
Course Grades
Only classes attempted at Aspen University are included in the calculation of the student's GPA. GPA is calculated by multiplying credit hours by the letter grade GPA value, which produces a weighted grade value for each course. The weighted grade value total is then divided by the total course credit hours. Courses with grades of "W," "WA," "R," or "P" are not factored into the GPA calculation.
Undergraduate
| Numeric Grade Percentage |
Letter Grade |
GPA |
| 94% - 100% |
A |
4.000 |
| 90% - 93.99% |
A- |
3.667 |
| 87% - 89.99% |
B+ |
3.333 |
| 83% - 86.99% |
B |
3.000 |
| 80% - 82.99% |
B- |
2.667 |
| 77% - 79.99% |
C+ |
2.333 |
| 73% - 76.99% |
C |
2.000 |
| 70% - 72.99% |
C- |
1.667 |
| 67% - 69.99% |
D+ |
1.333 |
| 63% - 66.99% |
D |
1.000 |
| 60% - 62.99% |
D- |
0.667 |
| 59.99% or Under |
U |
0.000 |
* Not counted toward the GPA calculation.
Graduate
| Numeric Grade Percentage |
Letter Grade |
GPA Value |
| 94% - 100% |
A |
4.000 |
| 90% - 93.99% |
A- |
3.667 |
| 87% - 89.99% |
B+ |
3.333 |
| 83% - 86.99% |
B |
3.000 |
| 80% - 82.99% |
B- |
2.667 |
| 77% - 79.99% |
C+ |
2.333 |
| 73% - 76.99% |
C |
2.000 |
| 70% - 72.99% |
C- |
1.667 |
| 69.99% or Under |
U |
0.000 |
| Pass / Fail - P / U |
* |
* |
* Not counted toward the GPA calculation. P/U grades are only used for PAC799A.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Completion) program and RN-MSN Bridge program
- Field experience hours in N492, N493, and N496 must be documented and approved appropriately prior to course completion to successfully pass the course. The ability to complete the signature assignment is contingent on the approval documentation.
Dissertation Courses in Doctoral Programs
- Dissertation courses are graded on the graduate grading scale.
- Students who fail a dissertation course must retake the course before they can progress in their program. Students are only permitted to fail one dissertation course over the course of their program. Students who fail two dissertation courses will be automatically dismissed from their program.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Pre-licensure Program)
Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Pre- licensure Program) are subject to the standard undergraduate grade scale for all general education courses. All nursing core courses are subject to the below nursing grade scale.
BSN Pre-licensure Nursing Core Course Withdrawals and Failures
- Students are required to pass previous courses in a topic sequence prior to moving on to the next in the sequence (e.g. Community Health I must be completed prior to Community Health II; Adult Health I, II, III, and IV must be taken and successfully passed in sequence.)
- Students must successfully complete all clinical courses prior to entering the last term of the Nursing Core.
- Students must maintain SAP and/or GAS requirements.
- Students who withdraw from a course will be automatically withdrawn from any co-requisite courses. Students may retake the withdrawn courses with the next cohort that has an available seat and remain with that cohort.
- Students may retake one failed course with the next cohort that has an available seat and remain with that cohort. Students are permitted to retake a failed course once only for a total of two attempts. If the repeated course, or any subsequent course, is failed, students will be automatically dismissed from the program.
- For Nursing Core didactic courses with a co-requisite lab or clinical course, students must pass both. Failure of either will result in a failing grade for both courses and both must be repeated. However, this will count as one course failure regarding the policy above. If either of the repeated courses are failed, students will be automatically dismissed from the program. For N455A and N455B, the Seminar course is a co-requisite to the didactic. If the didactic is failed and repeated, the Seminar is failed and repeated. If either of the repeated courses are failed, students will be automatically dismissed from the program. Note that, for N455A/B, students are advised to refrain from working full-time.
- Students are beholden to the testing requirements as outlined in their program handbook. Failure to meet the testing requirements as outlined in the handbook will result in the student being withdrawn from the course.
BSN Pre-licensure Nursing Grade Scale
All lab, clinical, and seminar courses are subject to the below nursing grade scale. Failure of either the theory or lab/clinical component of any course will result in a failing grade for both courses.
Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Pre-Licensure Program) are subject to the standard undergraduate grade scale for all general education theory courses. All nursing core courses and labs are subject to the below grade scale.
| Numeric Grade Percentage |
Letter Grade |
GPA Value |
| 94% - 100% |
A |
4.000 |
| 90% - 93.99% |
A- |
3.667 |
| 87% - 89.99% |
B+ |
3.333 |
| 83% - 86.99% |
B |
3.000 |
| 80% - 82.99% |
B- |
2.667 |
| 75% - 79.99% |
C+ |
2.333 |
| 74.99% or Under |
U |
0.000 |