Grading Policy symplicity - Login Now
Four facts about the Notre Dame Law School grading system must be stressed:
1. Notre Dame Law School has been relatively immune to "grade inflation."
2. Notre Dame Law School’s system judges Notre Dame students against a high Notre Dame standard rather than against student performance at other institutions.
3. Notre Dame Law School has no mandated grading curve.
4. Notre Dame Law School does not rank students.
Grades are issued based on the following scale:
| A | 4.000 | C+ | 2.333 | |
| A- | 3.667 | C | 2.000 | |
| B+ | 3.333 | C- | 1.667 | |
| B | 3.000 | D | 1.000 | |
| B- | 2.667 | F | 0.000 |
Faculty regard “C” as indicating satisfactory work. Therefore, a “C” at Notre Dame is considered a respectable grade. This is evidenced by the fact that, although our students enter the first-year class with outstanding undergraduate academic credentials, the median grade-point average for first-year classes is approximately 3.1 each year.
Faculty do not hesitate to issue a grade of “D” or “F.” Such a grade simply indicates that the student has not done acceptable work according to the Notre Dame standard. Comparisons should not be made with schools that issue such grades infrequently.
Most Notre Dame faculty give an “A” grade relatively infrequently because of their belief that an “A” is appropriate only when a student performs at a level that is clearly superior to that of other Notre Dame students.
At Notre Dame, required courses constitute nearly half of the hours needed for graduation. Even among electives there are only limited opportunities to take non-traditional courses that count toward the total number of credits required for graduation. Thus, students at Notre Dame have relatively
little opportunity to “build” a grade-point average by enrolling in courses or selecting professors that promise little work or high grades.
