Grades at Oakton include the following:

Grades

Grade Meaning
A Excellent
B Good
C Satisfactory
D Minimal passing
F Failure
F20 Failure (created for Spring 2020)1
P20 Satisfactory (created for Spring 2020; criteria for pass – a standard grade of D or higher)1
1

To support students in Spring 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, students enrolled in courses at the 100 level or above, were offered the option to earn a pass/fail grade rather than a standard letter grade.

Grades (developmental classes only)

Grade Meaning
AS Excellent
BS Good
CS Satisfactory
DS Minimal Passing
FR/FS Failure
P Successful completion

Indicators

Indicator Meaning
FZ Forgiveness (an “F” grade forgiven for satisfactory performance; no penalty)
I Incomplete (by student request and faculty agreement)
IP Course in Progress
IR/IS Incomplete (developmental classes only)
I20 Incomplete (created for Spring 2020)
J Course drop (student initiated course drop during the zero-percent refund period)
N Nonattendance (reported by instructor at midterm)
Q No grade submitted by instructor
V Audit
W Withdrawal

Indicators - Historic

Indicator Meaning
O Withdrawal (withdrawal from course after midterm to the end of the 10th week of the regular term; not used after August 1996)
R Repeat (not used after August 1984)
T Successful completion (not used after August 1988)
X Course still in progress (not used after August 1984)
Z Forgiveness (an “F” grade forgiven for satisfactory performance; no penalty; not used after August 2006)

When a course taken for the first time in fall 1990 or subsequent terms is repeated later, the grade in all course attempts will be on the transcript. The highest grade will be included in the Oakton GPA calculation. For more information, call the Office of Advising, Transitions, and Student Success at 847.635.1700 (Des Plaines) or 847.635.1400 (Skokie).

Auditing a Class

A student who wishes to audit a course will be required to pay full tuition and fees, as well as an audit fee, and will receive a grade indicator of V for the course. The faculty member may elect to limit the extent of evaluation made available to the audit student. Students wishing to change from “credit” to “audit” status must submit a written request to the Enrollment Center within the first four weeks of the semester (pro-rated for classes of less than 16 weeks in length).
Once students have changed to audit status, they cannot return to credit status later in that semester in that course. To receive credit for a class which has been audited, a student must repeat the course for credit. A student auditing a course will not be considered enrolled in that course for purposes of financial aid, standards of academic progress, or athletic eligibility.

Withdrawal from Classes

It is the responsibility of the student to notify the college when dropping or withdrawing from class(es). Failure to attend classes or to pay tuition and fees does not constitute withdrawal.  A student must officially drop or withdraw in person at the Enrollment Center, by mail, or by Web registration (webreg.oakton.edu). Failure to drop a course during the refund period will result in tuition and fees being due in full. Students who officially drop class(es) through the official drop date will not have the class(es) listed on their transcript.

Students who withdraw from a class after the drop period has ended, up to the withdrawal deadline, will have the class(es) listed on their transcript with a grade of “W.” See the Schedule of Classes for specific refund, drop, and withdrawal dates.

Appeal of a Final Grade

  1. Students who wish to appeal a final grade must first meet with the faculty member to review the criteria applied in assigning that grade.
  2. After this initial review, if students are not satisfied, they may next appeal in writing to the faculty member’s dean. Once the appeal is read, the dean will meet with the faculty member to review the criteria applied to the student’s performance in assigning the final grade. When the faculty member and the dean have reached a decision, the dean will communicate that decision in writing to the student.
  3. If students are still not satisfied with the grade assigned, they may appeal in writing to the Vice President for Academic Affairs for further review. When the faculty member and the Vice President have reached a decision, the Vice President will communicate the decision in writing to the student.
  4. The action of the Vice President for Academic Affairs is final.
  5. This process normally will be accomplished within one semester of the original grade’s assignment.

Forgiveness Policy

Students may petition in writing to the Enrollment Center to have F or FR grades removed from use in calculating the cumulative grade point average (GPA) under one of the following circumstances:

  1. The student has earned 15 hours or fewer of F or FR grades and in subsequent terms has earned 15 consecutive hours with no grades of D, F, or FR. Courses must be 100-level or above or
  2. The student has earned more than 15 hours of F or FR, and has earned in subsequent terms a consecutive number of credit hours, with no grades of D, F, or FR, equal to the number of hours of F or FR. Courses must be 100-level or above.

Credits earned at other colleges or universities cannot be applied to expunge F grades. When F or FR grades are assigned because of academic dishonesty, the Forgiveness Policy will not apply to the F or FR assigned grades.

The Forgiveness Policy cannot be invoked before the necessary credits are earned. A student may have the forgiveness policy applied only once, but can have multiple F grades expunged. When the Forgiveness Policy is applied, a student’s cumulative grade point average will be recalculated with the F grade expunged from the calculation. If this new GPA is 2.0 or above and the student has met all other degree requirements, the student will be eligible for graduation. An indicator of FZ will be placed on the official transcript indicating that an F grade has been forgiven.