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Key to Transcripts of Academic Records

1. Organization: The University of Chicago includes the undergraduate College; four graduate divisions: Biological Sciences, Humanities, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences; six graduate professional schools: Business, Divinity, Law, Medicine, Public Policy, and Social Service Administration; and Graham School of General Studies. The Graduate Library School suspended all offerings as of 1990.

2. Degrees Offered: Authority for recommending the awarding of degrees is vested in the academic units: the College, the divisions of Biological Sciences, Humanities, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences, the Graduate School of Business, the Divinity School, the School of Law, the Pritzker School of Medicine, the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, the School of Social Service Administration, and the Graham School of General Studies. The degrees awarded by the University are as follows: Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Science; International Master of Business Administration; Master of Arts; Master of Arts in Teaching; Master of Business Administration; Master of Comparative Law; Master of Divinity; Master of Fine Arts; Master of Laws; Master of Liberal Arts; Master of Public Policy; Master of Science; Doctor of Comparative Law; Doctor of Jurisprudence; Doctor of Law; Doctor of Medicine; Doctor of Ministry; and Doctor of Philosophy.

The College also recommends the awarding of the Twelfth Grade Certificate to students who enter the College prior to formal completion of secondary education. Degrees which the University has offered during its history for which programs no longer exist may appear on transcripts of older records.

3. Calendar: The University calendar is the quarter system. Each quarter of the academic year is of the same value. Full Time quarterly registration in the College is for three or four hundred units and in the divisions and schools for three hundred units. See 11. Graduate Residence Status for exceptions.

4. Course Numbering: Course numbers are five digits in length. Generally, courses with the first three digits numbered from 100 to 299 may be considered as courses designed to meet requirements for baccalaureate degrees. Courses with numbers beginning with 300 and above are generally designed to meet requirements for higher degrees. (The five-digit numbering system commenced autumn, 2001.)

5. Credits: The course unit is the measure of credit at The University of Chicago. One full unit (100) is equivalent to 3 1/3 semester hours or 5 quarter hours. Courses of greater or lesser value (150, 050) carry proportionately more or fewer semester or quarter hours of credit. The School of Law courses are normally 3 credits in value, with values of greater or lesser than 3 credits carrying proportional credits. Beginning in autumn, 2004 the School of Law transcripts may show courses as either the full unit value of 3 or the University's alternate full unit value of 100, as well as their appropriate proportional values, e.g. 3, 1.5 or 100, 050.)

6. Grading System: The marks A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D and P, P are passing grades. The numeric value of grades is as follows: A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3, B=3.0, B-=2.7, C+=2.3, C=2.0, C-=1.7, D+=1.3, D=1, F=0. Beginning in autumn, 2004 the School of Law transcripts may show grades as either converted to letter grades carrying plus/minus values or as numeric values. The School of Law uses the following numeric grades and their equivalents: 186-180=A, 179-174=B, 173-168=C, 167-160=D, 159-155=F.

The mark "P" indicates that the student has submitted sufficient evidence to receive a passing grade; in some courses it may be the only grade given. (For the School of Law, P** signifies that a student has successfully completed the course but technical difficulties, not attributable to the student, interfered with the grading process.) The mark "I" (meaning incomplete) indicates that the student has not yet submitted all the evidence required for a final grade. Where the mark "I" is changed to a quality grade, the change is reflected by a quality grade following the mark "I", for instance, "IA" or "IB". Some units of the University have special regulations concerning the mark "I"; regulations may be found in the Announcements of the College, of the divisions and of the schools. Reports on examinations may use the mark H to indicate work of honors quality, P* to indicate pass at a high level and P to indicate pass.

The mark R is used when the student has registered for a course but has submitted no evidence of the quality of his work in the course. This mark confers no academic credit, but courses in which the mark is given may be counted toward residence requirements. No stigma is attached to the mark R. Work taken at the graduate level for R may, in some instances, be validated by an examination. The mark N confers no credit and is used for students in the college who have, under controlled conditions, chosen to be graded on a P/N basis in a particular course. The mark W signifies withdrawal from the course; and grades of W, WP (withdrawal passing) or WF (withdrawal failing) do not affect grade point averages. (For the School of Law, a grade of W is an administrative withdrawal.)

Where no grade is reported after a course, it means that none was available at the time the transcript was prepared. (For the School of Law, IP signifies that the grade was not available at the time the transcript was printed. A hyphen "-" signifies that the course continues over more than one academic quarter.)

7. General: Enrollment in a program leading to a degree is governed by strict rules. The Announcements, published by each of the academic units, contain specific requirements. Students admitted to baccalaureate programs without high school diplomas may later qualify for the Twelfth Grade Certificate by satisfactorily completing work defined by the State of Illinois as equivalent to the requirements for a high school diploma.

Students who entered the College after 1965 and before 1982 were required to successfully complete a minimum of 39 quarter courses and a maximum of 45 to meet the requirements for a baccalaureate degree. Students who entered the College after 1982 were required to successfully complete a minimum of 42 quarter courses. Credit by placement tests, accreditation tests, or CEEB Advanced Placement Examinations may be used to fulfill course requirements for a degree.

8. Joint Degree Programs - Undergraduate and Graduate: Programs to which some students are admitted permit specified courses to be counted both as part of the baccalaureate degree requirements and as part of a graduate degree requirement or toward two graduate degrees. Admission to a joint degree program is recorded on the academic record.

9. Joint Residence: Students may be permitted to work toward two separate degrees simultaneously. One degree may be at the baccalaureate level and one at the graduate level or both may be at the graduate level but they must be in different academic units of the University. Joint Residence is recorded on the academic record.

10. Academic Status and Department: The quarterly entries of academic work on students' records include academic statuses and fields of study. The definition of academic status follows:

Bi-registrants: students registered in the Divinity School of The University of Chicago and in a cooperative Hyde Park Theological School.

Certificate of Advanced Studies: students who hold a master's degree and register for advanced work in their particular fields but who are not candidates for a degree.

CIC Students: students who are degree candidates at a University within the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and who are registered pro forma at The University of Chicago.

Doctoral: students enrolled in programs leading to a D. Comp.L., D.MN., J.S.D., or Ph.D. degree.

Exchange Scholar: students who are degree candidates at another university, who, by formal arrangement, are registered pro forma at The University of Chicago.

Graduate: students enrolled in programs leading to post-baccalaureate degrees.

Laboratory School: students who are registered pro forma in the College but who are enrolled as students in the Laboratory School of the University as secondary school students.

Master's/Professional: students enrolled in programs leading to a master's or professional degree (J.D., M.D.)

Post-Doctoral: students who hold a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Philosophy and are not candidates for a degree.

Returning Scholars: students who are registered through the Graham School of General Studies and are not candidates for a degree.

Special Summer: students who are registered in a Summer Quarter in credit courses but not candidates for a degree.

Students-at-large: students who are not candidates for a degree.

Undergraduate: students in a program leading to a bachelor's degree.

Undergraduates in Foreign Study Programs: students who are candidates for baccalaureate degrees from the College and taking work acceptable toward those degrees at a foreign institution.

Work taken as a Student-at large, Special Summer Student or Certificate of Advanced Studies Student normally does not apply toward a degree program at The University of Chicago. However, such courses become available for academic credit if a student is later admitted to an approved degree program at The University of Chicago. Effective in Autumn Quarter, 1989, courses taken by Returning Scholars may not be applied toward a degree nor will quality grades be assigned. Non-degree categories may be created to meet special needs and will be specifically identified on academic records.

11. Graduate Residence Status: Effective in Autumn Quarter, 1984, the academic records of students who enroll in programs leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy will reflect the residence status as established by the University.

Scholastic Residence: the first two years of graduate study beyond the baccalaureate degree (Revised summer, 2000 to include the first four years of graduate study.)

Research Residence: the third and fourth years of graduate study beyond the baccalaureate degree (This status was terminated in summer, 2000.)

Advanced Residence: the period of registration following completion of Scholastic and Research Residence until the Doctor of Philosophy is awarded. (Revised in summer, 2000 to be limited to 12 years following admission to doctoral program.)

Active File Status: a student in Advanced Residence status who makes no use of University facilities other than the Library may, upon recommendation of the appropriate department and the approval of the Dean of Students in the University, maintain an Active File with the University. (This status was terminated in summer, 2000.)

Leave of Absence: the period during which a student involuntarily suspends work toward a graduate degree and expects to resume work following a maximum of one academic year.

Extended Residence: the period of registration following the conclusion of Advanced Residence (Revised summer, 2000.)

Students in Scholastic, Research or Advanced Residence Status, but not in the active file or Extended Residence status, are considered full-time students.

The academic records of students who are permitted to complete the scholastic or research residence requirement on a half-time basis will indicate half-time study.

Students in Research or Advanced Residence Status whose doctoral research requires residence away from the University register pro forma. Pro forma registration does not exempt a student from any other residence requirements but suspends the requirement for the period of the absence.

Plus/Minus grade modifiers as assigned by the faculty, are recorded on students’ official academic records for courses offered by the academic areas listed above.

TRANSCRIPTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ACADEMIC RECORDS OF STUDENTS REGISTERED AFTER THE SRPING QUARTER OF 1979 ARE COMPUTER GENERATED AND PRINTED ON SAFETY PAPER. TRANSCRIPTS ARE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS ONLY IF THEY BEAR THE SIGNATURE OF THE UNIVERSITY REGISTRAR WHICH APPEARS IN WHITE ON A MAROON BACKGROUND ON THE FACE OF THIS DOCUMENT.