Pass/no pass policy for the College of Nursing

Current and Future Applicants

The college will accept a PA (pass) on prerequisite courses required for admission into our undergraduate and graduate programs if those courses were taken in the following semesters: Spring 2020, Summer 2020, and Autumn 2020. If you do not utilize pass/no pass on a prerequisite course required for admission and earn a letter grade below our minimum GPA requirement, you will be disqualified from the applicant pool.

 

Spring and Summer 2021

The Ohio State University Senate approved the Emergency Pass grading system on January 28 and the Board of Trustees on February 25. The special grading system applies to all undergraduate and graduate courses in Spring and Summer Semesters 2021. The new grading system is automatic, and unlike previous semesters, students do not have to opt into the grading scheme.

Details regarding timelines for completing an Incomplete, withdrawing from a class, course grade reversion and other stipulations can be found on this website.

Undergraduate Notes:
  • Undergraduate students awarded grades A through C- will have these grades posted to their transcripts
  • Letter grades D+ and D will automatically be converted to Emergency Pass (PE)
  • Letter grades E will be converted to No Pass (NP) and EN grades will convert to no pass, non-attendance (NEN)
  • Grades PE, NP and NEN will not be calculated into the student’s GPA.
  • Students earning a PE will receive academic credit that counts towards graduation.

Please note that PE, NP, or NEN grades cannot be applied to Nursing or H&W major, minor, certificate courses or certain admission requirements. Also, if you are applying to the BSN, H&W or RN to BSN programs, grades of PE, NP or NEN will not count towards the prerequisite course requirements.

Graduate Notes:
  • Graduate students awarded grades A through B- will have these grades posted to their transcript
  • Letter grades C+ through D will automatically be converted to Emergency Pass (PE)
  • Letter grade E will be converted to No Pass (NP) and EN grades will convert to no pass, non-attendance (NEN)
  • Grades PE, NP and NEN will not be calculated into the student’s GPA.
  • Students earning a PE will receive academic credit that counts towards graduation

Please note that PE, NP, or NEN grades cannot be applied to graduate level coursework or certain admission requirements in the College of Nursing. Also, if you are applying to the Graduate Entry option, grades of PE, NP or NEN will not count towards the prerequisite course requirements. We will only accept a letter grade of A, A-, B+, B or B- in the prerequisite courses.


 

Autumn 2020

The Ohio State University Senate approved a proposal on September 17 to allow undergraduate students to opt into receiving a Pass/No Pass instead of a letter grade for general education and elective courses during Autumn Semester 2020. Please note that Pass/No Pass cannot be applied to Nursing or H&W major, minor or certificate courses. You can read more about the grading policy changes by visiting this page from the Office of Academic Affairs. Pass/No Pass requests for first session courses are due October 2; for second session courses, the deadline is November 20. Pass/No Pass grades cannot raise your GPA, but you need to be aware of minimum grades needed in key courses for admission into certain programs. Please look below for how Pass/No Pass could impact you in select College of Nursing undergraduate programs. Consultation with advising should help identify key issues.

Applicants to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program (including pre-nursing students):

If you plan to apply for entry into the BSN program by the January 15 deadline, the college will accept a Pass for general education prerequisite courses required for admission and completed in Autumn Semester 2020. However, the BSN program has a minimum GPA requirement in order to be considered for admission, so you will need to have a college-level GPA greater than 3.2 at the time of your application. If you choose not to utilize Pass/No Pass on a general education prerequisite course required for admission into the BSN and earn a letter grade below our minimum GPA requirement, you will be disqualified from the applicant pool. Similarly, if you take all of your GE prerequisite courses as Pass/No Pass, and end up with a GPA of 0.0, you will not be considered for admission.

Please visit the BSN admissions page for details regarding our minimum admission requirements.

Applicants to the H&W program (including pre-H&W students):

The college will accept a Pass on general education prerequisite courses required for admission into the H&W program if those courses are completed in Autumn Semester 2020. If you choose not to utilize Pass/No Pass on a general education prerequisite course required for admission into H&W and earn a letter grade below our minimum GPA requirement, you will be disqualified from the applicant pool.

Please visit the H&W admissions page for details regarding our minimum admission requirements.

Applicants to the RN to BSN program:

For any general education prerequisite courses taken in Autumn Semester 2020, the college will accept a Pass for admission into the RN to BSN program. If you choose not to utilize Pass/No Pass on a general education prerequisite course required for admission into RN to BSN and earn a letter grade below our minimum GPA requirement, you will be disqualified from the applicant pool.

Please visit the RN to BSN admissions page for details regarding our minimum admission requirements.

Currently enrolled undergraduate students in traditional BSN, RN to BSN, H&W and Certificate programs:

Students enrolled in the College of Nursing undergraduate programs may choose to apply the Pass/No Pass option to general education courses taken during Autumn Semester 2020. If you are a student admitted to an undergraduate program in the College of Nursing and elect to opt into the Pass/No Pass option, a grade of D or higher will be marked as Pass in general education courses. A Pass will be accepted for the general education courses to include the nursing* or H&W** support courses.

If you choose to take a letter grade in general education courses that are also counted as nursing* or H&W** support courses, the minimum requirement is a C+ or higher. A letter grade below the progression requirement can result in probation and the need to repeat the course to attain a grade of C+ or higher.

*Nursing support courses are microbiology, human nutrition and data analysis category.
**H&W support courses are: Human Nutrition 2210 or 2310; Sociology 1101, 3306 and  5629; Psych 1100; and Stats 1350.

Applicants to the Graduate Entry (GE) program:

The college will accept a PA (pass) on prerequisite courses required for admission into our Graduate Entry (GE) program if those courses were taken in Spring 2020, Summer 2020 or Autumn 2020. If you did not utilize pass/no pass on a prerequisite course required for admission and earned a letter grade below our minimum GPA requirement, you will be disqualified from the applicant pool.

Please visit the GE admissions page for details regarding our minimum admission requirements.


 

Spring 2020

The Ohio State University Senate and Graduate School approved a proposal allowing students to receive a pass/no pass instead of a letter grade in courses taken during the Spring 2020 semester. This decision was made to ease the transition to virtual classes and to support students during this unprecedented time. If you would like to read more about the proposal, please visit the Office of Academic Affairs website. Please look below for your current student status to learn more about how pass/no pass could impact you.

Currently enrolled students

Currently enrolled Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students

As a currently enrolled BSN student, there were many factors to consider if you utilized pass/no pass.

  • For major courses offered by our college, we followed our progression policy of a PA (pass) = C+.
  • If you opted-in to the pass/no pass option, a grade of D or higher was marked as PA (pass) in the support courses (Microbiology, Human Nutrition and Data Analysis). If you did not utilize pass/no pass, please note that the minimum grade requirement remained a C+ or higher.
  • If you did not utilize pass/no pass and received a letter grade below our progression requirement, you could have been placed on probation and be required to repeat the course with a grade of C+ or higher.
Currently enrolled BS in Health and Wellness (H&W) students

As a currently enrolled H&W student, there were many factors to consider if you utilized pass/no pass.

  • For major courses offered by our college, we followed our progression policy of a PA (pass) = C+.
  • PA (pass) was accepted for interdisciplinary major courses taught be the Business, Human Nutrition, Sociology and Public Health departments. If you did not utilize pass/no pass, please note that the minimum grade requirement remained a C+ or higher.
  • If you did not utilize pass/no pass and received a letter grade below our progression requirement, you could have been placed on probation and be required to repeat the course with a grade of C+ or higher.
Currently enrolled RN to BSN students

As a currently enrolled RN to BSN student, there were many factors to consider if you utilized pass/no pass.

  • For major courses offered by our college, we followed our progression policy of a PA (pass) = C.
  • If you did not utilize pass/no pass and received a letter grade below our progression requirement, you could have been placed on probation and be required to repeat the course with a grade of C or higher.
Currently enrolled graduate students

As a student currently enrolled in a course offered by the College of Nursing, you were able to utilize pass/no pass for any graded graduate course taken in Spring 2020.

  • For graduate courses, a student must have received a C- or higher to have received a grade of Pass.
  • Pass/no pass did NOT count in the cumulative GPA. 
Currently enrolled undergraduate certificate students

For undergraduate certificate courses offered by our college, we are following our progression policy. Please refer to the table below for the equivalent grade to pass (PA) based on the certificate program:

Undergraduate certificate program Grade requirement
Nursing in School Health Services PA = C
Primary Care Academic Certificate PA = C
Registered Nurses in Primary Care PA = C-
School Nurse Professional Pupil Services Licensure PA = C

If you do not utilize pass/no pass and receive a letter grade below our progression requirement, you could have been placed on probation and be required to repeat the course with the minimum grade listed above.

Currently enrolled graduate certificate students
  • For graduate certificate courses, a student must have received a C- or higher to have received a grade of PA (pass).
  • Pass/no pass did NOT count in the cumulative GPA.

Applicants

Applicants to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program (includes pre-nursing students)

If you applied to the Autumn 2020 admission cycle for the BSN program, the college will accept a PA (pass) for prerequisite courses required for admission into the BSN and taken this Spring 2020 semester.

If you chose not to utilize pass/no pass on a prerequisite course required for admission into the BSN and earned a letter grade below our minimum GPA requirement, you will be disqualified from the applicant pool.

Please visit the BSN admissions webpage for details regarding our minimum admission requirements.

Applicants to the H&W program (includes pre-H&W students)

The college will accept a PA (pass) on prerequisite courses required for admission into the H&W program if those courses were taken this Spring 2020.

If you chose not to utilize pass/no pass on a prerequisite course required for admission into H&W and earned a letter grade below our minimum GPA requirement, you will be disqualified from the applicant pool.

Please visit the H&W admissions webpage for details regarding our minimum admission requirements.

Applicants to a College of Nursing graduate program 

The college will accept a PA (pass) on prerequisite courses required for admission into our graduate programs if those courses were taken in Spring 2020 and/or Summer 2020. If you do not utilize pass/no pass on a prerequisite course required for admission and earn a letter grade below our minimum GPA requirement, you will be disqualified from the applicant pool.

Specific to the Graduate Entry option of the Master of Science in Nursing program:

We have also removed the requirement for an in-person lab component Human Anatomy and Microbiology. The lab component can now be completed in-person or online. This change goes into effect for coursework taken in Spring 2020 and beyond.

Please visit the Graduate Entry admissions webpage for details regarding our minimum admission requirements.

Applicants to the RN to BSN program

For any prerequisite courses taken this Spring 2020, the college will accept a PA (pass) for admission into the RN to BSN program. If you did not utilize pass/no pass on a prerequisite course required for admission and earned a letter grade below our minimum GPA requirement, you will be disqualified from the applicant pool.

Please visit the RN to BSN admissions webpage for details regarding our minimum admission requirements.