Incomplete is a temporary grade assigned when a student has not finished required coursework by the end of the term but has an agreement with the instructor to complete it later.
How it works
The student requests an incomplete and the instructor approves it, specifying the remaining work and the deadline. The registrar records the I grade. When the student submits the work, the instructor files a grade change. The aid office includes the course in attempted credits while the I remains and moves it to completed credits only after a passing grade is posted. If the incomplete lapses, the failing grade remains in both the GPA and the pace calculation.
Example: a student receives an incomplete in a 3-credit online course. At the SAP evaluation two weeks later the course counts as 3 attempted and 0 completed. The student finishes the work the next month, earns a B, and the pace calculation is updated at the next evaluation to include 3 completed credits.
How it differs
A withdrawal is a permanent departure from the course and cannot be converted into a passing grade by later work. An in-progress grade in a competency-based or self-paced course may be normal rather than exceptional. A failing grade is final; an incomplete is provisional.
Common errors
Assuming an incomplete does not affect SAP until it converts to a final grade. Allowing incompletes to remain unresolved past the published deadline without conversion. Treating an incomplete as completed credits for pace or for prerequisite purposes.
References
- 1. Institutional incomplete-grade policiesResolution deadlines
- 2. SAP treatment of incompletesCount as attempted until resolved
Incomplete is a temporary grade assigned when a student has not finished required coursework by the end of the term but has an agreement with the instructor to complete it later.