How grading works at Azusa Pacific University
APU grades undergraduate coursework on a plus/minus letter scale running from A to F, with quality points awarded per unit according to the grade earned. Alongside the letter scale, the catalog also lists a set of administrative and non-credit notations — including W (Withdrawal), I (Incomplete), P (Pass), CR/NC (Credit/No Credit), AU (Audit), and others — each recorded on the transcript but kept separate from the core letter-grade sequence.
The catalog also publishes a percentage-to-letter table for course-level grading, but is explicit that it is a suggested scale, not a mandatory one — individual instructors set their own course grading criteria.
Source: Grading, Including Incompletes (Undergraduate) — grade table intro sentence and full notation list; suggested course grading scale — verified Aug 2026
Minimum GPA requirements at APU
Undergraduate students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in all university work attempted. Transfer students must separately earn at least a 2.0 GPA in the coursework they complete at APU itself, on top of whatever GPA they transferred in with.
Some departments and schools set a higher minimum GPA requirement for major coursework specifically — check your program's requirements rather than assuming the university-wide 2.0 floor applies to your major courses.
Source: Grading, Including Incompletes (Undergraduate) — minimum cumulative GPA requirement paragraph — verified Aug 2026
Minimum grade to satisfy General Education and major requirements
A grade of D- or better is required in undergraduate courses taken at APU to satisfy General Education requirements or to earn a passing grade in major courses — unless your major or department specifies a higher grade. Note that some General Education courses that double as major requirements may themselves require a higher grade than this general minimum.
Source: Grading, Including Incompletes (Undergraduate) — General Education/major passing-grade paragraph — verified Aug 2026
Grade required to transfer a course toward General Education or major requirements
If you want to use a course taken at another institution to satisfy a General Education or major requirement at APU, you must have earned a grade of C- or better in that course.
Source: Grading, Including Incompletes (Undergraduate) — transfer course grade-minimum paragraph — verified Aug 2026
Frequently asked questions
What grading scheme does Azusa Pacific University (APU) use?
Where does this APU grade scale come from?
Does APU use a different grading scale for graduate students?
Yes, in one specific way. APU's graduate catalog prints the same A through C- point values as the undergraduate scale (A = 4.0 down to C- = 1.7), but D+, D and D- are worth 0 points at the graduate level — compared to 1.3, 1.0 and 0.7 for undergraduates. F remains 0 points at both levels.
The graduate catalog also states explicitly which grades do not affect your grade-point average: W (Withdrawal), I (Incomplete), IN (Incomplete—No Paperwork), AU (Audit), CR (Credit), P (Pass), IP (In Progress) and NG (No Grade).
Source: Grading, Including Incompletes (Graduate) — grade-to-points table and 'does not affect grade-point average' footnote — verified Aug 2026
