CREDIT & GRADES
Units of Credit
Continuing Studies courses carry Continuing Studies units of credit, which is different than the type of credits earned by undergraduate/graduate students. Transferability of Continuing Studies courses to other programs are subject to the receiving institution's policies. Units cannot be applied toward any Stanford degree. Generally, 10 hours of instruction are equal to one unit; a course's description will list the number of units that it carries.During course registration, students must choose a Grade Option (see "Grade" section below). Students will only earn the course units if they select the Credit/No Credit or Letter Grade option.
Official Transcripts
Stanford Continuing Studies does not issue individual course completion certificates for most courses. An official transcript is Stanford University's documentation of your academic record. All courses taken for credit or a letter grade will appear on an official transcript. Courses taken with the "No Grade Requested" option will not appear on official transcripts, and no units will be awarded, meaning there will be no official documentation of course participation.Statements of Participation
Courses that meet for fewer than 10 hours do not carry credit or provide grades, and therefore will not appear on an official transcript. For these 0-unit courses, students may request a Statement of Participation directly from the instructor. Please note that this is not considered an official document like a transcript; it serves to confirm a participant’s attendance in class.Digital Certificate of Completion
For select business and technology courses, a digital certificate of completion is available in addition to the official transcript. These are provided by Verix, a third-party provider, and availability of this option will be noted on the preliminary syllabus. To obtain the digital certificate, students must earn credit or receive a passing grade, and sign a waiver permitting their enrollment data to be shared with VerixGrades
Students are required to select a Grade Option during the course registration process. Most courses have three grading options to choose from:- Letter Grade (A, B, C, D, No Pass) - A final paper, or other assigned work, is usually required.
- Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) - Attendance and participation (as determined by the instructor) is required. This is similar to other schools' Pass/Fail option.
- No Grade Requested (NGR) - No work is required; no credit shall be received.
Select your Grade Option carefully. If you require proof that you completed a Continuing Studies course for any reason (for example, employer reimbursement), you must choose either the Letter Grade or Credit/No Credit option. Courses taken for NGR will not appear on official transcripts nor on grade reports. You cannot change grading options after you complete a course.
Note on assignment extensions (typically only for Letter Grade students): If extenuating circumstances arise, a student may request to take an “Incomplete” only if the instructor agrees to accept and grade the assignment at a later date. The student and the instructor must agree upon a firm deadline, but this should be no later than three weeks after the last class session. If the work is not completed by the deadline, the instructor will give Credit (CR) if appropriate, or default to No Grade Requested (NGR).
Students may change their grade option any time before the last class meeting as long as it is reasonable to do so. For example, if assignments have been due and the student has not been meeting those requirements, they probably wouldn't want to seek a grade at that point.
- Online: Login to change your grade option from the Student Home page
- Email: Send an email to: continuingstudies@stanford.edu