The College of William and Mary, chartered in 1693, is a public university supported by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The institutional commitment to a well-rounded liberal education is sustained by the undergraduate College of Art and Sciences and School of Business Administration, and by graduate programs in arts and sciences, business, education, law, and marine science.

Accreditation

The College of William and Mary is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, the Association of American Law Schools, and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

Academic Calendar

The College of William and Mary operates on a semester basis. A semester consists of fourteen weeks devoted to classroom instruction followed by a two-week examination/study period.

Course Numbers

Course numbers below 300 are generally considered “lower-level” undergraduate courses; courses numbered between 300 and 499 are generally considered “upper-level” undergraduate courses. Courses with a suffix of W following the course number denote a writing intensive course. Courses numbered 500 and above carry graduate credit, as do courses in the 300 and 400 series which bear the suffix “G” (e.g., MATH412G). Certain graduate education courses carry alpha-numeric course numbers (e.g., EDUC F65). All courses with subject code CRIN and EPPL are post-Baccalaureate education courses.

Academic Continuance

An undergraduate student whose cumulative GPA falls below 2.00 in any semester and who fails to earn at least 9 credits is automatically placed on academic probation for the following semester. A student who does not meet minimum requirements for continuance may be required to withdraw for academic deficiency by the Committee on Academic Status. A student who has been withdrawn for academic deficiency may petition the Committee for reinstatement. A student is assumed to be in good academic standing unless otherwise indicated.

Degree Information

Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (C.A.G.S.) and Educational Specialist Degree (Ed.S.) - Effective Summer 1986, the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study awarded by the School of Education was converted without curricular change to the Educational Specialist Degree. The two are equivalent.

Records System

Prior to 1896 Stored in University Archives

1896 - 1986 Stored via microfilm Permanent Record Cards

1986 - present Stored in and printed from automated records system

Plus/Minus Values

Plus/Minus (+/-) values were added to the grading scale according to the following schedule:

Grading System, Symbols and Abbreviations**

Prior to Fall 1976, each of the divisions of the College awarded quality points on the basis of a 3-point system (for each semester credit of work graded A=3 quality points, B=2 quality points, C=1 quality point). The Schools of Education and Graduate Business continued to award quality points using the 3-point system through December 1977. Prior to Fall 1996, KIN and/or PE 100 were not calculated into the grade point average except in the case of failure. December 1977 through Spring 2003, the Graduate Business School awarded quality points for letter grades that were taken out to two decimal points, (e.g. A- = 3.67). With the Summer 2003 semester, Graduate Business adopted the quality point scale listed below, however it does not assign the grades of “D+,” “D,” “D-.”

Effective Fall 1989 through Spring 2003, the School of Law adopted a 12-point scale for its quality point system. Total quality points divided by total hours divided by 3 equaled the Law grade point average. Effective Summer 2003, the School of Law adopted the 4.0 scale followed by the College.

The table below illustrates the current quality point system: 

** For description of symbols no longer used, contact the Office of the University Registrar .

Statistics

The tables printed below display cumulative statistical information about grades and undergraduate students at the College of William and Mary.

TABLE 1 – Overall undergraduate grade distribution percentages for each of the last five years (i.e., the percentage of A/A–'s awarded, the percentage of B+/B/B– 's awarded, etc.)

*Other: includes audits, incompletes, withdrawals, etc.

Source: Annual Fall semester Distribution of Grades Report

TABLE 2 – Undergraduate cumulative grade point averages (GPA).

Rev. Dec. 2006