Academic Rank & Standards

Degree Programs

Grading & Credit

Special Features of MIT Grading

How You Are Graded

Class-Specific Grading Policies

Incomplete Coursework

Grades from Other Schools

Grade Changes

Academic Rank & Standards

Credit


Academic Records

Subjects

Performance

Registration

Topic Index

MIT values the academic achievements and potential of all of its students. As a result:

• No distinctions or privileges are given to students for high academic performance.
  
  
• No rigid minimum standards, like a GPA cut-off, are used to determine poor performance. Student performance is reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
  

No Class Rank and Honors

MIT does not publish individual class rank nor are there “honors” like dean’s lists or cum laude designations at graduation. Similarly, there are no “honors” subjects or programs to which enrollment is limited to a designated set of students.

While MIT does not include class rank on either your internal grade report or transcript, when you request certification of enrollment, you may request that it include class rank, which is reported by quartile.

As recognition for your academic achievement, you may be invited to join an honorary society such as Phi Beta Kappa. At graduation most departments recognize outstanding work with awards and prizes, and there are opportunities to compete for other awards, scholarships and prizes.

Standards for Academic Performance

At the end of the fall and spring term, the records of all undergraduates are evaluated by their departments and the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP).

Because the CAP recognizes the individual nature of student academic performance and differences in academic and grading policies among departments, it does not set forth rigid standards of academic performance to be employed throughout the Institute. Instead, it reviews undergraduates on a case-by-case basis to see that the actions proposed by the departments are reasonably consistent throughout the Institute. Read more in Performance.

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