After the Department of Nursing changed their grading scale in fall of 2025, setting the numeric threshold for an A to between a 98-100, students received an email on Dec. 18, that informed them upon the re-evaluation of the numeric threshold, the grading scale for an A would now sit between 95-100.
The re-evaluation came after students raised concerns when they saw that to receive an A last semester they would need a 98 or higher.
Colleen Manzetti, Chair and Acting Assistant Dean for Nursing Accreditation, said, “The initial shift to a 98–100 A range was part of a broader effort to recalibrate grading practices and reduce grade inflation in courses tied closely to licensure preparation.”
Manzetti explained how while the university sets the letter-grade scale, faculty and programs determine the numeric thresholds for those grades, oftentimes varying across departments and semesters, she felt, reflecting the academic rigor.
In an end-of-year nursing faculty meeting in May 2025 faculty recognized that their grading system needed to reflect the realities of licensure and clinical competence. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) numeric value change to a 98-100 followed a review of what Manzetti explained as, academic grades, ATI Pulse data, and NCLEX outcomes. “The decision was not made lightly,” Manzetti said.
Manzetti said the department took several factors into consideration when making the change back to a 95-100 starting in the Spring 2026 semester, consisting of internal data on course performance, progression, NCLEX readiness, and the student feedback which emphasized their concerns for meeting scholarship requirements.
Jason Fitzgerald, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and Director of The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning said when it comes to grading schemes, it is important to be mindful of three things; (1) the way that that scheme is positioned against other grading schemes for similar programs, (2) that any grading scheme is internally consistent, and (3) that grading schemes are known to students beforehand. “How someone is to be assessed should never be a surprise,” Fitzgerald said.
One underclassman nursing major, who wishes to stay anonymous out of fear of retribution from department administration, said, “I had a mix of emotions between frustration and helplessness. We were not informed in a timely manner about this change, which is not talked about a lot. I remember opening my syllabus a week before the fall semester and seeing my teacher’s post announcements about the new grading system.”
According to The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, the NCLEX, which stands for the National Council Licensure Examination, is the world’s premier licensure exam. According to Nursa, the NCLEX aims to evaluate and test skills learned in school and determine whether or not you are able to practice safe and effective nursing in the field. All nurses are required to pass the NCLEX to acquire their nursing license.
The underclassman nursing major reflected on their experience of last semester, honing in on the time they received a 97.5 in their Transcultural Health class which translated to an A- on their transcript. “Regardless of my hard work on quizzes and exams, this 97.5 would be weighed as a 3.7 on a 4.0 scale, bringing down my GPA. Similar to myself, most nursing students are on private scholarships, some of which are GPA-based. If mine or my peers’ GPAs were to fall under the minimum to receive the scholarship, we would lose our scholarships.” The nursing student added, “The fear of losing our scholarships added so much more stress to our lives. This stress was not only school-based, it was also now personal because some students like myself, rely on these scholarships to help us attend college.”
Manzetti explained that students who fall into that grading category for an A usually pass the NCLEX and that their goal was to ensure that their grading scale supported academic rigor while aligning with professional standards.
Another underclassman nursing major who also wishes to stay anonymous out of fear of retribution from the department administration, said that they felt “half and half” about the change to the 98. They explained that if they need to get something done they will get it done. “It got to a point, though, where I was like I am not even about to try,” they said.
“During this semester, multiple professors in the nursing program justified this grade inflation by saying that students from previous graduating classes were not passing the NCLEX on the first try, so to increase the university’s pass percentages, they made the grading scale stricter. By the time I heard a second professor use this excuse to justify the new and much stricter grading scale, I knew that there was an implied expectation from professors for us to do better in their classes in fear of getting a lower grade,” the undergraduate student added.
Numerous professors in the Department of Nursing were contacted multiple times over the course of a few weeks, but no response was received.
The upperclassman said this change brought on a mix of emotions. “I felt better knowing that I would have a higher chance of getting an A. I was frustrated because the strict grading scale had already brought down my GPA.”
The upperclassman nursing major said it has taken some of the pressure off a little bit, especially with the A grade but that the pressure is always there.
Fitzgerald said, “While I can’t speak for these specific changes, we know that grading schemes impact how student learning is perceived by people inside and outside of the university. While they are an imperfect measure to be sure, they are critically important for how students interact with loan officers in terms of scholarship money and how they interact with graduate schools and employers. So, despite reservations that some might have from research that illustrates the incongruity between grades and learning, grades have real-world consequences that we need to be mindful of.”
The upperclassman concluded,“I understand that change is normal and happens all the time in real life, but this entire situation was not fair to nursing students. They made the grading scale stricter for one semester and then went back to the old grading scale, but our GPA’s had already been affected. Based on the excuse the professors had given us, it seems like they made the change in the interest of the University looking better rather than in the best interest of the students.”
“We hope this adjustment promotes clarity, fairness, and consistency across the curriculum, while reinforcing the level of mastery required for clinical decision‑making and NCLEX readiness. Ultimately, the change is intended to support both student learning and program outcomes,” said Manzetti.
