Master of Arts in Liberal Studies

The Academic Program

MALS photo

Grading

Reed encourages students to measure academic achievement by self-assessment of their grasp of course material and intellectual growth. Students receive frequent written and oral comments on their work. While a conventional letter grade for each course is recorded for every student and is reviewed by the graduate studies committee at the end of each term, the college does not routinely distribute grades to students, providing work continues at a satisfactory level.

MALS students are expected to perform at the graduate level with B- or better work in all their courses. C grades are given to credit coursework that is unsatisfactory; F grades denote failure. An incomplete grade may be used in the same circumstances appropriate for undergraduate students. The Committee on Graduate Studies conducts a grade review at the end of each semester.

For the thesis, B- is the lowest passing grade. In the rare case that a student does not receive a passing grade for the thesis, the student must submit a new proposal on a different topic to the Committee, following the normal deadlines, and register again for the thesis.