Variability of Passing Grades in Undergraduate Nursing Education Programs in New York State

AIM The purpose of this descriptive study was to provide information about passing grades and their corresponding numeric grades for undergraduate nursing programs in New York State. An additional purpose was to report on differences in grading between faculty teaching in associate versus baccalaureate nursing programs, full-time versus adjunct faculty, and tenured versus nontenured faculty. BACKGROUND There is a paucity of research on grade variability in undergraduate nursing programs. METHOD Three hundred eighty-four full-time and 96 adjunct faculty responded to an invitation to complete an online survey. RESULTS Grades are not uniformly awarded across institutions. Passing grades ranged from 70 to 85 percent (C- to B+, respectively), with a mean of 74.79 percent. CONCLUSION Wide variations in grades in different institutions across the country may undermine grade point average as a reliable measure of education, making it difficult to evaluate individual student performance.