In order to encourage exploration into unfamiliar, risky areas of the curriculum, Carleton offers students the option to take courses under the S/Cr/NC option. S/Cr/NC grades have no grade point value and do not count toward student GPA. A continuing student may elect to take up to six credits per term on a S/Cr/NC basis with a maximum total of 30 such credits being allowed during the student's four years at Carleton. The limits of six and 30 credits do not include mandatory S/Cr/NC courses, nor do they include courses in applied music or music courses 185 to 199. The grade of S means the equivalent of at least C- work; Cr means D+, D, or D- work; NC means F work.

Opting to take a course on a S/Cr/NC basis is a two-step process: by the second week of the term (that is, within the drop/add period), a student may designate one course as a potential S/Cr/NC option by completing and submitting a form which is available from the registrar's office. The student then has up until the last day of classes (the late drop deadline) to activate this option. Again, a student may only activate the "scrunch" option on a course which he or she has pre-designated as a S/Cr/NC possibility during the first two weeks of the term. If the student fails to activate "scrunch" by the above stated deadline, then the course will remain one for which A through F grades are given, and the grade earned in the course will be incorporated into the student's GPA. (See also grade point average.)

Note that required courses in the student's major department cannot be taken on a S/Cr/NC basis. Courses taken to fulfill specific college graduation requirements (e.g., distribution, writing and language proficiency, and RAD) must be passed with a grade of S or C- or better.

Students considering a S/Cr/NC option should discuss the choice with their advisers. Those contemplating graduate school should be aware that some graduate schools compute S (satisfactory) grades into a GPA as the lowest possible letter grade they might represent and some schools compute NC (no-credit) grades as F grades; some graduate schools look askance at more than a few ungraded courses on a transcript. The Academic Standing Committee (ASC) will not consider petitions to change a grade to or from the S/Cr/NC option.

Courses may not be retaken S/Cr/NC unless they were originall given only on a S/Cr/NC basis.

If the professor wishes to grade all students on a S/Cr/NC basis, prior approval of the associate dean of the college is required. An independent study may be graded on a S/Cr/NC basis at the option of the student or the instructor; in the later case, the credits are not charged toward the 30-credit maximum. The grading method for such a course must be designated on the independent study form, signed by the instructor.

The registrar cannot verify the exact letter grade represented by "S."

See also concentrations, drop/add, and major field requirements.