Examinations and Grading

In order to promote consistency in grades across sections of the Foundation curriculum, 1L instructors are required to adhere to the following grade ranges:

1L electives should be graded in accordance with the guidelines for upper-year courses.

Please note that LawNet will calculate your grade distribution for you, and will also allow you to release your grades to Registration Services if they conform to the grade families identified above in bold type. If you seek to award grades outside this range, please send a brief explanation to either Associate Dean Andrea Saavedra, or the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs. 

Instructors are expected to broadly adhere to past grading practices in upper-year courses and seminars. To assist instructors, Registration Services calculates average grade distributions for the past five years to provide up-to-date guidelines. The 2026–2027 guidelines are as follows:

Instructors wishing to submit grades that deviate substantially from that practice may be asked to provide an explanation for the deviation, and could result in a delay of honors calculations.

Please note:

• Grade of A+: The faculty has resolved to limit the A+ grade to no more than one per course or seminar. This grade should be used sparingly and only for truly extraordinary performance. It should not be awarded automatically to the top performer in the class if that performance is not extraordinary. No deviations will be granted.
   
• Grades of B-, C, and F: In recent years, approximately 0.82% of upper-year course grades and 0.28% of seminar grades awarded were B− (B minus). In addition, approximately 0.27% of course grades and 0.20% of seminar grades awarded were C or below. Instructors are not required to award these grades.

Instructors of classes in which more than 30 students are enrolled will have the additional option of identifying a student whose performance earns a “Best in Class” designation, which will be reflected on the student’s transcript. The faculty Clerkships Committee strongly encourages you to make these determinations, as this information is of critical assistance in students’ applications for clerkships and judges’ assessments of our students.

On March 8, 2019 the Faculty resolved to permit the temporary notation of YC (Year Credit) to be recorded at the end of the fall semester for students conducting a single supervised research project over the full academic year. This is now formalized as Rule 3.1.5. Students registering now for two semesters of research will be able to request your permission for the notation of YC. In addition, students who wish to extend their fall research into the spring will be able to make this request later in the semester.

Please do not release grades directly to students, but instead use the “Submit Grades” feature in LawNet, where you will find instructions for submitting grades, as well as graphs that allow you to compare your grades with the recommended guidelines.

Registration Services will review grades for conformity with the relevant guidelines and, if conforming, then release them to students.

Grade changes will not be permitted after grades have been released to students. Grades may not be changed based on a re-review of student work. Exceptions to this policy are granted only in cases of faculty or administrative error (e.g., mathematical or grade-entry errors) and require permission from the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and implementation by Registration Services.

Students may sometimes request extensions to complete their coursework after the official Law School deadline. Whether to grant extensions is a matter of the instructor’s discretion, but please keep in mind that extensions can interfere with students’ work in other courses in subsequent semesters. Accordingly, please exercise judgment when granting extensions and do not grant them as a routine matter. Blanket extensions to an entire class are strongly discouraged.

• In order to qualify for an extension, students must obtain the instructor's signed permission and file the permission form with Registration Services before the end of the semester for which the extension is granted.
   
• All extensions are subject to the following limitations: Students may carry no more than one incomplete grade into the following term of school, and must complete all outstanding work by October 15 of the following academic year. Graduating students must complete all outstanding work by April 1 in order to graduate in May, by October 1 in order to graduate in October, and by the last day of the December exam period in order to graduate in February.
   
• Instructors should not grant any extensions beyond these final deadlines, and should strive to ensure that all grades are submitted in timely fashion (four weeks after receipt of all required work, and, in addition, two weeks before graduation for graduating students.) Please take into account your own availability for grading, as well as the student's graduation plans, when granting any extensions.
   

More information about these forms can be found here. Please reach out to Registration Services with any specific questions about extensions.

Students are required to affirm language of certification when submitting any examination or when submitting written work for credit. Individual faculty members are responsible for ensuring that appropriate certification is submitted in connection with all written work other than exams. The text of this certification and certification forms are available for download and can be found here. Please note that all students were made aware of this policy and the implications of its violations at the beginning of their time at the Law School.

If you encounter a situation of potential academic dishonesty in the course of your teaching at Columbia Law School, please contact Andrea Saavedra, Associate Dean of Student and Registration Services, who can advise you on possible courses of action.

Faculty may not reuse old exam questions, even from other institutions and even from many years ago. You may reuse exam questions for practice midterms.

Instructors in their discretion may require class participation and/or consider it a factor in grading; this is the norm in seminar classes. It is best practice to notify your students in writing, or through email or your online course description, if you choose to impose such requirements.