ASU's E is simply its failing grade, worth zero points, the F under a different letter. The full ladder runs A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, then jumps straight to D and E, with no C-minus and no D-plus in between. An A+ displays as 4.33 on the record, but your cumulative grade point average is capped at 4.00 no matter how many you earn, so it is a pleasant oddity rather than a strategy. Your ASU cumulative average is also built only from ASU coursework, so transfer grades never enter it. For Edson nursing students one more rule sits on top: nursing courses require a minimum C to progress, which turns the bottom of the ladder into a cliff, because a D is not a weak pass but a blocked path and a course to repurchase.
The ladder, rung by rung
| Grade | Points | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| A+ / A / A- | 4.33 display / 4.00 / 3.67 | Cumulative average never exceeds 4.00, no matter the A+ count |
| B+ / B / B- | 3.33 / 3.00 / 2.67 | The comfortable graduate band and its lower edge |
| C+ / C | 2.33 / 2.00 | The C is nursing's progression floor, and no C-minus exists beneath it |
| D | 1.00 | No D-plus exists; in nursing courses a D blocks progression |
| E | 0.00 | ASU's failing grade, the F by another letter |
Why ASU uses E instead of F
There is no hidden meaning in the letter. ASU's grading policy assigns E as the failing mark where most schools assign F, and it carries the same zero grade points and the same weight in your average. The only trap is administrative confusion: a transfer student reading a transcript or a syllabus for an F will not see one, and a student who spots an E can briefly assume it is something other than a fail. It is not. Treat E exactly as you would treat an F anywhere else, and read your syllabus for the percentage bands your instructor uses to convert scores into these letters, because those cutoffs are where the real decisions live.
The missing rungs, and what they change
The ladder has no C-minus and no D-plus, which means it jumps hard through its lower middle. Slip below a C and the next rung down is a full D rather than a gentle C-minus, and in Edson courses that D is functionally an E because of the progression rule. In the other direction, the A+ that shows 4.33 is capped out of your cumulative average at 4.00, so chasing it is not a GPA play. The strategic reading is simple: safe territory begins at C-plus, comfortable territory begins at B, and the gap where a small slip becomes a big drop is exactly the zone the missing rungs create.
Nursing's C floor, spelled out
Edson's progression policy requires a minimum grade, a C in nursing courses, to move forward in the program, and that rule converts the ladder's lower half into a cliff. A score that lands a low pass anywhere else can be a blocked path here, and a blocked nursing course does two expensive things at once: it repurchases at the program's per-credit rate and it stalls the sequence behind it on the session clock. The practical consequence for a 7.5-week course is that a gradebook drifting toward the mid-70s at the halfway mark deserves intervention that week, not hope. The floor is not a threat so much as a number to keep a clear margin above.
Where tutoring fits
Because the scale punishes a slip harder than most, the useful help is early and arithmetic. Send a gradebook screenshot and our tutors read it against your syllabus's actual bands, tell you the number you need on what remains, and build the plan to clear it, with the A range as the target and the C floor treated as the cliff it is. On exams the boundary stays firm: ASU runs remote-proctored sits under exam rules, so those we prepare you for and you sit them, while the writing around that week is what we help carry so your study hours stay whole. The first read and sample are free; the binding grading policy always lives in the ASU catalog.
Keep a clear margin above the floor
Send your course and a gradebook screenshot. The scale read and the plan come back free.
Sources and verification
Facts on this page come from official sources, and anything that matters is worth checking against the originals:
- registrar.asu.edu/grades: ASU's official grading policy, source for the E grade and the plus-minus values
- catalog.asu.edu: the official ASU catalog, the binding source for grading policy
- nursingandhealth.asu.edu: Edson College, source for the nursing C progression rule
- www.ccneaccreditation.org: Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the nursing accreditor
- apastyle.apa.org: APA Style, the official style authority