The ladder runs A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, then straight to D and E, with E as the fail. An A carries 4.00; the A+ displays as 4.33 on the record while cumulative GPA tops out at 4.00, a pleasant oddity rather than a strategy. The rule with teeth is Edson's progression floor: nursing courses need a C minimum, so a D is not a weak pass here, it is a blocked path and a repurchased course at ASU Online's per-credit rates. Coursework grades assemble week by week in Canvas from papers, boards, quizzes, proctored exams, and the applied-project capstones, NUR 464 at the bachelor's level, NUR 593 at the master's, with rubrics doing the scoring throughout.
The ladder, exactly
| Grade | Points | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| A+ / A / A- | 4.33 display / 4.00 / 3.67 | Cumulative GPA caps at 4.00 regardless of A+ count |
| B+ / B / B- | 3.33 / 3.00 / 2.67 | The graduate comfort zone's lower edge |
| C+ / C | 2.33 / 2.00 | The C is nursing's progression floor, and there is no C- beneath it |
| D | 1.00 | No D+ exists; in nursing courses a D blocks progression |
| E | 0.00 | ASU's fail, the F by another letter |
The two quirks, decoded
The missing C-minus and D-plus mean the ladder jumps hard at its lower-middle: slip below a C and the next rung is a full D, which in Edson courses is functionally an E because of the progression rule. And the E itself trips up transfer students hunting for an F that does not exist, same meaning, different letter, zero points. Neither quirk changes strategy so much as it sharpens it: the safe territory starts at C+ and the comfortable territory at B, which is why our drafting targets the A range as margin rather than ambition.
Nursing's C floor, spelled out
Edson requires a minimum C in nursing courses to progress, which converts the ladder's lower half into a cliff: a 72 passes and a 69 repurchases the course at per-credit rates and stalls the sequence behind it, session math included. Practical consequence for a 7.5-week course: any gradebook drifting toward the mid-70s at the halfway mark deserves intervention that week, not hope. Send a screenshot any time; the recovery arithmetic comes back free.
The Canvas gradebook on the session clock
Grades assemble in Canvas from the deliverable mix, scholarly papers, discussion boards, quizzes and proctored exams, presentations, improvement-project work, and the capstones, across 7.5-week sessions where each week is a real fraction of the total. The compression rewards the standing habits: the session mapped in its first sitting, heavy modules pre-positioned, exam weeks split so study hours stay whole, per the exam desk, and feedback folded forward module over module.
Playing the ladder well
- Know the E and the missing rungs; ASU's ladder reads differently than the one you left
- Nursing students: treat the C floor as a cliff edge and the B as sea level
- Map every 7.5-week session in the first sitting; short clocks forgive no surprises
- The A+ is a pleasant display, not a strategy; cumulative caps at 4.00 anyway
- Watch withdrawal calendars before the math fails, not after
Keep the average above the floor
Send your course and a gradebook screenshot. The ladder read and the plan come back free, same day.
Sources and verification
Facts on this page come from official and independent sources, and anything that matters is worth checking against the originals:
- nursingandhealth.asu.edu: Edson College's official site, primary source for program and progression facts
- asuonline.asu.edu: ASU Online's official hub, where session structure and tuition live
- catalog.asu.edu: the official ASU catalog, the binding source for grading policy
- www.ccneaccreditation.org: Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the nursing accreditor
- apastyle.apa.org: APA Style, the official style authority