UNCW nursing grades, repeats and progression rules
In UNCW's DNP you need a B in every required course, you get one course repeat for the whole program, and a grade below C ends your enrollment. The BSN sets its floor at a C of 77, with clinicals graded pass/fail. This page sets out each rule from UNCW's handbooks and catalog, flags where they disagree, and shows how losing a preceptor can pull you into them.
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The DNP floor: a B in each required course
The DNP Student Handbook 2025-2026 states the standard without hedging: "Student must maintain a grade of B (3.0) in each required course to remain in the program." The 2026-27 graduate catalog repeats the B minimum for every DNP concentration and adds a cumulative GPA requirement of 3.0.
Final course grades are rounded under the handbook's 0.5 rule, while individual assignment grades are left unrounded. Check your running total in Canvas well before the last week of a course instead of counting on a bump at the end.
| Grade | Score | What the handbook says happens |
|---|---|---|
| A | 90-100 | Passing |
| B | 80-89 | Passing, and the minimum in every required course |
| C | 70-79 | Must repeat the course; program progression halts |
| F | Below 70 | Failure and dismissal from the DNP program |
| I/F or WF | No score | Dismissal from the DNP program |
One repeat for the whole program
A C does not end a DNP on its own, but it spends your only second chance. The handbook lets a student who earns a C retake that course once, and only one course may be repeated during your entire enrollment. Falling short on the retake, or earning below a C in any DNP course, means dismissal.
The catalog frames the same limit from the other direction: two or more C's and you are dismissed. Above the School of Nursing sits the Graduate School, which dismisses any graduate student with three grades of C+ or C in any combination, one F or I/F, or one U or I/U, and puts students under a 3.0 GPA on probation. The nursing rule is the stricter of the two, so it is the one that applies first.
Practicum courses carry their own limits in the catalog. FNP and AGPCNP practica list a repeat limit of one. The PMHNP practica, NSGL 646 through NSGL 649, are marked "Course may not be repeated," so a PMHNP student has no second attempt at a clinical course. Each sequence is described on the PMHNP practicum courses page.
A C in any DNP course halts progression until you retake it, and a second C anywhere in the program ends your enrollment.
Clinical safety, attendance and the preceptor's evaluation
"Students deemed clinically unsafe will be dismissed from the program and will not be eligible for readmission." The handbook judges clinical readiness across availability, interpersonal skills, emotional stability, ethical and legal behavior, clinical skills, communication and accountability, so safety reaches well beyond a single procedure.
Attendance is graded in effect as well. The handbook warns that excessive absences may result in dismissal, and when you must miss a clinical day, faculty hear from you by the start of that experience rather than after it.
Part of your grade rests on a form someone else completes. You are responsible for making sure the preceptor submits the Assessment of Clinical Performance before the semester ends, because UNCW ties your course grade to it. How those evaluations and the faculty site visits run is covered in preceptor evaluations and site visits.
Incompletes: a pause on a 12-month fuse
An incomplete can look like breathing room, but in the DNP it freezes everything that comes after. When a clinical course ends with hours or minimum encounters still missing, the handbook has you finish within a time frame that course faculty set with the program coordinator and concentration leads, and program progression stops until the I is cleared.
The graduate catalog caps any extension at one year. If no grade change is filed within 12 months, the incomplete converts to an I/F by itself, and the DNP scale lists I/F as dismissal. An incomplete in your final semester means completing the course for a letter grade the next semester and graduating in that later term.
Registrar dates that sit around an incomplete, such as the last day to withdraw, are on the academic calendar page.
Time limits: UNCW's sources give different numbers
How long you have to finish depends on which UNCW document you open. Plan to the shortest figure that could apply to you until your concentration lead confirms otherwise.
| Program | Limit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| DNP, all concentrations | Six years from first registration | DNP Student Handbook 2025-2026 |
| Doctoral, without a related master's | 10 calendar years | 2026-27 graduate catalog |
| Doctoral, with a related master's | 7 calendar years | 2026-27 graduate catalog |
| MSN Nurse Educator | Five years from first registration | 2026-27 graduate catalog |
| BSN nursing courses | Six consecutive calendar years | 2026-27 undergraduate catalog |
The catalog adds that the doctoral clock cannot be paused, even during an approved leave of absence, and allows one extension of a year. The handbook's six years is tighter than either catalog figure. Part-time BSN-DNP plans already stretch across 14 semesters, so one repeated course or one lost clinical term uses up a margin that is thinner than it looks.
BSN, ABSN and nurse educator rules
Prelicensure and ABSN students work to a different scale. "A final grade of C (77-79) or higher is required to pass the course," and progression needs a cumulative GPA of 2.7. Only one nursing course may be retaken after a failure; failing that retake, or failing a second course, means dismissal, and a dismissed student cannot apply again. A dismissal can be appealed to the CHHS Dean within 30 days.
Clinical and lab components are graded pass/fail, and a clinical failure fails the whole course whatever the theory grade says. Medication math is all or nothing: 100% on the dosage calculation within three tries per clinical course, or the course grade is an F. A student who falls out of sequence re-enrolls subject to course and clinical placement space. The BSN prelicensure page covers the clinical sequence itself.
MSN Nurse Educator students need a B or higher in every course. A grade under B but not under C may be retaken once, in one course; a second unsuccessful attempt, or several grades below B, may lead to dismissal. Incompletes must be resolved within one calendar year or they become an F.
How a lost preceptor becomes a progression problem
For NP students the quieter threat to progression is time rather than grades. UNCW requires every clinical hour to be finished before the last day of classes, you cannot start until course orientation and Graduate Clinical Coordinator approval, and a course left short becomes an incomplete that freezes the rest of your plan. When a preceptor walks away mid-term, all three rules start running against you together.
A second trap sits in UNCW's placement rules. When the Clinical Placement Team offers you a site, you are expected to accept it, and declining can mean withdrawal from the course and suspended progression. That rule is explained on the Clinical Placement Team sites page.
- Report it the day it happensWrite to your course faculty and the Clinical Placement Team with your Typhon totals, so both can see the hours and encounters still owed.
- Use the four-preceptor allowanceUNCW allows up to four preceptors per clinical course, each with its own placement packet, so a partial replacement keeps hours accruing.
- Raise an incomplete before grades closeIf the remaining hours will not fit, agree a completion plan with faculty while the term is still open.
- Put a placement desk on the searchOur placement desk finds a North Carolina preceptor who fits your course and prepares every detail the Graduate Clinical Coordinator reviews, so the replacement reaches review complete.
The full recovery plan is on preceptor dropped out. To start a replacement search now, use the form below.
Questions UNCW students ask
Can I repeat an NP practicum at UNCW if I fail it?
It depends on your concentration. The catalog gives FNP and AGPCNP practica a repeat limit of one, while the PMHNP practica, NSGL 646 to NSGL 649, may not be repeated at all. Any retake also uses the single course repeat the DNP handbook allows for your whole program, so a later C in another course would end your enrollment.
What GPA do I need to stay in UNCW's DNP program?
A cumulative 3.0. The catalog sets that figure for every DNP concentration, and the Graduate School places graduate students below 3.0 on probation. Because each required course also needs a B, one C can lower your average and halt your progression in the same term, so watch both numbers every semester.
Is a WF the same as failing in UNCW's DNP?
In practice, yes. The DNP handbook's grading scale lists WF next to F and I/F as grounds for dismissal. Under the graduate catalog a WF is assigned from the thirteenth week of the semester onward, so any withdrawal decision has to come well before then. Speak with your course faculty and advisor first.
Is a C a passing grade in UNCW's BSN?
Yes, as long as it is at least 77. The School of Nursing scale treats 77 to 79 as a C, the lowest passing grade in a nursing course. A score under 77 fails the course, and only one nursing course may be retaken after a failure during the whole program.
Can a dismissed UNCW BSN student reapply?
Not under the Prelicensure Student Handbook, which says students dismissed from the program cannot reapply for admission. A dismissal can be appealed to the CHHS Dean within 30 days, so if you believe a decision was wrong, read the appeal steps in your handbook and act inside that window.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
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