Grading Policy
Duke Law School uses a slightly modified form of the traditional 4.0 scale. The modification permits faculty to recognize especially distinguished performance with grades above a 4.0.
There is an enforced maximum median grade and a limit on grades above 4.0 in all first-year courses and in all upper-class courses with more than 40 students. In addition, in these courses, no more than five percent of the grades in any class may be higher than a 4.0. A grade higher than 4.0 would be comparable to an “A+” under letter grading systems. A grade of 1.5 or lower is failing.
The transcripts of students who enrolled at Duke in 2003-2004 or earlier reflect two slightly different grading scales: Through the academic year 2003-2004, the first year for most of the Class of 2006, the enforced maximum median grade was a 3.1, and faculty were permitted to give a limited number of grades of up to 4.5. The new scale, in effect as of 2004-2005, has an enforced maximum median of 3.3 ,and the highest possible grade has been lowered to 4.3.
