Statement

The Office of Graduate Studies asserts that grades earned by a graduate student reflect the quality of their academic performance, as judged by the instructor of the course. The faculty member assigned to the course has the responsibility to assess the learner activity and assign a grade in a fair and reasonable manner.

The Office of Graduate Studies recognizes that, though rare, a student may feel that their grade does not accurately reflect his/her academic performance for one or more following reasons:

• There was an arithmetic error made in calculating the grade on an individual assessment or the final grade;
• The student can prove that an assessment or final grade was given in an arbitrary or capricious manner (i.e., deviation from the policies stated on the course syllabus); or
• The student can prove that the faculty member failed to invoke the use of a predetermined and communicated rubric/scoring system or failed to communicate expectations for an assignment(s)

Grade Appeals Process

Graduate students with grievances concerning grades should follow the steps to appeal outlined on the Provost's website and noted below:

1. Students must begin by following the appeal process within the college/school in which the course was taken, which always begins with the instructor of record for the course.
2. If the dean (or dean's designee) of the college/school denies the appeal, the student may file an appeal with the Office of Graduate Studies as outlined below.

Note: Once a student has exhausted the appeal process at the college/school level, they may submit an appeal to the Office of Graduate Studies. Appeals at this stage are limited to the following grounds: 1) procedural error that has materially impacted the outcome, 2) bias that have materially impacted the outcome, or 3) new information that has become available that was not reasonably accessible or presented during the original review that have materially impacted the outcome.

To file an appeal with the Office of Graduate Studies, students should send an email graduatecollege@drexel.edu to file an appeal and include the following information:

• A letter of appeal stating why they are appealing their grade and which of the three outlined appeal avenues listed above applies to their appeal;
• Include any documentation, such as email communications, screenshots, etc.

Upon receipt of a written appeal (email), the Office of Graduate Studies will issue a formal response via email. The response will either:

• Deny the appeal if it does not meet one of the three above criteria for consideration;
• Or, accept the appeal and provide the next steps in the process, including the general timeline for review, and requests for any additional relevant information, and other relevant instructions.

Once all documentation has been gathered, an independent and diverse committee of faculty members from across the University, but not from the involved college/school, will be convened to review and make a recommendation to the Senior Vice Provost for Graduate Education.

The Senior Vice President for Graduate Education will render a decision and that decision is final - there are NO OPTIONS for further appeal.

See also Grades Policy: Graduate Students and Statute of Limitations for Change to Grades or Transcript Changes.

Students in the Kline School of Law, College of Medicine and Pennslyvania College of Optometry are subject to the policies, procedures, guidelines, rules, regulations and requirements set forth in their program's respective student handbooks and not those of the Office of Graduate Studies.

Updated 10/2/25.