Grades, Incompletes and time limits in Samford's graduate nursing programs
Samford's graduate nursing students need a B or better in every course, and a clinical failure is an F however strong the coursework was. The catalog grants an Incomplete only under narrow conditions, a nursing Incomplete blocks progression without permission, and programs carry a four-year limit with a fifth year by petition. Here is each rule with its source, and what it means when a clinical course runs short on hours.
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The grade scale
The graduate handbook sets its own scale for the Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing, and it asks for a B or better in every course. That makes a C+ or C a result you have to recover from, not a pass you can carry forward.
| Grade | Score or meaning |
|---|---|
| A | 91 to 100 |
| B+ | 89 to 90 |
| B | 82 to 88 |
| C+ | 80 to 81 |
| C | 75 to 79 |
| D | 70 to 74 |
| F | 0 to 69 |
| F (clinical failure) | Failure of the clinical component, whatever the other grades |
Other codes can appear on a graduate transcript. The catalog lists FA for failure due to absences, FX for failure due to a violation of academic integrity, and WF, which carries the same penalty as an F.
Incomplete and In Progress
The graduate catalog treats the two codes differently. INC, Incomplete, applies when a student has done passing work but, because of an emergency, has not finished some required portion, and that work can be completed without attending class again. IP, In Progress, marks a course that remains open and ends after the term's final grade deadline.
The catalog puts conditions on an Incomplete. You must have completed the majority of the coursework, which it illustrates as 50 percent or more, with a passing grade, and you must ask the instructor for the Incomplete before the final exam. The outstanding work has to be finished within the following term, or the grade turns into an automatic F.
Nursing adds two more layers. The graduate handbook says an Incomplete makes a student ineligible to move to the next course without permission from the program coordinator or the graduate nursing associate dean, and the catalog warns that an Incomplete in one or more courses may change your plan of study.
Neither source ties INC or IP to unfinished clinical hours, so if a clinical course is running short, ask your course faculty early which one would apply. Our guide to falling behind on clinical hours covers the practical side.
Clinical failure
A clinical failure settles the course. The handbook says a student who fails clinically receives an F regardless of the grades earned in the didactic part, and must leave the clinical area immediately once the failure is identified.
Withdrawing does not erase it. If you have already failed a course clinically before the last day to withdraw without academic penalty and then withdraw, the grade recorded is a WF, which counts like an F. Each term's withdrawal date is on the academic calendar.
Faculty hold the clinical judgment. Under the handbook, a faculty member can also pull a student out of the clinical setting when behavior signals the student may be unable to give safe care. For nurse practitioner students, the clinical standing, clinical probation and progression policy is in the NP Clinical Manual inside the Nurse Practitioner Homeroom, which the handbook requires every NP student to read and follow.
Repeats, probation and dismissal
- You may enroll in the same nursing course no more than twice.
- Failing the same course twice, or failing two separate courses, constitutes dismissal.
- After an academic probation notice, a required nursing course not completed successfully within one calendar year leads to dismissal.
- A student found ineligible for clinical placement at any contracted clinical agency of the school, for example after a background check, receives a course failure and dismissal from the program.
- No participation in an online course for 21 consecutive days earns an FA.
- Plagiarism, unapproved use of artificial intelligence tools, and unethical, unprofessional or unsafe conduct may lead to immediate dismissal.
Integrity cases for College of Health Sciences graduate students run under a policy effective October 1, 2019, with the Registrar serving as Academic Integrity Officer and a Graduate Academic Council deciding cases. A student with a Values Violation pending cannot take part in commencement. Background check rules have their own page: background checks and drug testing.
The time limit and enrollment status
Samford gives graduate nursing students four years to complete a program. A student who needs longer may petition the graduate program for one additional year, for a total of five, under both the handbook and the catalog's program interruptions section.
Full-time status means 6 credit hours in fall or spring and 3 in summer. A student who is unenrolled for more than one semester is considered inactive, which is worth weighing before you sit out a term for any reason, including waiting on a clinical placement.
Most Samford plans fit well inside the limit: six semesters for the BSN to MSN options, eight for the ADN to MSN options and three years for the FNP BSN to DNP. The margin narrows when a clinical course slips a term, because the plan of study places the clinical courses one after another.
Transfer credit and prior clinical hours
Graduate students can transfer up to 12 graduate credits from a college or university accredited by CCNE, CNEA or ACEN, formerly NLNAC. The catalog asks for a course substitution form with the syllabus attached, the handbook adds the transcript, and the nursing course substitution runs through Dynamic Forms.
Certificate and post-master's students go through a separate step: Samford runs a gap analysis of prior transcripts. That review can add courses such as NURG 533, NURG 610 and NURG 633 to a PMHNP plan, or NURG 731, NURG 732 and NURG 606 to an FNP certificate plan.
For the DNP, the handbook lets up to 500 of the required 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours come from an MSN or post-graduate certificate, but nurse practitioner students must still complete every direct clinical hour listed in their plan of study. The DNP 1,000 hours guide explains how the two counts fit together.
Keeping a clinical course on schedule
Several rules on this page bite hardest when a clinical course starts late or stalls: an Incomplete needs permission before you progress, a withdrawal can reshape your plan, and the four-year clock keeps running. The best protection is a preceptor confirmed well before the term, plus a plan for what happens if that preceptor has to step away.
That is the work the placement desk is built around. We match a preceptor to your exact Samford course, assemble what Samford needs to review, and stay on call through the term; if a preceptor drops, we start the search for a replacement so your hours can keep moving. Tell us your course and term to start.
Questions Samford students ask
What happens if my preceptor cancels partway through a Samford clinical course?
Tell your course faculty at once, because your options depend on timing. The catalog grants an Incomplete only after an emergency, once most coursework is done with a passing grade, and only if requested before the final exam; nursing then adds a progression hold. A replacement preceptor inside the same term is the cleanest fix, and it is the first thing we work on.
Is a C a passing grade in Samford's graduate nursing program?
Not for progression. The graduate nursing handbook requires a B or better in every course, and its scale starts a B at 82. A C+ at 80 to 81 or a C at 75 to 79 falls short of that standard, and Samford allows no more than two enrollments in the same nursing course.
How long do I have to finish a Samford NP program?
Four years, with a petition option for a fifth. The request goes to the Moffett & Sanders graduate program, and the catalog places the rule under program interruptions. Being unenrolled for more than one semester makes you inactive, so plan any break with your program coordinator before you take it.
Can clinical hours from another school count at Samford?
The public rules speak to credits and DNP practice hours rather than NP clinical hours. Up to 12 graduate credits can transfer from a school accredited by CCNE, CNEA or ACEN, and DNP students may apply up to 500 practice hours from an MSN or certificate. NP students still complete every direct clinical hour in their Samford plan.
Can I withdraw from a Samford clinical course I am failing?
You can withdraw by the term's deadline, but the handbook closes one route: if you have already failed the course clinically before that date, the withdrawal is recorded as WF, with the same penalty as an F. Talk with your program coordinator first, since any withdrawal also affects your plan of study.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Samford's own program pages, plans of study, the 2026-27 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Alabama rules. Your course, your program coordinator and Graduate Student Services have the final word.
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