CBE deliverables score 4-3-2-1 per criterion, converting as 4 = 94 to 100 = A, 3 = 85 to 93 = B, 2 = 78 to 84 = C, 1 = below 78 = not passing, with the deliverable's overall score equal to its lowest criterion. Traditional courses use the full letter ladder from A at 4.00 through D- at 0.75 to F at 0.00, with plus-minus steps. Nursing adds the gate: a course's exam-score average must reach 78 percent, un-rounded, before any assignment or quiz points count, and lab or clinical components must pass on their own. Co-requisite lab courses in the sciences require 60 percent in both lecture and lab, or both fail.
The CBE competency scale
Empowered Learning courses report each deliverable on the competency scale, and the catalog's conversion is exact: a 4 spans 94 to 100 percent and records as an A; a 3 spans 85 to 93, a B; a 2 spans 78 to 84, a C; a 1 sits below 78 and does not pass. Every rubric criterion must individually reach at least a 2, and the deliverable's overall score is its lowest criterion score, the rule that defines CBE strategy here and gets its full treatment in the project manual. Notice what the conversion implies: at Rasmussen, a "passing" 2 is a C, and the gap between passing and excellent is one thin rubric row.
The traditional letter ladder
| Letter | Grade points | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| A / A- | 4.00 / 3.75 | The guarantee wording on this site targets this band |
| B+ / B / B- | 3.50 / 3.00 / 2.75 | Graduate standing expectations live here |
| C+ / C / C- | 2.50 / 2.00 / 1.75 | Common-scale C runs 76 to 73 percent; program minimums vary |
| D+ / D / D- | 1.50 / 1.00 / 0.75 | D territory bottoms at 63; below 60 is an F |
| F | 0.00 | Retaken at full per-credit price |
Percentage bands follow the catalog's common and health-sciences scales; your syllabus is the per-course authority, and health programs run hotter, check yours in week one.
The nursing exam rule, exactly as written
School of Nursing courses gate the entire gradebook behind exams: the average of all exam scores in the course must reach at least 78 percent before assignment and quiz points are added at all, and the average does not round, 77.9 is below the line, full stop. Practical consequences: perfect written work cannot rescue a 77 exam average; the gate is computed across all exams, so early stumbles are recoverable with arithmetic, not despair; and study hours belong to exams first in any week containing one. We run the exam-average math free from a gradebook screenshot at the standard coursework desk, and our nursing engagements always carry the two-lane split, writing handled, exam prep built like the grade it is.
Lab and clinical co-requisites
Science courses whose codes end in C carry a lab component wired to the lecture: both halves must clear 60 percent, or both fail together, one retake, two components, full price. Nursing's lecture-plus-lab and lecture-plus-clinical courses similarly require the lab or clinical assessment to be satisfactory in its own right. The planning rule is simple: never triage a lab to protect a lecture, they share a fate.
Playing both systems well
- Know which system each course uses before it starts; italics in the catalog mean CBE
- In CBE, guard the weakest rubric row, it is your recorded score
- In nursing, run the 78 math after every exam and study to the number, not the mood
- Protect lab co-reqs as a unit, and never let a 60-both-sides course drift
- When a term needs triage, triage by system: CBE projects hand off cleanly, exams never do
Whatever the scale, target its top
Send your course code and gradebook. The scale 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:
- www.rasmussen.edu/student-experience/empowered-learning: Rasmussen's official Empowered Learning pages, source for the CBE project structure
- www.rasmussen.edu/tuition: official subscription and per-credit tuition published by Rasmussen
- www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/course-catalog: the official course catalog, source for grading scales and course codes
- www.hlcommission.org: Higher Learning Commission, the institutional accreditor
- www.ccneaccreditation.org: Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the nursing accreditor
- apastyle.apa.org: APA Style, the official style authority behind the formatting rules