In most US colleges the lowest passing grade is a D-, which is 60%, and it earns you credit for the course. In high school the line is set by your district and is usually somewhere between 60 and 70. That's the short answer.
The longer answer matters, because "I passed" can mean three different things: you got credit for the class, the class counts toward your major or graduation, and you stayed in good academic standing. The bar is different for each.
If you're heading into a final and need to know the score that clears the line, the final grade calculator works it out from your current grade and the final's weight.
What is a passing grade in college?
On the standard college scale published by Columbia University's School of Professional Studies and the University of the Incarnate Word, a D- at 60% is the lowest passing grade and anything below 60 is an F. Pass the class with a D- and you get the credits.
But passing the class and having it count are separate questions.
Many majors require a C or better in their required courses, and a D in one of those means retaking it even though you technically passed. Georgia Tech requires a student who fails a required course to repeat it, and George Washington University notes that minimum GPA standards must be met to complete a major and a degree. A run of D grades can pass every class and still not add up to a degree.
Good standing is a third bar. Most colleges expect a cumulative GPA of 2.0, a C average, to avoid academic probation. Two D grades pull that down fast.
So the practical passing grade in college is usually a C, not a D. The D keeps the credit. The C keeps your options.
Passing a pass/fail course
Pass/fail courses have their own line, and it's not always 60. At UNC Chapel Hill, a pass in a pass/fail course is equivalent to a D or higher. Other schools set it at C or higher, so a 68% could be a pass at one college and a fail at another. Check the catalog before you choose the pass/fail option. How pass/fail affects your GPA is covered on the college grading system page.
What is a passing grade in high school?
High schools don't share a national passing grade, and in most states the district sets it. Texas law, for example, requires a student to be promoted only on academic achievement or demonstrated proficiency, leaves the specifics to the district, and in Texas Education Code section 28.021 requires each district to make its advancement requirements public by the start of the school year.
In practice the passing grade in high school is usually one of three numbers:
- 60, on a 10-point scale where A is 90 and above. This is the most common.
- 65, used by some states and districts, often tied to state exams.
- 70, used by a number of districts and states as the line for course credit.
Your student handbook or district website states which one applies, and it's worth checking rather than assuming, because the difference between 60 and 70 is a full letter grade on most tests.
High school also separates passing a course from earning credit for it and from being promoted a grade. A student can pass a class, earn the credit, and still be held back for other reasons, or pass every class but miss a graduation requirement.
The lowest passing grade on common scales
| Scale | Lowest passing grade |
|---|---|
| US college (standard) | D-, 60% |
| US college, many majors | C, 73% (for required courses) |
| US high school | 60, 65 or 70, set by the district |
| UK university | 40 (50 for taught master's) |
| Canada (University of Toronto) | 50 |
| Australia (UNSW) | 50 |
| India (UGC CBCS) | 40, a P grade |
| Germany | 4.0 (lower is better) |
Score and letter grade from the number wrong.
The international rows come from each system's official scale, set out on the grading scales by country page. They're a reminder that a "passing grade" only means something inside its own system. A 50 that passes in Toronto fails in Texas.
Passing isn't the same as safe
A D- passes. It also does the following, all at once: it counts as 0.7 grade points toward your GPA, it usually won't satisfy a major requirement, and if it's in a prerequisite it may block the next course. Two of them in one term can drop a 3.0 GPA below the 2.0 that most colleges require for good standing.
That's why the sensible target is the grade that keeps every door open, usually a C, rather than the one that technically clears the line.
If you're near the line
Work out the exact score you need rather than hoping. Put your current grade and the final's weight into the final grade calculator, set the target to your school's passing grade, and it tells you the score on the final that gets you there. It also shows what you'd need for a C, which is the number most students should actually be aiming at.
If the class is built from weighted categories and the portal only shows assignments, the weighted grade calculator rebuilds the total first. And for a single test or quiz, the grade calculator turns questions wrong into a percentage in one step.
If the arithmetic says the passing grade is out of reach, talk to the instructor early. Extra credit, a dropped score, an incomplete or a withdrawal are all better on a transcript than an F, and every one of them has a deadline.