South University requires MSN and DNP students to complete all program coursework with a grade of B or better. A B is 80 to 89, so an 80 passes and a 79 fails, which means the working floor for a graduate nurse is a hard 80 with comfortable margin only above 85. If you fall below the required grade you may repeat that course exactly once, the next time it is offered, and no course may be retaken more than once. A second failure ends in dismissal from the program. Because South bills per quarter credit, each repeat also rebills every credit, so the B rule is a cost rule and a survival rule at the same time.
Where the floor really sits
On South's scale, B covers 80 to 89 and carries 3.0 quality points, while C covers 70 to 79. In most programs a C is a weak pass. In the MSN and DNP it is a failed course, because the progression rule requires a B or better in program coursework. That single line moves your working floor up ten points: 79 is not a near miss, it is a repeat. Plan as if 80 is sea level and 85 is the real waterline, because a course that hovers in the low 80s all session can slip under the line on one bad exam week.
The one-retake rule, exactly
The consequence structure is where the math gets sharp. Under South's progression standards, a student who scores below the required grade may repeat the course a single time, in the next quarter or session it is offered. No course may be retaken more than once. A student who fails to successfully complete the required coursework is dismissed from the program. So the true number of attempts you have is not unlimited; it is two, and the second one is the last. This reframes a shaky course from an inconvenience into a genuine risk to the degree, and it is the reason a mid-session grade in the low 80s deserves intervention, not reassurance.
The dollar math
Every repeat is billed again at the full per-credit rate, so the B rule is denominated in money as well as time.
| Scenario | Grade | What follows |
|---|---|---|
| Comfortable pass | 85 to 89 | Clears with margin against one bad week |
| Thin pass | 80 to 84 | Passes, but one weak exam can undo it |
| First failure | below 80 | Repeat once; every credit rebilled at the MSN or DNP rate |
| Second failure | below 80 again | Dismissal from the program |
At graduate nursing rates a repeated multi-credit course is a four-figure bill on top of a lost session, which is why preventing one thin pass from becoming a failure is the highest-value move in the whole program. The rate table lives in the tuition manual.
Building margin on purpose
- Treat 85 as your target, not 80; margin is the product in graduate nursing
- Read the minimum-grade line in your syllabus during week one, every course
- Watch the gradebook by week 4; a low-80s average is a signal, not a comfort
- Protect exam weeks, since a single test can move a course under the line
- Never spend your one retake casually; a second slip ends the program
Where support fits, honestly
Our lane here is margin. We carry the weekly written deliverables to an A standard so your average sits well above 80, and we walk you through each one so the learning is yours. On quizzes and exams we build the preparation and you sit them: condensed notes for the tested material and practice questions with the reasoning explained. On the graded pieces we support, if one lands below target we revise it free until it clears. The whole point is that the B rule never arrives as a surprise, because the average was built with room to spare. The scale itself is mapped in the grading manual.
Keep the average above the rule
Send your course and a gradebook screenshot. The margin math and a free first sample come back 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:
- catalog.southuniversity.edu/student-progression-policies-by-program: the official progression policy, primary source for the B requirement and retake rule
- catalog.southuniversity.edu/grading-policies: the official grading scale
- www.ccneaccreditation.org: Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the nursing accreditor
- www.sacscoc.org: the institutional accreditor