Model A, traditional letter grades, governs the majority of courses: A through F with quality points, a D- minimum pass in most programs, cumulative GPA floors of 2.0 undergraduate and 3.0 graduate, faculty posting finals within seven days. Model B, competency-based education, governs the CBE tracks, RN to BSN, the CBE MBA, MHA, and Master of Information Systems: marks of MA, ME, or NM on authentic assessments, up to three attempts each, credit on ME-or-better for the majority, up to five concurrent courses. Model C, Direct Assessment, adds a W to the same marks and measures progress in competency units, three per typical course, with six CUs per term required for Regular standing. One university, three physics engines.
The comparison, one screen
| Letter (A) | CBE (B) | Direct Assessment (C) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marks | A to F, quality points | MA / ME / NM | MA / ME / NM / W |
| Pace unit | One 5-6 week course at a time | Assessments, up to 5 courses at once | Competency units on a term clock |
| Retry structure | The course itself | Up to 3 attempts per assessment | Attempts within the term's CU math |
| Standing rule | 2.0 UG / 3.0 grad cumulative | ME+ on the majority per course | 6+ CUs per term for Regular |
| Our guarantee wording | An A-range letter | Mastered | Mastered |
Model A: the letter-graded majority
The default Phoenix experience: accelerated five-to-six-week courses, weekly deliverable clusters, participation graded through discussion posts and substantive replies, finals posted within a week of course end. The floors do the quiet damage, a graduate student's 3.0 cumulative leaves little room for a stray C in a short course, and the compressed calendar means recovery must happen inside the very next block. Full service mechanics at the letter-graded desk.
Model B: competency-based education
Four programs run on authentic assessments, real skills applied to your real employer or unit, marked MA, ME, or NM. The three-attempt structure sounds forgiving and behaves strictly: evaluators expect resubmissions to answer their feedback exactly, and the majority rule means specific assessments, not vague averages, decide credit. Concurrency up to five courses converts discipline into speed, the CBE MBA finishing inside a year is the flagship example. The CBE desk holds the method.
Model C: Direct Assessment
The furthest from credit hours: progress counted in competency units, a term clock with a census date, and the six-CU Regular-standing floor that makes every term a small arithmetic problem. Transfer credit converts into CUs here, which makes pre-enrollment credit sweeps disproportionately valuable. The DA desk runs the maps.
The ARA wire under all three
Whatever the model, engagement is tracked as Academically Related Activity: post something graded-adjacent in each course by the end of week two or be dropped, and 28 days without ARA converts enrollment to W grades. It is the easiest rule in the catalog to satisfy and the most brutal to forget, and every engagement we run tracks it as a standing line item.
Choosing between models, and playing the one you have
- Choosing before enrollment: steady calendar plus real workplace material favors CBE or DA; unpredictable weeks favor the letter stack's one-course focus
- Letter students: protect the floors, clear each five-week block first-attempt, keep participation substantive
- CBE students: build attempt-one-final drafts, bank Mastered early, map the majority math
- DA students: clear six CUs in the term's first half, always
- All three: the ARA wire stays visible, and instructor or evaluator feedback converts into the next deliverable, systematically
Whichever engine, we drive it daily
Send your program and current course. The model read, the plan, and a free 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:
- www.phoenix.edu: the University of Phoenix official site, the primary source for program, tuition, and policy facts
- 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