Do professors want to fail you? You’ll be surprised by their answer
About the author
Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.
Do professors want to fail students?
No, professors do not want to fail students because they want to be able to teach effectively and have students successfully complete their course. However, professors will want to fail students who don’t learn the material because they don’t want them to get academic credit they didn’t rightfully earn.
You found yourself here because you may feel like the college or university system is rigged to fail a certain amount of students.
Or you think that your professor has it out for you and they are trying to fail you on purpose.
Maybe you think professors have a QUOTA that they must abide by with a certain number of students failing the class. Or to keep the college competitive, they are encouraged to fail students who don’t measure up.
But you’d be wrong, and I will explain why. I was a professor for 15 years, and I am going to tell you the truth about professors failing students.
Is my professor trying to fail me?
No, your professor is not trying to purposefully fail you. Most colleges, in the United States, will have some oversight of their professors and they won’t be able to target students to fail. However, if you are earning your course grade, your professor might want you to fail because you don’t deserve to pass the course but it isn’t intended to be mean.
You’re probably thinking that I am lying because I worked for a college, and I must be biased and trying to protect them since I WAS A PROFESSOR.
Nope. Not at all.
I am really telling the truth here. The college isn’t out to get you. The college hasn’t masterminded a plan to weed out the weak students.
If anything, there is a big push to help students that are on the brink of failing.
I am serious. Most universities have systems in place to identify students who are struggling and offer ways to help them with the college’s resources before things get worse.
To prove this point, why would they allow you to stay in college if you fail? Most colleges will place students on academic probation or academic suspension before kicking out students. If they really wanted students to fail, they wouldn’t allow you to stay in college and get some additional help and try again.
Now, I will say that some professors will gladly FAIL YOU if you are producing failing grades. After all, professors are preparing you for a career and if you can’t master the material, you may not perform well in your future career. That’s not something they want to be responsible for.
So, sure. Professors are going to FAIL YOU if you deserve it. Colleges don’t want to pass everyone that is enrolled in their college unless they EARN it.
How to approach a professor who is failing you
If your professor is failing you, you should approach them quickly after you learn about your failing grades and talk to them to get answers. Don’t wait to approach your professor who’s class you are failing and ask them ways that you could improve.
You aren’t trying to plead with them to just pass you, or have mercy on you. Instead, you are trying to find out how you could improve.
You go into their office or email them to discuss what you are doing wrong, how to improve, and identify what you need to do to get passing grades.
If this means working extra hard, going by during your professor’s office hours to get some help, or going to tutoring, you need to be ready to do it.
I have an entire article dedicated to answering this question , and you should check it out if you want to know how to approach your professor if you’re failing.
Do professors like failing students?
Some professors WILL WANT TO FAIL students if they deserve to fail. Professors are tasked with a BIG job. They are making sure you meet all the course objectives. And that you master the material. If you don’t earn a passing grade, they definitely want to give students the grade they earned.
With that said, they are preparing you to eventually go into a career, and they don’t want to pass people who can’t pull their own weight in the course. And why should they pass people who didn’t study hard enough or show up to class.
So, yeah, professors would be delighted to fail students who couldn’t handle the course because this could result in a disaster later on.
Let me give you an example. Pretend you are an engineer, and you barely graduated. Maybe professors passed you even when you deserved to fail. And later in your career, you are part of a project where you are constructing a building. But because you didn’t really master the material, you make some serious mistakes. And the building collapses.
This is bad. And lots of lives could be lost. So, obviously professors want to make sure people deserve to pass because you don’t want people in jobs when they shouldn’t be.
Can professors pass you even if you fail?
Yes, professors can pass you even if you fail. Professors can alter your grades if they wanted to and assign you any letter grade they want. But this doesn’t mean it is ethical or expected.
When I was a professor, we were required to submit all our final grades to our boss. And this meant that they had all the students’ grades for each assignment, and how we calculated students’ final grades too.
So, if we were fudging the grades, they would know.
However, I do know that professors can bump up students’ grades if they want to and there isn’t really any rule that says they can’t. I never ever did because I felt that students earned their grades instead of deserved their grades.
What can you do if a professor is trying to fail you?
If your professor is intentionally trying to fail you and you don’t deserve it, you will need to gather enough evidence to appeal your grade. I would try talking to your professor first, but if you end up receiving a failing grade in the course, most colleges will let you appeal the grade.
I guess that there can be some mean-sprited and unfair professors out there.
And you need to figure out how to handle it because it is entirely unfair. But first, you need to make sure you have legitimate evidence that supports this. You’ll need to be able to explain how your professor is unfair.
I never knew of a professor who concocted a plan to fail a student. It just never happened at my college, and it never happened to me or anyone I knew while I was in college.
I am not saying it isn’t happening to you, but you need to take a step back and analyze the situation. Is there truly malice in your professor’s decision? Or do they have a legitimate reason to fail you?
You are really going to have to try and not take their decision to fail you personal. Once you do this, you will be able to tell if you are truly being treated unfairly.
And if this is happening to you, I am incredibly sorry that you are having this experience.
If your professor is trying to fail you, and you have solid proof, you could go to their boss. But before you do that, I would try and talk to your professor first and have an honest discussion.
I wouldn’t outright tell them that you think they are malicious and are trying to fail you, but you could talk to them and figure out where they are coming from. They may give you more insight into why you are failing.
After you get your professor’s feedback and you are doing everything you can to pass the class, and you really feel like you are doing everything you can, and you are certain your professor is trying to fail you, you could escalate your situation to their boss.
You can’t go to their boss and complain that they are making the class too hard. Instead, you need to bring the evidence that you have collected that shows that your professor is targeting you.
I have to caution you and tell you that this is RARE and most professors aren’t trying to fail you. So, make sure you really have some evidence to support it before you speak against your professor.
You may not have to go to your professor’s boss first if your college has some sort of office that serves students. This may be called a Dean of Student’s office or Student Services. Go check with them first and get their feedback.
You may even try to see if your college has counseling services. They may offer some amazing advice too.
If you don’t want to do any of those things, you could just wait and see how the semester finishes out.
And if you have a really solid case that your professor gave you the wrong grade and you want to get it fixed, you could appeal your grade. There are plenty of other options that you have before you just have to accept your professor’s grading mistakes.
Check out my other articles where I will give you more advice about dealing with grading errors and what to do if your professor is intentionally trying to fail you.
Do professors have to pass a certain number of students?
No, professors don’t have to pass a certain number of students because that would be unethical. The university shouldn’t place quotas on their professors because then their graduation rates would be questioned. Professors and universities want students to earn their grades, and they should give students the grade they deserve.
Now, I will say that professors should be paying close attention to the success of their students. And if they realize that a lot of students are struggling and have difficulty passing the class, they may change their policies, grading structure, or instruction to improve pass rates.
But there shouldn’t be some arbitrary number that professors aim for when passing students.
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