Indeed, the very grading structure at universities could be a reason that some people learn to give up without struggle when grades are low, and it could be a reason why college success often does not predict career success. We can't justify increasing the precision in all but one grading range, and we can't justify omitting it in an orderly system which strives to measure a continuous variable academic performance. I think this gives the F grade a power level which tends to excessively drag down grade point averages. Obviously this scheme would need to be recalculated for certain multiple choice exams where students could score 25 percent without knowing any of the material. This, of course, tends to distort averaging, and will occasionally, unfairly, drag down a letter grade.
Students lose again.
Notably, a plus added to an F grade would raise a GPA just as much as a plus added to any other grade. Many persons have a genetic predisposition for mental illness, but pass through their lives with no major symptoms. The students probably had mental illness before they came here. Since the campus cannot legally exclude students on the basis of physical or mental disability, it appears to me that its responsibility would be reasonable accommodation. Persons with mental illnesses are pursuing degrees at all levels, but, to a greater extent than others, need the grading system to validate their performances at times when it is at less successful levels.