Twenty student athletes who took a Spanish class at a community college won't be receiving credit for it from the University of Southern California.

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Officials have decided the Spanish 3 class at Trade Tech College last summer fell short of USC's academic standards, The Los Angeles Times reports.

Kenneth Servis, dean of academic records and USC registrar, says after examining class material and what was required of the students, it was decided that Trade Tech "did not offer the students the course we expected."

The class instructor, Rose Mary Ross, had an unusually generous grading philosophy.

Ross said those students who came to class and did their work received an "A' and those who didn't try would be given a "B."

The high grades from last summer set off alarm bells at USC prompting investigations and internal audits at both schools.

Five years ago USC's athletic program was placed on probation after being hit with academic fraud charges.