The criteria used to grade college essays have been the subject of research for over three decades. Using quantatative data, this study investigated the differences in essay-grading criteria and essay-grading policy among full-time faculty members who teach English composition in Tennessee's community colleges. This study revealed beliefs about the importance of essay-grading criteria and beliefs about written and unwritten essay-grading policies among those who teach developmental English, college-level English, and those who teach both levels of English. This study hypothesized that there were no differences among the English composition teacher's beliefs about the importance of the twenty essay-grading criteria nor in their beliefs regarding written and unwritten grading policies. Chi-square analysis of the non-parametric data collected during this study indicated statistically significant differences among the English teachers regarding only one of the essay-grading criteria and no statistically significant differences regarding the essay-grading policies.