Academic Catalog

Policy Summary

This policy is used to establish when a student may repeat a course for grade replacement and/or credit.

Reason for This Policy

In certain circumstances, undergraduate students may wish to repeat a course so as to improve their previous performance by earning credit, raising their grade point average (GPA), or retaking a course that is a prerequisite for another course.

Entities Affected by This Policy

• All colleges and instructional units
• All undergraduate students
• Office of the Registrar

Who Should Know This Policy

• All colleges and instructional units
• All undergraduate students
• Office of the Registrar
• University Advising
• All Student Support Services

Definitions

Topics Course: A course that may vary with each offering, allowing for an in-depth consideration of special topics to be listed under the same course number.

Grade Repeat: Enrolling in a course for an additional attempt at earning a grade.

Grade Replacement: Enrolling in a course for an additional attempt with an opportunity for the new grade to replace the previous grade in the term and cumulative GPA.

Policy

A. General

a. Students may repeat a course for grade replacement if a grade of “D” or “F” was previously earned.  A student may only earn credit for a course once unless the course is designed to permit earning credit multiple times.

b. Repeating a course in which a “D” was earned will provide an opportunity for grade replacement, however, additional credits/units will not be earned since the course was passed with a “D” on the previous attempt.

c. Repeating a course in which a “F” was earned will provide an opportunity for grade replacement and add additional units/credits since the units/credits were not earned with a “F” grade.

d. If the second attempt/first repeat is a lower grade, the better of the two grades will be used in GPA calculations.

e. Students may only repeat a course at NAU once for grade replacement unless they have prior approval from the department offering the course.

f. Students may not repeat a course for grade replacement in which a grade of "A" or "B" or “C” or “P” was earned, with the following exception.  Students may repeat a course for grade replacement for a grade of a “C” if the student request is supported by the department offering the course and approved by the Academic Standards Committee prior to enrollment.  If a student has approval from the academic college/department offering the course, then they may repeat a course from the pre-approved list maintained by the Academic Standards Committee and listed on the form maintained by the Office of the Registrar.

g. A student may elect to repeat a course with a grade of an “A”, “B”, “C” and/or “P” if they elect to take the course for no credit.  The grade will not be calculated into the GPA, nor will credit be earned.

B. Conditions to repeat a course for grade replacement

a. The same grading option must be used for the repeated course as was used when the course was taken initially.

b. Special topics courses must have the same topic as when the course was originally taken.

c. Course titles may change, however, if the course content remains the same the course will be repeatable.

d. The course must be taken at NAU; students may not repeat a course at another institution to replace a grade earned at Northern Arizona University, however, the course may fulfill degree requirements if eligible.

e. The course must still be offered by NAU; students may not repeat courses that Northern Arizona University has discontinued or canceled.

f. A student is only eligible to repeat a course for grade replacement if they are still pursuing the academic career the course was originally completed; once a degree is awarded the course is not eligible for grade replacement.

C. Courses not eligible for grade repeat

a. Due to the changing nature of their content, the following courses are not eligible for grade repeat and can only be retaken for additional credit and new grades: Research, Independent Studies, Internships, Honors courses, certain topics courses.

Responsibilities

Academic College/Department: Determine if a course should go to the ASC for repeat with a grade of a “C” approval.

Office of the Registrar: Apply grade replacement.

Procedures

First repeat/second attempt:

1. Students may self-enroll in their first repeat/second attempt if a grade was earned of a “D” or “F” in the previous attempt.

Second repeat/third attempt

1. Approval from the department offering the course is required for a second repeat/third attempt; please see the Office of the Registrar forms page.

2. The Office of the Registrar will enroll the student after the form is completed with all approvals.

Academic Standards Committee Approval to repeat a “C”:

1. The ASC has pre-approvals for repeats listed on the repeat form.

2. Any request to add an additional course for ad hoc or continuous approval will be requested by the department offering the course with the Chair of the ASC.

3. The Chair will add the department representative to the next ASC meeting.

4. The department representative will share the reasons for repeating the course for grade replacement.

5. The ASC will render a decision and inform the department representative.

6. The department representative will determine relevant communication about the results to remaining interested parties.

Taking a course for no credit:

1. Complete and submit the repeat for no credit form to the Office of the Registrar.

Student Considerations:

• Students should check with their advisor about how a course repeat will count in their degree requirements.

• Students should check in with Financial Aid about the difference between repeating a course they have passed or failed.

Some departments or colleges have received prior approval from NAU's Academic Standards Committee to allow students in certain programs to repeat some "C" grades for purposes of meeting minimum GPA requirements for specific academic plans.

Students should check with their advisors if they wish to repeat courses in which they received a "C". If students are allowed to repeat a course in which they earned a grade of "C", they must (a) get the approval from the department or college that offers the course before enrolling to repeat the course and (b) submit the form to the Registrar's Office for processing.

Caution

Repeating a course a second time could affect financial aid or eligibility for certain programs. Students receiving financial aid should check with a financial aid counselor about course repeat rules. Veterans, athletes, international students, or students who are recipients of tribal funding may have additional rules associated with course repeats. Check with appropriate departments for more information.