Office of the University Registrar (OUR)

Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students are permitted to repeat and replace up to 16 units. Undergraduate students may only repeat courses in which they received a letter grade of D+ or below, or Not Passed, and I under certain situations (DD Reg A540.F). Courses in which a letter grade of D or F was received may not be repeated on a P/NP grading basis. Courses in which a grade of NP was received may be repeated on a P/NP or letter graded basis.

Degree credit for a repeated course is given only once, but the grade assigned at each enrollment shall be permanently recorded on the Official Transcript. Repeated course units excluded in a student’s GPA are removed from the number of units attempted, as well as balance points so in computing the GPA, only the grade and corresponding grade points earned the second time a course is taken is used.

Repeated courses are annotated on the transcript as either being “REPEATED, INCLUDED IN GPA” for the second time a course is taken and “REPEATED, EXCLUDED FROM GPA” the first time the course is taken.

After the 16-unit maximum is reached, or if the units for the repeated course partially exceed the 16 unit repeat limit, the GPA shall be based on all grades assigned and total units attempted and appear on the transcript for both courses as “REPEATED, INCLUDED IN GPA."

Prior to Fall 2010, the Mathematics Department allowed students to repeat a grade of less than C- in certain courses from one of the three calculus sequences with a specified course from a different sequence. Effective Fall 2010, students wishing to repeat a grade of less than a C- in Math 016ABC, 017ABC, and 021ABC, may do so only by retaking the same course. This repeat policy applies uniformly to all Mathematics courses unless otherwise stated in the General Catalog.

In regards to financial aid eligibility, a student cannot receive financial aid for repeating a course a second time if the course was previously passed; Federal and State funding considers a passing grade to be a D- or better, regardless of any school or program policy requiring a higher qualitative grade or measure to have been considered to have passed the course. For more information on how this may affect financial aid eligibility, see Repeating a Course for a Second Time.

Graduate Students

Graduate students may repeat any course in which they received a C, D, F or U, up to a maximum of three courses repeated (DD Reg A540F). Please note: this policy change went into effect Sept. 1, 2011. Prior to Sept. 1, 2011, Graduate Students could only repeat a maximum of 9 units for all courses. Courses in which a letter grade of C, D or F has been earned may not be repeated on an S/U basis. Courses in which a grade of U was received may be repeated on an S/U basis or letter graded basis.

Degree credit for a repeated course is be given only once, but the grades assigned for both the first and second time a course is taken appear on the student’s transcript. Repeated course units excluded in a student’s GPA is removed from the number of units attempted, as well as balance points so in computing the GPA, only the grade and corresponding grade points earned the second time a course is taken are used.

After the three-course maximum is reached, the GPA shall be based on all grades assigned and total units attempted and appear on the transcript for both courses as “REPEATED, INCLUDED IN GPA."

Second or More Repeat of a Course

Repeating a course more than once requires approval by the appropriate college dean for undergraduate students or Graduate Studies for graduate students. Departments may restrict the repetition of a course if it is a prerequisite to a course the student has already completed with a grade of C– or better. The notation for an approved second repeat appears in the comments section at the end of the transcript.

Sample comment of an approved second or more repeat of a course:

CHE 002A, WINTER QUARTER 2006, 2ND REPEAT APPROVED BY DEAN'S OFFICE, 21-FEB-2007.

Repeating a Course for Credit if Content Differs or with Limited Repeatable Units/Times Allowed

Some courses are repeatable for credit if the content of the current course enrollment differs from that of the previous enrollment or may be repeated for credit for a limited number of units or number of times enrolled in the course. If a course is approved to be repeated for credit, the description of the course as published in the General Catalog states the restrictions for repeating the course.