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Repeating Courses

Remedial courses

Students may repeat a given remedial course only once.

Passing Grade

Students who receive a passing grade in a course (D or better) sometimes wish to repeat the course in the expectation of improving the grade. If a course is repeated, both grades will remain on the student’s transcript and both grades will be computed in the student’s grade point average, but the student will receive credit only once for the course. For example: a student takes HST 100 for three credits and receives a D, then repeats the course and receives a B. The transcript will list HST 100 with the grade of D for the first time and with a grade of B for the second. The student will receive a total of three credits for HST 100, not six, but the three credits of D and the three credits of B will be calculated in the student’s grade point average. The repeated course may not count toward the 12 credits required for full-time and TAP status unless the Catalog states that the course must be repeated.

Failing Grades

An undergraduate student may repeat up to 16 credits of failed courses. If the subsequent grade is C or higher, this subsequent grade will be included in the calculation of the cumulative GPA. The failing grade(s) will not be included (although the course and the grade remain on the record). The cumulative GPA will be used in determining if College admissions, progress, and graduation standards have been satisfied. F grades will be used in calculating the GPA for graduation honors and may affect the determination of admission to specific programs and progress in specific majors. If the subsequent grade is a D, both the original F and the subsequent D will be included in the GPA calculation.

This policy is subject to the following limitations:

  1. The course in which the failing grade was received must have been originally taken after September 1, 1984 and repeated after September 1, 2002. Courses repeated between September 1, 1990 and August 31, 2002 will be governed by the policy in the 2001-2002 Catalog.

  2. No more than 16 credits of failing grades may be recalculated in the above manner.

  3. The 16-credit limit applies cumulatively to courses taken in all CUNY colleges.

  4. If two or more failing grades have been received for the same course and a grade of C or better is subsequently earned, all of the failing grades may be recalculated, subject to the 16-credit limit.

  5. The repeated course must be taken at the same college as the initially failed course.

  6. The failing grades remain on the academic record.

  7. The regulation applies to undergraduates only.