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Academic Forgiveness

Academic Forgiveness

The Academic Forgiveness Policy, instituted by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, allows undergraduate students to have courses removed from the calculation of their grade point average under certain circumstances. It consists of three components: the repeat policy, the reprieve policy, and the renewal policy. A student may request only one reprieve or renewal from the University of Oklahoma. Academic Forgiveness request forms are available on the Registrar web page under Forms & Resources – select Forms, then look under the Grades drop-down.

Repeat Policy

Undergraduate Students

  • Only currently enrolled, degree-seeking students are eligible for grade forgiveness under this policy.
  • Students may repeat any course up to four times. Only the highest of the four attempts will be used in the calculation of the student’s overall GPA and total hours earned – grade forgiveness will be applied to the three lowest graded attempts.
  • The grades for all attempts will remain on the student’s permanent record.
  • Academic credit from any division of the University of Oklahoma—Norman campus, OU Health Sciences Center, OU-Tulsa, or the College of Continuing Education—are included in the OU retention/graduation and cumulative grade point averages for purposes of retention and graduation.
  • Only equivalent courses (see the Transfer Equivalency Database) within 1 credit hour are eligible for grade forgiveness. Courses with variable credit and/or content, even if letter-graded, are not eligible for grade forgiveness under this policy.

Graduate Students (effective beginning Summer 2019)

  • Only students currently enrolled as degree-seeking graduate students at OU are eligible to receive grade forgiveness under this policy. Students enrolled under a non-degree classification such as unclassified status, teaching certification status, graduate visitor status, and students who are admitted solely to a graduate certificate program are not eligible for grade forgiveness under this policy.
  • Students may repeat up to four courses, not to exceed 18 hours, in which the student earned a C, D, or F. If the student repeats a course, only the second grade earned for each course, even if it is lower than the first grade, will count in the calculation of the student’s overall GPA.
  • If a student repeats an individual course more than once, all grades earned, with the exception of the first, are automatically used in the calculation of the GPA. The grades for all attempts will remain on the student’s permanent record.
  • Courses with variable credit and/or content, even if letter-graded, are not eligible for grade forgiveness under this policy. This includes, but is not limited to, seminars, special topics, independent studies, directed readings, and thesis or dissertation research.
  • The maximum allowable tuition waiver will not be increased to cover repeated courses.
  • Repeat policy grade forgiveness does not negate the limit of C, D, and/or F grades permitted for doctoral students. Doctoral students who accumulate nine credit hours of C, D, and/or F grades in any combination will be disenrolled from the doctoral program (see Disenrollment for Low Grades).
  • Repeat policy grade forgiveness does not apply to course substitutions approved for courses in which the student previously earned a grade of C, D, and/or F. The substitute course may take the place of the original course on the program of study, but the substitute course grade will not replace the grade earned in the original course. Both courses will be used in the calculation of the GPA.
  • Coursework previously assigned a temporary course number may be eligible to be repeated under this policy; however, if there is any deviation in the course number and/or course title, the student and academic unit will need to consult with the Graduate College before the course in question is repeated to verify eligibility under this policy.

Repeat Policy FAQs

Current, active, degree-seeking students can request a repeat.

Yes, you can request the repeat policy be applied for up to four attempts at the same course – the repeat policy will be applied to the three lowest grades earned.

Yes, you may – however, there may be implications to your financial aid, so you should first contact the Student Financial Center at sfc@ou.edu or 405-325-9000 to determine how the decision to retake a course will affect you.

The Academic Forgiveness policy comes from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, and is separate from the U.S. Department of Education’s policy on funding repeated coursework. To determine whether your scholarships or other financial aid will be affected if you repeat a course, please visit our Federal Eligibility webpage or contact the Student Financial Center at sfc@ou.edu or 405-325-9000.

The best grade earned within four attempts at the same course will be factored into your GPA. If, for example, you took a course four times and earned a D, an F, a B, and a C, the repeat policy would be applied to the D, F, and C; only the B would be factored into your overall GPA.

Repeats are not applied to W grades (indicating a student withdrew from a course) or to GPA-neutral grades such as S, U, P, NP, or AW. Additionally, they are not applied to remedial (indicated on the transcript with the * indicator) or ungraded PE courses from other institutions (indicated on the transcript with the ~ indicator).

Repeats are applied to equivalent courses which are within 1 credit hour – so, for example, if you took a course that counted for 4 credit hours and retook it as a 2-credit hour course, the repeat policy would not be applied.

You can submit a request, but no repeat will be applied until either your instructor has submitted final grades for an OU course or you have submitted an official transcript that has been loaded to your record for transfer coursework.

Once you’ve graduated, you are no longer a current, active, degree-seeking student. Additionally, any course applied towards your awarded degree would not be eligible for repeat since it was used for your degree completion.

Academic Reprieve Policy

The Academic Reprieve Policy allows undergraduate students to request that one or two semesters’ grades be excluded from the calculation of the grade point average. Grades from courses taken during the reprieved term(s) will remain on the student’s permanent record but will be excluded from the student’s grade point average. Coursework with a passing grade included in a reprieved semester may be used to demonstrate competency in the subject matter; however, the coursework may not be used to fulfill credit hour requirements. 

A student may request an academic reprieve if the following criteria are met:

  • Since the term(s) for which the student is requesting a reprieve, the student must have (1) taken a minimum of 12 credit hours, excluding activity and performance courses, and (2) earned a GPA of 2.00 or higher with no grade lower than a “C” in all regularly graded work. This coursework may have been completed at any accredited higher education institution.
  • The request may be for one semester or term of enrollment or two consecutive semesters or terms of enrollment. If the student’s request is for two consecutive semesters, the institution may choose to reprieve only one semester. If the reprieve is awarded, all grades and hours during the specified semester(s) will be reprieved.

Students may not receive more than one academic reprieve during their academic career. Students will not be eligible to receive a reprieve if a previous reprieve request was denied at the University of Oklahoma.

The request form is available in Academic Records. Students should contact their college concerning the process for requesting a reprieve.

Academic Reprieve FAQs

No – all grades will remain on your transcript, but reprieved courses will not be calculated into your GPA or used to fulfill credit hour requirements.

All grades in a reprieved term will be removed from your GPA and cannot be used to fulfill credit hour requirements. However, any courses in which you earned a passing grade may be used to demonstrate competency in the subject matter for purposes of degree completion. You should talk to your advisor to determine how a reprieve will affect you.

The University of Oklahoma has the discretion to award or deny a reprieve based on its own review – as such, you must still petition for a reprieve at OU. However, the other institution’s approval will be taken into account.

Academic Renewal Policy

The Academic Renewal Policy allows undergraduate students who have had academic trouble in the past and who have been out of higher education for a number of years to recover without penalty and have a fresh start.

Under Academic Renewal, all coursework taken prior to a date specified by the University of Oklahoma will be excluded from a student’s grade point average. All courses and grades will remain on the student's transcript, but will be excluded from their grade point average. Neither the content nor credit hours of renewed course work may be used to fulfill any degree or graduation requirements.

A student may request an Academic Renewal if the following criteria are met:

  • At least three years must have elapsed (or shorter time period as approved by the institution's Chief Academic Officer) between the last semester being renewed and the renewal request.
  • Since the final term the student requests to be renewed, the student must have (1) taken a minimum of 12 credit hours, excluding activity and performance courses, and (2) earned a GPA of 2.00 or higher with no grade lower than a “C” in all regularly graded work. This coursework may have been completed at any accredited higher education institution. 

If a student has received a renewal at another institution in Oklahoma, the student may request a renewal at the University of Oklahoma. Whether accepted or denied, this review will constitute the student's sole request for renewal at the University of Oklahoma.

The request form is available in Academic Records. Students should contact their college concerning the process for requesting an Academic Renewal.

Academic Renewal FAQs

A reprieve applies to one or two consecutive semesters; a renewal affects all semesters prior to the term listed in the request. Both reprieves and renewals retain all grades on your transcript but exclude the affected grades from being factored into your overall GPA. Reprieved courses may be used to show subject matter competency, while renewed courses may not. Neither reprieved nor renewed courses may be used towards credit hour requirements.