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.
Undergraduate Students
Graduate Students (effective beginning Summer 2019)
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.
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.