Repeats and Retakes
A student taking a course again is either repeating it for credit, for a course built to be taken more than once (applied music, directed study, practicum), or retaking it, usually after a failing grade. The two count differently toward the GPA, and both have limits that only the registrar can lift.
Which kind of course is it?
Each course says so itself, under Academic > Courses:
- Repeatable (
is_repeatable, imported from Colleague's "Repeat for Credit Allowed" retake policy) means repeatable for credit. - Maximum attempts (
max_repeats) caps a repeatable course: the total number of attempts, the first one included. Blank means no limit. It is ignored for a course that is not repeatable.
How many times may a student take a course?
| Course | Limit |
|---|---|
| Repeatable for credit | The course's maximum attempts (blank = unlimited) |
| Not repeatable | 1 attempt plus the Retakes allowed per course policy (1 unless changed), or fewer if one of the student's majors is stricter |
Both repeat rules are academic policies, under Admin > Academic Policies > Course Repeats:
- Retakes allowed per course: retakes after the first attempt. Seeded at 1.
- Withdrawal (W) counts as an attempt: Yes or No. Seeded at No.
Like every academic policy, each has an institution-wide default and can be set differently for a catalog year or a degree level. The narrowest matching rule wins.
A major can also set its own values on the major's page. When the policy and the major differ, the stricter applies: fewer retakes, and a W counts. Nursing, for example, can allow no retakes while the institution allows one. To let a major be more lenient than the policy, tick A major may set a more lenient value on the policy rule.
What counts as an attempt
- An enrollment in the course or any active equivalent course, at the same academic level. Undergraduate and graduate attempts are counted separately.
- A course in progress counts.
- A drop never counts. A drop is on or before the term's drop deadline and leaves the transcript (see Drops and Withdrawals).
- A withdrawal (a W) counts only if the Withdrawal (W) counts as an attempt policy says Yes, or a major requires it. When the student has more than one major and any of them says a W counts, it counts.
Courses already completed
A course that is not repeatable cannot be registered again while it is in progress, or once it has been passed. The exception is a pass below a minimum grade that one of the student's requirements sets, such as a D where the major needs a C-: that student may retake it, subject to the limit above.
Going past a limit: registrar approval
Planning or registering past a limit is refused with the reason, for example "BIOL 101 has been attempted 2 time(s); the limit is 2 attempt(s), set by the major NURS. Registering again requires registrar approval."
The way past it is a registrar override, which needs the REGISTRATION.OVERRIDE.DUPLICATE permission:
- Planning: someone with the permission sees a Repeat override box in the planning dialog and must give a reason of at least 10 characters. The override and its reason are stored on the plan.
- Registration requests: the request shows a blocking COURSE_REPEAT message. The registrar opens it under Registration > All Transactions, chooses Override, ticks Override course repeat restriction and gives a reason. The reason is kept in the request's history and notes.
- Direct registration by a registrar: tick Override repeat restriction.
Swapping one section of a course for another in the same request is not a repeat.
The GPA
| Course | What counts |
|---|---|
| Repeatable for credit | Every attempt, for both GPA and credits |
| Not repeatable | Whatever GPA Repeat Policy says (Admin > Academic Settings) |
The policy has three settings:
- Latest: only the most recent graded attempt counts.
- Highest: only the best grade counts. A tie goes to the later attempt.
- Average: every attempt counts.
Under Latest and Highest, the other attempts are replaced. They stay on the transcript and are marked as excluded from the GPA, but they count for no GPA, credits or degree requirements.
Some rules hold whichever policy is chosen:
- A retake replaces nothing until it has a grade. Registering again does not remove the earlier grade from the GPA or the degree audit. The new grade takes over when it is posted (and released).
- Undergraduate and graduate GPAs stay separate. A graduate attempt never replaces an undergraduate one. On the transcript, each term's cumulative figures are that level's running totals.
- An audited attempt neither replaces nor is replaced.
If no policy has been saved, the GPA is calculated as Average.
The degree audit
Only attempts whose grade was actually replaced appear under Repeated Courses on the degree audit, each with the attempt that replaced it. A course repeatable for credit never appears there, because each attempt is its own credit. Nothing appears there under the Average policy either, because nothing is replaced.