The US Department of Education regulates how repeated coursework affects a student's financial aid eligibility. For a repeated course to be counted towards your enrollment status for financial aid purposes, you may only repeat a previously passed course once (a total of two attempts). If you enroll in a previously repeated and passed course for a third time, this course will not count towards your enrollment for financial aid purposes. Examples of repeated courses:
- Allowable: Repeated courses may be included if the student received an 'F' or 'NC' grade. There is no limit on the number of attempts allowable if the student does not receive a passing grade. Grades of A, B, C, D, P or CR (Credit) are considered passing grades.
- Allowable: Student is enrolled in 15 credit hours which includes 3 credits repeating a previously passed course. Because the student is enrolled in a minimum of 12 credits which are not repeats, the student's financial aid eligibility is not impacted by the repeat.
- Not permissible: Student receives a D in a course and decides to repeat the course to improve his/her GPA. The student may repeat this passed course one time, but if the student wants to repeat it a second time, the second repeat would not count for financial aid eligibility.
When counting credits to determine aid eligibility for that semester, many repeated classes will be excluded from the financial aid eligible credit count. This may mean less Pell Grant if the eligible credits are less than 12 credits, or no subsidized/unsubsidized loans if the financial aid eligible credits are less than 6 credits for undergraduate students (less than 5 for graduate students). Repeated credits that are determined to be ineligible for financial aid will also impact eligibility for scholarships and work-study positions.
- A student can be paid on a repeated course IF the class was never previously passed.
- A student can also be paid for repeating a previously passed course as long it is the first repeat of the course.