Repeated Coursework/Course Deletions
Repeated Coursework/Course Deletions
Course repetition is permitted only in accordance with the policies cited below, the provisions of which are applicable only to courses taken at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and consequently do not apply to off-campus courses.
A course substitution is not permitted under the provisions of this regulation unless a course has been dropped as a University offering and an alternate course has been authorized as a suitable substitution by the chairperson of the department that offered the course. Once a matriculated student has reached the credit limitations cited below, no further courses may be replaced for the purpose of grade substitution, nor may a student who has used the maximum number of course repetitions for the purpose of grade substitution petition to revoke one or more of these substitutions in order to permit course repetition and grade substitution in an additional course or courses. Students may use the maximum 15 credit course deletion/grade substitution only once in his or her career at the university of Massachusetts Lowell.
Grade Substitution/Deletion Rule
Matriculated students who entered the University of Massachusetts Lowell as freshmen or transfer to the University of Massachusetts Lowell are permitted a maximum of 15 semester credits for course repetitions/deletions to remove grades of C- or below earned in previously completed courses from their cumulative grade-point averages. The number of actual course repetitions permitted for any student depends on the number of credits allocated to the courses that he or she wishes to repeat.
Students matriculated in an undergraduate certificate program are permitted a maximum of 3-semester credits for course repetitions/deletions to remove grades of C- or below earned in previously completed courses from their cumulative grade point average.
Administrative Requirements
Repetition of Passed Courses
Except for courses of a professional nature, which regulations of a particular college may designate as being non-repeatable, students may repeat a course previously passed with a grade of C-, D+, or D within the provisions of the grade substitution rule cited above. When a course previously passed has been repeated within the provisions of this regulation, the cumulative grade-point average is appropriately corrected for the semester in which the course is repeated. If the grade for the repeated course is lower than the original grade in the course, the lower grade may be deleted under the provisions of the grade deletion rule (see above). Credit is never granted twice for a course that has been passed and subsequently taken again and passed for a second time.
Repetition of Failed Courses
Except for courses of a professional nature, which regulations of a particular college may designate as non-repeatable, students may substitute passing grades for repeated failed courses in the computation of cumulative grade-point averages. Except for non-repeatable courses, students must repeat all required courses which they have failed. Courses in which F grades have been received must be repeated and passed before students may take courses for which those failed are prerequisites.
A course which is failed but is not required for a student's program need not be repeated, but other course work must be taken when a student's total degree program will fall short of the specified credit hours for degree requirements. Unless a failed course is repeated within the deadlines for grade substitution, cited above, both the original failing grade and the repeated course grade are counted in computing grade-point averages. Although the provisions of the grade substitution rule and the requirements for maintaining satisfactory academic standing may indirectly limit the number of failed courses which a student may repeat, no formal limitation is placed upon the number of failed courses that may be repeated.
Repetition of Transferred Courses
When competence is demonstrably inadequate, a student who has been granted transfer credit (and on this basis has been assigned to advanced courses for which the transferred course is a prerequisite) may be advised to repeat such transferred work at the University or to take a more elementary course than that which has been transferred.
Permission to repeat a transferred course is granted upon filing an academic petition form with the dean of the college. Since credit may not be granted more than once for the completion of any course, a condition for filing such a petition is the simultaneous filing of a request to revoke recognition of the previously transferred course.