Updates to the policy, Repeating a Course & Grading for Repeated Courses, will be effective for courses repeated during the fall 2025 term, and beyond. This page reflects the current policy information and resources. For courses repeated in Summer 2025 and prior, see the archieved webpage in the 2024-25 Catalog.
Repeating Courses at the University of Arizona
Students may attempt the same course at the university no more than three times. The opportunity to repeat a course depends on course availability; students are not guaranteed the ability to repeat courses. For more information, review the Repeating a Course & Grading for Repeated Courses policy.
What courses can be repeated?
Courses that may be repeated include:
Courses completed with a passing or failing grade (i.e., C, D, E, S, P, F, I, or MG grades)
Courses that were audited or withdrawn from (i.e., O, W, WC, E, WO, XO grades).
Certain courses are designated as repeatable for credit; credit for these courses can be earned multiple times as indicated in the course catalog.
Certain courses can not be repeated:
Certain courses may not be repeated:
Courses with original grades of A or B
Courses that are designated as repeatable for credit and exceed the number of allowable attempts
What counts as an attempt?
An attempt is when a student:
- finishes a class with a grade (i.e., A, B, C, D, E, S, P, F, I, or MG grades)
- audits a course with a grade (i.e. O)
- drops a course any time after the drop deadline (i.e., W, WC, WO, XO grades)
Courses cancelled by the offering department are excluded from the count of attempts.
Undergraduate Grading for Repeated Courses
Starting in Fall 2025, undergraduate students no longer need to designate repeated courses for grade replacement. When undergraduate students repeat Regular Graded undergraduate courses, the student's grade-point-average (GPA) reflects only the highest grade earned in the repeated course. Credit is earned only for the completion that is included in the GPA.
All grades earned in the course remain on the academic record; grades from each attempt of a course may be taken into consideration for students applying to competitive majors or graduate programs at the University of Arizona or other institutions.
The student's cumulative units and GPA are adjusted when the final grade for the repeat attempt has been posted. Only grades of A, B, C, D or E are reflected in the GPA; when a repeat attempt results in a grade of S, P, F, I, MG, O, W, WC, WO, or XO, the GPA and earned units will reflect the highest earned regular grade of the previous attempt.
For courses with an original earned grade of C, D, or E, the GPA will reflect the highest grade earned.
Grades earned through Credit by Exam are permanent and their inclusion in the GPA cannot be altered by course repeats.
Undergraduate Courses Repeatable for Credit
Some undergraduate courses are designated as repeatable for credit. Common examples of these courses are research, internship, and thesis courses.
For courses designated as repeatable for credit with an original earned grade of E, the GPA will reflect the grade of the second attempt if higher than E.
Typically, for courses designated as repeatable for credit with an original earned grade of C or D, the second attempt will earn additional credit and the GPA will reflect the grades of both enrollments. However, students may petition to have the GPA reflect the higher grade of the attempts instead of earning additional credit for the repeat. In the case of a petition, a student will only earn credit for one course.
STUDENT PETITION TO EXCLUDE GRADE FOR A Repeatable for credit Course
Undergraduate Petition for Exception to the Repeat Policy
Students may attempt the same course at the university no more than three times and may not repeat a class that is not repeatable for credit that has an earned grade of A or B. To request an exception to the repeat policy, students follow the procedure below:
If a student has questions about whether a repeated course will apply toward their degree or how the GPA units will be counted, they should contact their academic advisor.
To begin the approval process, the student should contact the offering department for approval to take the class.
If the offering department approves, they will submit the department request for exception to the repeat policy below.
The Office of the Registrar will update the student's record to allow enrollment in the course and will notify the student by their official university email that they are eligible to enroll.
The student may enroll in the class online, or the department can enroll the student.
Department Request for exception to the repeat policy
Graduate and Professional Grading for Repeated Courses
For graduate and professional (Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine) courses, when a completed course with a passing or failing grade is repeated, the cumulative grade-point-average (GPA) will reflect the grades earned in all attempts. Credit will be applied only once to the degree program, unless the course is designated as Repeatable for Credit.
Grade Replacement Opportunity for Graduate and Law JD Students
Graduate and Law JD students have the option to utilize the Grade Replacement Opportunity (GRO). GRO offers students the limited ability to replace an earned grade by repeating the course.
Grades earned using the GRO will replace one previous grade for the course in the calculation of the grade-point-average (GPA), even if the grade from the repeated attempt is lower than the first attempt. Both the original grade and the grade from the repeated attempt remain on the academic record. Credit is earned for the GRO attempt only.
Graduate students may attempt GRO for 1 course with an original earned grade of C, D, or E, with program approval. Graduate students can request a Grade Replacement Opportunity (GRO) through GradPath as a petition. Additional information about GradPath can be found on the Graduate College website.
Students in the Juris Doctorate program may attempt GRO for 3 courses (maximum 10 total units) with original earned grades of C- or lower, with approval from the Law Registrar. Juris Doctorate program students should contact the Law Registrar prior to enrolling to request to use GRO.
GRO is not available to undergraduate students enrolled in graduate courses, or to students in Medicine, Pharmacy, or Veterinary Medicine programs.
Identifying repeated courses on the student record
To ensure student enrollment in repeated courses follows university policy, a UAccess process called “repeat checking” runs to find matching pairs of course IDs or courses designated as equivalent in the course catalog. When the process finds a matching pair on a student's record, it assigns a repeat code to the student’s enrollment record for the repeated class. Repeat codes help ensure the impact of the repeated class on GPA and future enrollment follows university policy.
Repeat codes and descriptions can be seen on student records in the following areas:
- Unofficial and Official Transcripts
- Advisement Report
Course History
FAQs: Repeating a Course and Grading for Repeated Courses
As a result of repeating a class, a student's cumulative GPA is typically recalculated at the end of each term after final grades are posted.
See the Dates & Deadlines page for more information on when final grades are available for each term.
A student’s academic eligibility is not changed if a grade earned in a repeated class raises their GPA to 2.0 or higher for a previous term. The impact of the repeated class grade would need to make their current cumulative GPA a 2.0 or higher at the time academic standing is assigned in order to return the student to Eligible.
See the Academic Eligibility page for more information.
Undergraduate students do not need to apply. UAccess Student automatically identifies courses being repeated and assigns a Course Repeat Code.
Graduate students can request a Grade Replacement Opportunity (GRO) through GradPath.
Juris Doctorate students should contact the Law Registrar before registering to use a Grade Replacement Opportunity (GRO)
Undergraduate students enrolled in Graduate courses and students in the Medicine, Pharmacy, or Veterinary Medicine programs are not eligible for the Grade Replacement Opportunity.
Undergraduate students do not have a limit on how many course grades can be replaced. However, students may attempt the same course at the university no more than three times.
Graduate students have one Grade Replacement Opportunity (GRO).
Juris Doctorate can use a Grade Replacement Opportunity (GRO) for three courses (maximum of 10 total units).
Undergraduate students enrolled in Graduate courses and students in the Medicine, Pharmacy, or Veterinary Medicine programs are not eligible for the Grade Replacement Opportunity.
Undergraduate students have the highest earned grade for a repeated, regular-graded undergraduate course calculated into their GPA.
- Undergraduate courses that are designated as repeatable for credit (research, internship, theses, for example) have the highest earned grade used for the GPA if the original attempt was an earned grade of E; when the original earned grade is a C or D, both grades are used for the GPA.
Graduate and Juris Doctorate students have the repeated attempt calculated into the GPA even if the grade from the repeated attempt is lower than the first attempt.