A student can repeat a course and have the course count as part of the minimum full-time or part-time course load for financial aid purposes when the student did not previously earn credit for the course.
A student who receives an F or a W in a course does not earn credit; therefore, courses in which F or W grades have been earned can be repeated and count towards full-time or part-time study requirements.
There are certain other circumstances in which a student can repeat a course and have it count as part of the minimum course load:
- the grade earned is passing at the institution but not considered passing in a particular curriculum. For example, a student receives a D in a nursing course; D is a passing grade; however, any grade lower than a C in a nursing course is considered a failing grade. Thus, the nursing course in which the student earned the D can be repeated as part of the minimum full-time or part-time course load.
- the course can be repeated and credit earned each time, such as physical education courses or certain language courses.
A student who earned a passing grade in a course but wishes to repeat the course in the hopes of improving the grade and overall grade point average cannot count the repeated course as part of the minimum course load.
In addition to the effect on full-time and part-time status, a repeated course in which a passing grade was previously earned cannot be used to meet the pursuit of program requirement (completing a certain percentage of the minimum full-time or part-time course load in each term an award is received) to maintain good academic standing. In other words, a course that an institution does not require a student to repeat in order for the student to earn credit toward a degree cannot be considered in determining whether the student has satisfied the pursuit requirement for a State award.
See also...
SED Guidelines on Repeated Courses
