Repeated Courses

At times, students may want to repeat a course in order to earn a better grade, improving their GPA. It is possible to do this, but under very specific conditions:

• the original course must have been taken at St. Mary's University;
• the repeat course must be taken at St. Mary's University;
• the repeat course must be exactly the same course number and title as the original course. In the case of Topics Courses, the subtopic must be the same.

The administrative system will automatically flag repeat courses only if they are courses that can legitimately be repeated for credit. On the student's academic record, a course that is repeated will have an "E" (Excluded) next to the course. The repeated course that replaces it will have an "I" (Included) next to the course. From this semester forward, the Cumulative GPA reflects only the repeated course with the higher grade. In effect, the earlier course remains on the transcript but is no longer included in the cumulative GPA. The change does not affect the academic status (Probation or Suspension) of the original semester.

Students can repeat a course twice (whether having received a withdraw or actual grades).  After the second attempt, students who want to retake a course already attempted twice will need the written approval from their academic adviser.  (For Greehey School of Business majors, approval from Associate Dean is required.)

Adviser approval is required in order to provide an opportunity to discuss the impact of falling behind academically, especially if this may seriously impair the student's ability to complete their degree.

Note: Courses designated in the catalog as repeatable (such as topics courses or applied lessons) are not affected by this policy.