Repeating Courses and Cancellation of Failed Grades

Students in Undergrad and Graduate Programs

Students may attempt the same course up to three times. Some courses may specify a different number of attempts allowed. Students should reference the specific course description before repeating a course. Attempts include any course with an issued grade, including withdrawn courses. If a student repeats the exact same course at Trident, the grade received on the repeat will replace the original grade in the CGPA calculation. Only the most recent course grade earned whether it is higher than, the same as, or lower than the first grade will be used in calculating the student's grade point average. The original failing grade will remain on the student’s academic record; however, it will be designated with an “R” and removed from the CGPA calculation. Students will not be allowed to attempt a course more than three times without documented evidence of extenuating circumstances and approval from the Dean or Dean’s Designee of the program.

Please Note:

The original grades of retaken courses will still be used to calculate the quantitative measure of SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress) for the percentage of course credit attempted vs course credit earned.
Courses from which the student has withdrawn count toward the total number of attempts allowed at a course, however letter grades of “W” are not canceled when a course has been retaken and passed.
A course in a program of study may not be repeated once the degree has been awarded.
A failed grade earned as a result of disciplinary action due to violation of the Academic Integrity policy may result in removal of the ability to cancel the failed grade; however, the course may be repeated at Trident.
In retaking a course, the plagiarism policy applies, and students are not permitted to utilize prior work, outlines, or other materials that they had access to or possession of during the original attempt at the course if non-retaking students would not.
Please note military portals (such as Army IgnitEd) may not follow Trident’s course retake policy when it is calculating overall GPA for TA eligibility. The GPA recorded by a military education portal is independent of the GPA with a soldier's home college. It may be calculated by averaging the grades for each completed course in the soldier's education records, regardless of institution.
Students will need Dean Approval to attempt a course for the 4^th time. If the Dean does not approve, the student will be disqualified from the program.

Students with non-passing grades completed prior to October 1, 2018:

Students are subject to the policy in effect at the time the grade was earned.
Grades earned for sessions starting on or before 9/30/2018 will be subject to the 2017/2018 and earlier policy.
Grades earned for sessions starting on or after 10/1/2018 will be subject to the policy as outlined above.

Students in Doctoral Programs

When students receive a non-passing grade in a course, they may repeat the course. Subject to the conditions below, if the student receives a passing grade, the prior grade may be canceled and no longer computed in the student’s GPA:

Doctoral students may repeat a course a maximum of one time (two attempts total) to receive a passing (B- or P) grade; requests to attempt a course a third time must be approved by the Dean. The following exceptions apply:
- A doctoral prospectus or a doctoral proposal course may be repeated twice (three attempts total). These courses include DEL 622, DHA 699 I, DHA 699 II, DHS 699, DOC 690, DOC 700, EDD 614, PBA 699, PBA 700, RDS 699, and RES 620.
  - Students will be responsible for paying an adjusted tuition charge (refer to Tuition, Fees, and Financing) for a repeated doctoral prospectus course or doctoral proposal course a maximum of two times per eligible course.
  - These courses are not eligible for a standard course extension.
- A doctoral study or dissertation course may be repeated twice (three attempts total).
Doctoral students who exhaust the number of allowable repeat attempts are subject to dismissal from the program.
Doctoral students returning to the university after an extended absence are subject to the cancel and repeat maximums listed above, any student wishing to return to the program may be ineligible for enrollment if the maximum attempts to cancel or repeat have already been met.

Please Note:

Repeated course(s) must be taken at Trident in order to cancel the grade(s)
Courses will be cancelled in the order they are taken.
Courses failed as a result of violations of the Academic Integrity policy are NOT subject to cancellation; however, the course may be repeated at Trident.
The student’s official transcript will reflect all courses and grades earned; however, the canceled course will be designated with an “R” to indicate that it was repeated.
This policy does not apply to courses from which the student has withdrawn; letter grades of “W” are not canceled when a course has been retaken and passed.
Students may NOT cancel prior grades by simply changing concentrations or programs.
Exceptions to the number of repeat and canceled courses based on extraordinary or extenuating circumstances will be considered by the College Dean or designee. Requests must be submitted in writing and accompanied by supporting documentation or evidence.
It is the student’s responsibility to notify the Office of the Registrar at registration@trident.edu once a course has been repeated.