University policy does not limit the number of courses that may be retaken by graduate students, nor does it limit the number of times any particular course may be attempted. Academic units are nevertheless free to impose specific restrictions according to their needs. All retaken courses, including the original attempt, will be shown on the student’s transcript. With permission, however, graduate students may retake a single course, one time, and have the lowest grade excluded from the calculation of their cumulative quality-point average.

To exclude a grade of C or F from their cumulative quality-point average, matriculated graduate students may retake at most one graduate level course of no more than four semester credit hours. For students who pursue more than one graduate degree at the University of Dayton (i.e., a master’s degree followed by a doctoral degree, or multiple masters degrees), at most one graduate level course per graduate degree program may be retaken for purposes of grade exclusion according to this policy. In all cases, the course(s) in question must have been taken at the University of Dayton and must be retaken at the University of Dayton.

Courses may be retaken for the purpose of grade exclusion only once and only with the prior written permission of the student’s graduate Program Director or Department Chair. In the event that the Chair/Director was the student’s original instructor, permission to retake a course for the purpose of grade exclusion may be sought from the student’s academic Dean or Dean’s designee.

When permission to retake a course is granted according to this policy, the lowest grade for that course will be excluded from cumulative quality point average calculations. Note that, in the event that the grade received on the approved retake attempt is not better than the original grade(s), the grade for the approved retake attempt shall be excluded from the cumulative quality-point average calculation. While all attempts at the course, including corresponding grades, will be shown on the student’s graduate transcript, the excluded grade will be annotated with an “E” (i.e., Grade Excluded). For all other retaken courses, the grades for all attempts will be shown and included in the calculation of the cumulative quality-point average.

Students must demonstrate that a course retaken for the purpose of grade exclusion contains essentially the same material as the original course in which a grade of C or F was earned. In all cases, retake requests must be approved prior to enrollment in order for the grade exclusion policy to apply. Moreover, within 30 days of completing the retaken course, the student’s Department Chair or Program Director must communicate with the Registrar’s office to initiate the grade exclusion designation and subsequent recalculation of the student’s cumulative quality-point average.

Special Provisions:

1) One course taken in pursuit of the Master in the Study of Law (M.S.L.) degree may be retaken according to this policy. All courses leading to the Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Laws (LL.M) degrees are, however, excluded from this policy.

2) Also excluded from this policy are all graduate courses taken by undergraduate students for undergraduate credit (i.e., graduate courses taken to satisfy one or more undergraduate program requirements which are also included in the calculation of undergraduate term and cumulative quality-point averages). This exclusion applies to, but is not limited to, students enrolled in approved Bachelor’s Plus Master’s (BPM) degree programs.