Repeat Coursework

Retaking a Passed Course

APUS allows the opportunity for all undergraduate, master's, and graduate certificate students to retake a passed course, limited to one retake per passed course. The new grade, regardless of whether it is lower than the first attempt, will replace the previous grade earned in the student's GPA. The previous grade will show as “R” on the student's transcript. Students should contact Academic Advising at [email protected] to make the retake request for passed courses. Please note that not all funding sources will pay for the student's second passed retake, so students should check with their funding source before registration.

Retaking a Failed Course

Students are eligible for a one-time course retake for a failing grade. They may retake the same course if it is still offered at APUS or a course equivalency has been established for the curriculum.

The original failing grade will show as “R” on the student's transcript, and the previous failing grade will be removed from their GPA as long as they complete the course retake. However, students will still see their original failing grade on their personal online academic plan and their individual online grade reports.

If a student fails any required course in their program twice, they will need to contact their Academic Advising team to discuss available options for continuing their studies.

Prior to August 2008

• If the course start date for your retaken course was prior to August 1, 2008, the retake does not impact the original failing grade. Both failing grades will be displayed on the transcript and both will be incorporated into the GPA.

August 2008 to April 2014

• If the course start for your retaken course was on or after August 1, 2008, the retake removes the impact of the original failing grade on your GPA.

On or After April 2014

• Any courses starting in April 2014 or after, will only be allowed one retake.
• All failed attempts of the course prior to April 2014 will count as one failure, so as of April 2014, you will still have one attempt available to pass any previously failed course.
• If you fail a required course twice in your program, you will need to change your major to a program where that course is not required.

Important to Know

• The course retake policy only applies if the exact course that you previously failed is still offered or if a course equivalency has been established in the curriculum.
• This policy does not apply to comprehensive exam or capstone/thesis/practicum courses. Please see the Student Handbook for the retake policy on these course types.
• Original failing grades of retaken courses will still be used to calculate SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress) for financial aid and for the 150% rule of course credit attempted vs course credit earned for graduation eligibility.
• The retake policy does not apply to courses that you took in programs that you have already completed. For example, if you failed a course in your Associates program, and have already had that degree conferred, you cannot have the original failing grade forgiven in your GPA by retaking it now in your Bachelor’s program.
• The Army does not follow AMU’s course retake policy when it is calculating your overall GPA for TA eligibility. The Army’s GPA is independent of a GPA with a soldier's home college. It is calculated by averaging the grades for each completed course in the soldier's Army Education records.
• Undergraduate Only: If you previously took a split science lecture/lab course combination, and failed one of the component courses, you will not be able to retake this science combination. You will need to take a different Science course selection to fulfill your GEN ED requirement. If the specific course you failed is a required course in your program, please contact your Academic Advisor to help you with this process.