Grade Forgiveness

How to Raise a Low Grade

Grade forgiveness allows students to retake a limited number of classes for a higher grade. Through the forgiveness policy, a student may retake a class to earn a higher grade and raise their GPA if the following conditions are met. The student must: 

• Have completed the course earning less than a C- grade
• Retake the course to receive a higher grade
• Submit the Grade Forgiveness Request on MyFIU once the new grade is posted 

Only the last grade received on the last repeat is used to calculate GPA when using the forgiveness policy. Graduate courses are not authorized for grade forgiveness.

Students should check with any graduate programs they plan on applying to for confirmation if FIU’s grade forgiveness policy is accepted for admissions evaluation purposes.

How to Submit

1. Login to MyFIU. See Access MyFIU for help.
2. Select the 'Student Tools' tile and then the 'Student E-Forms' tile.
3. Select 'Student Records' from the menu on the left and click 'Grade Forgiveness Form'
4. Carefully read the guidelines provided and click 'I Agree'
5. Under the 'Grade(s) Forgiven' section, select the course with the grade you would like to keep from the 'Repeated Attempt' dropdown menu and the course with the grade you would like to replace from the 'Original Attempt' menu. 'Total Attempts' will include the pending attempt you are submitting.
6. Carefully read the information provided at the bottom of the page and click on the checkbox.
7. Click 'SUBMIT' button at the bottom of the page.
8. A message will display that the request was successfully submitted.

Restrictions

How Many Times Can a Grade Be Forgiven?

The student may repeat the same course 3 times or repeat 3 different courses.

Why Wasn't My Grade Forgiven?

In order for a course to be considered as repeated and adjusted in the GPA:

• The course must be repeated at FIU (e.g. a course taken at MDC cannot be forgiven). 
• A new grade must be posted (e.g. students must wait for the end of the semester for grades to be posted).
• The old grade must be a failing grade (e.g. NC, DR, C, B-, B, A- cannot be forgiven).
• The course must be the same course with identical course prefix and course number (e.g. a grade for ENC1102 will not forgive a grade for ENC1101).
• A course taken on a letter grade basis must be repeated on the same basis.
• No additional credit or quality points are allowed on repeated courses unless the course is specifically designated as repeatable (independent study, studio courses, etc.).
• The appropriate academic department must determine whether there are additional restrictions on repeating courses.
• The forgiveness policy must be used before a degree is posted.
• The course must not be a graduate course.

After 3 Attempts

Students who have used the forgiveness policy more than 3 times may still repeat courses, however, both the original grade and any additional grades received through repetitions of the course will be used in calculating GPA.

All courses taken with grades earned will be recorded on the student’s transcript, regardless of the forgiveness policy.

Students not using the forgiveness policy may still repeat a course. All attempts will apply to computation of the GPA but credit for 1 attempt will apply towards graduation.

Repeating Classes