Repeated Courses

The U. S. Department of Education has recently published new regulations which impact students who repeat courses. These regulations are part of a series called Program Integrity Rules and are effective July 1.

Beginning July 1, students may only receive federal financial aid funding for one repetition of a previously passed course. There is an exception for courses which require repeats (see examples below). Students taking a required repeat of a course should work with the Student Financial Aid Office to ensure those credits are counted appropriately for financial aid eligibility. Please note that the student may need to provide documentation from his/her advisor regarding the requirement to repeat.

Examples of repeated coursework that may, or may not, count for financial aid eligibility:
1. Allowable: Repeated coursework may be included if the student received an unsatisfactory or failing grade. There is no limit on the number of attempts allowable if the student does not receive a passing grade.
2. Allowable: Repeated coursework may be included if a student needs to meet an academic standard for a particular previously passed course, such as a minimum grade. Example: Student received a D in a course which requires a minimum grade of C for his/her major.
3. Allowable: Student is enrolled in 15 credit hours which includes 3 credits repeating a previously passed course. Because the student is enrolled in a minimum of 12 credits which are not repeats, the student’s financial aid eligibility is not impacted by the repeat.
4. Not permissible: Student receives a D in a course which does not have a minimum grade requirement for the major and decides to repeat the course to improve his/her GPA. The student may repeat this passed course one time, but if the student wants to repeat it a second time, the second repeat would not count for financial aid eligibility. In this example, the student is enrolled in 12 credits, including the three credit second repeat, so only nine credits will count for financial aid eligibility.

All repeated courses do affect financial aid satisfactory academic progress calculations. A repeated course along with the original attempt must be counted as attempted credits.

The U. S. Department of Education is working on additional guidance which may provide for additional allowable circumstances. Please do not hesitate to contact the Financial Aid Office at (903) 923-2138 or financialaid@etbu.edu.