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APU Student Handbook
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Last Revision: January 30, 2024

Your Course Grades and APUS Transcripts

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

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 your 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 your second passed retake, so please check with your funding source prior to registration.

Retaking a Failed Course:

APUS now allows you one opportunity to retake a failed course and have your original failed grade forgiven from your GPA. The original failing grade will show as “R” on your transcript, and the previous failing grade will be removed from your GPA as long as you complete the course retake. However, you will still see your original failing grade on your personal online academic plan and on your individual online grade reports.

If you are an undergraduate student who fails ENGL101 or ENGL110 twice, you may be placed on academic suspension pending dismissal from the university. Please contact your Academic Advisor for additional assistance.

If you fail any other course required in your program twice, you will either be required to change your program or you may no longer be eligible to continue at APUS, depending upon your academic progression and if you have attempted too many courses to qualify for a program change.

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 Information:

  • 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 and University systems.
  • This policy does not apply to Comprehensive Exam courses. Please see the next section of the 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.