Financial Aid regulations regarding Repeated Courses have been revised, beginning in the 2011-2012 academic year. Federal regulations now allow a student to retake any previously passed course only one time and receive financial aid for that course.
“Passed” means a course was completed with a grade of “D”, “J” or higher.
This applies to all students regardless of any policy within an academic program requiring a higher grade in the course.
If you are in the second retake (third enrollment) of a previously passed course, financial aid will NOT count that class in your enrollment for the term and your Federal Pell Grant may be adjusted to reflect the lower enrollment. Note: In this example, you will still be charged tuition for the repeated course, even if financial aid cannot count the course enrollment. Any student who must retake a previously passed Developmental or ESL Course will be affected by this policy.
Important Note: After receiving the first passing grade in a course, a “W” is counted as a retake of the course.
For financial aid purposes, enrollment status is defined as:
- Full-time: 12 credit hours or more
- ¾ time: 9-11 credit hours
- ½ time: 6-8 credit hours
Enrollment status changes will affect the amount of the Federal Pell Grant award in a term. As an illustration, the term award amounts for the highest need student will decrease by $694 at each enrollment level:
Full-time: 12 credit hours or more: Pell Grant award = $2,775
- If a full-time student has one non-allowed retake and the student’s status drops to ¾ time after removing the retake, the Pell Grant award = $2,081
- If a ¾ time student has one non-allowed retake and the student’s status drops to ½ time after removing the retake, the Pell Grant award = $1,387
Example #1: for a student enrolled in 12 credit hours, including 1 course to be retaken:
- Enroll Attempt #1 in 3 credit course (BIO 101) = D grade (Aid is approved; with inclusion of this course, the student’s status is full-time for financial aid)
- Enroll Attempt #2 in 3 credit course (BIO 101) = C- grade (Aid is approved; with inclusion of this course, the student’s status is full-time for financial aid)
- Enroll Attempt #3 in 3 credit course (BIO 101) = C grade (Aid is not approved for this course; excluding his course, the student’s status is ¾ time for financial aid)
Example 2: for a student enrolled in 12 credit hours, including 1 course to be retaken:
- Enroll Attempt #1 in 3 credit course (BIO 101) = F grade (Aid is approved; with inclusion of this course, the student’s status is full-time for financial aid)
- Enroll Attempt #2 in 3 credit course (BIO 101) = D grade (Aid is approved; with inclusion of this course, the student’s status is full-time for financial aid) NOTE: THIS IS THE FIRST PASSED ATTEMPT
- Enroll Attempt #3 in 3 credit course (BIO 101) = W grade (Aid is approved; with inclusion of this course, the student’s status is full-time for financial aid)
- Enroll Attempt #4 in 3 credit course (BIO 101) = C grade (Aid is not approved for this course; excluding his course, the student’s status is ¾ time for financial aid)
Repeating Courses can also impact your Satisfactory Academic Progress. Click here to review UCNJ’s Satisfactory Academic Progress policy.