UMass Boston

Approved through University Governance March 2016:

Undergraduate Course Repeat Policy

The university has established the following policy for undergraduate students regarding the repeating of courses.

• You may repeat up to four different courses taken at the university, regardless of the original grade earned in these courses.  Please review the Course Sequencing Policy for additional information. If you have used up your 4 allowed course repeats, visit our forms page and fill out the: Repeat Waiver Request Form via DocuSign.
• You may repeat a course only once. Students may not enroll in a course more than twice without approval via the Repeat Waiver Request Form
• If you choose to repeat a course, both grades for the course will be posted on your transcript but only the second grade will be counted toward your grade point average and you will only receive graduation credit for the second course.  The first course will be noted on your transcript as an “excluded repeat”.
• If you take a course at the university that is equivalent to a course you transferred in to the university, you will lose credit for the transfer course.
• The course repeated must be identical to the first course taken (same department, same course number and title, same number of credits).
• You may not repeat a course after graduation.  

Exceptions:

• Certain courses (such as Special Topics and Independent Study courses, among others) are designated as “repeatable for credit”.  A grade earned in such a course cannot be replaced by a grade from a later retake of the course.  This means that each grade will count toward the student’s cumulative average, and each time the student passes such a course s/he will earn credits. 
• Certain colleges and/or majors may have additional limitations on which or how many courses may be retaken.  Students are advised to check with their major departments before repeating any course.

Please Be Aware That:

• The grade for the repeated course is used for your GPA, even if that grade is lower than the grade you received the first time you took the course.
• Repeating a previously passed course may affect your financial aid.  You should consult with your financial aid counselor if you are considering repeating a course that you have previously passed.
• It is your responsibility to be aware of the course repeat policy.  Although WISER will not prohibit you from registering for an illegal repeat, any illegal repeats will be removed from your transcript.
• You may lose credit if you take courses out of sequence.  Please review Course Sequencing Policy if you are considering repeating a course that is part of a sequence.
• If you have a previous bachelor’s degree from UMass Boston, you may not repeat any courses that were part of your first undergraduate degree. Second degree students may not repeat any course.