Academic Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual

H-2 Undergraduate Grade Forgiveness

It is part of a broader effort by Faculty Senate to align a larger set of policies aimed at academic recovery.  Overall, it is part of a set of procedures intended to help reduce the number of students in academic difficulty and to promote learning along with academic success.  Enabling undergraduate students to adjust their grade-point average after repeating a course in which they earned less than a C grade facilitates learning and mastery of academic content while also allowing them to reduce recovery points with the overarching goal of successfully completing their Penn State degree. 

Grade forgiveness can only be requested after the student has repeated the course and earned a higher grade.  The original grade remains on the transcript, but grade point averages are calculated without the forgiven grade.  Grade forgiveness does not automatically alter prior academic decisions. Students should recognize that subsequent graduate or professional programs may opt to calculate a Grade Point Average based on all grades on an official transcript. 

This procedure is available to all degree-seeking undergraduate students while active, suspended, dismissed, on Leave of Absence, or discontinued.  Although this policy was first implemented in Summer 2020, it can be used for courses completed prior to implementation or as a non-degree student.  Once a student has earned their degree and graduated with their associate or baccalaureate degree, they cannot request grade forgiveness for courses taken prior to graduation. Students enrolling in a sequential degree can only use grade forgiveness for courses taken after the first degree was awarded. 

Definitions

• Grade Forgiveness: A process to retro-actively omit a grade from the grade-point average calculation.  Previous academic statuses (e.g., Academic Warning and Dean's list) are not altered as a result of this process.  All grades remain on the student's academic record.
• Attempted (as displayed on the unofficial advising transcript): All credits that a student has enrolled on their official University record following the regular drop/add deadline of a given semester. 
• Earned Credits: Total credits earned equal the accumulation of all Penn State credits successfully completed by letter grades A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, D, or symbols SA, PA, FL and R; credits by examination as defined by Section 42-50; and credit granted by transfer from other colleges and universities as defined in Sections 42-80 and 42-90.
• GPA Units: Credits on a student's academic record that are formally used to calculate the cumulative Grade Point Average (i.e., courses in which a student has received a letter grade (A-F) in a class taken at Penn State).
• Grade Points: Numerical value of letter grades (A-F) used to calculate a Grade Point Average.
  

Procedure

The following criteria govern requests for Grade Forgiveness:

• Students have a maximum of 12 credits for which grades can be forgiven.

• Students in an associate degree program have 6 credits for which grades can be forgiven (and another 6 credits if they continue into a baccalaureate degree program).
• The maximum of 12 credits applies across the span of any sequential baccalaureate degrees.
• Only grades of D or F can be forgiven.
• Students who have graduated are not eligible for Grade Forgiveness. Students seeking to use Grade Forgiveness using a course taken during their final semester will need to have this approved prior to degree conferral, which is approximately one week after the final grade reporting deadline.
• Students considering Grade Forgiveness should meet with their academic adviser before repeating the course to discuss potential implications.
• After a course has been repeated (according to procedures outlined in the AAPPM under C-7) and a grade has been posted to the student's academic record, they may submit a request form in LionPATH for the prior grade to be removed from the computation of both their semester and cumulative grade-point averages. The online Grade Forgiveness Request form is located in their LionPATH Student Center under Academic Records.
• A single course can only be used to forgive the grade in a previous single attempt of that course (i.e., an improved grade only forgives one other grade on a student’s record—not all previous attempts).
• A PS or PD grade that is assigned according to policy G-6 PASS/FAIL GRADING cannot be used to forgive a previous grade of D or F. Only letter grades can be used to forgive a previous D or F in the same course.
• Students receiving financial aid are strongly encouraged to consult with their campus representative from the Office of Student Aid about potential implications.

• College review/approval of the request is only to ensure that they have consulted with their academic adviser, as determined by the College expectations, and that they acknowledge that there may be potential Student Aid implications.
• Equivalent courses are considered courses that share the same Subject and Catalog Number. Courses that use the X94, X95, X96, X97, X98 and X99 numbering convention are excluded because they are designed to be unique topical offerings.
• Grade forgiveness cannot be applied to courses in which the student has received an academic sanction because of an academic integrity violation.
• Transfer courses cannot be used to forgive grades earned in Penn State courses.
• Course suffixes are not a restriction to Grade Forgiveness (e.g., Math 140B can be used to forgive a grade earned in Math 140).
• In situations where students repeat a variable credit course for which the number of credits differs in the two offerings, Grade Forgiveness can still be used to remove the first attempt in the GPA calculation.

When a grade is omitted through this policy:

• The adjusted GPA calculation cannot be reversed
• The credits remain under attempted (all instances of a given course appear in attempted)
• All attempted instances of a course and grade remain visible on the transcript
• A course for which a grade is being forgiven will not be included in the GPA Units and Earned credit totals (in effect, this will impact the GPA in the same way as a retroactive late-drop), and, accordingly, will not count in ETM credit windows.
• A notation will be added to the transcript indicating the courses for which a grade has been omitted from the GPA calculation.
• It does not automatically alter prior academic decisions (such as Entrance to Major and scholarship program eligibility), but colleges and programs can establish their own process and criteria for students to request a review of their eligibility after grade forgiveness.
• It does not prevent subsequent graduate or other professional programs from calculating a Grade Point Average based on all grades posted to an official transcript.

Grade forgiveness will not change the Academic Standing of a previous semester. The only exception is for a student who is suspended at the end of a semester and for whom Grade Forgiveness would result in a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better. This student can use Grade Forgiveness to return to good standing. If the cumulative GPA would not be above 2.0, a petition for an immediate stay of academic suspension would be the only way to seek a change in standing.

In semesters that the University Faculty Senate implements policy 47-90 Supplemental Satisfactory Grade/Passing Grade/No Grade Grading System – Baccalaureate and Associate Degree Candidates, see G-11 for guidance on how H-2 will be implemented.

Senate Policy:  47-80, Repeating Courses