Grade Forgiveness Information for Students

Grade Forgiveness

Under Ohio State's general course repeatability rule, students can, with permission from their college, repeat a course they have already taken. Both grades will remain on the transcript and will be counted in calculating grade-point average. Only the credit hours for one attempt will be counted toward the total hours required for your degree.

However, the Grade Forgiveness Rule allows undergraduate students to request to repeat a course under a different arrangement: once the second attempt is completed, the grade and earned credit hours of the first attempt are permanently removed from the student's GPA calculation and total earned hours.

  • The second grade, once assigned, becomes permanent; if a student repeats the same course again, all other repeats will be included under the general course repeatability rule (above)
    • This means that students who earn a lower grade in their second attempt may see their GPA fall, may lose eligibility to advance in course sequences or apply to competitive majors, or may lose credit for the course
  • The original grade will remain on the student's transcript and some graduate/professional school admission processes will re-calculate the student's GPA to include the original grade
  • Grade Forgiveness can be used once per course on up to three courses
  • Grade Forgiveness petitions will not be approved for W, PA, PE, S, U, UEN, NP, or NEN mark since those do not impact the GPA

To use Grade Forgiveness students should enroll in the course they intend to repeat and submit the Grade Forgiveness petition form before the last day to drop that course without petitioning (usually the 10th Friday of the term for full semester classes).

If a student needs to correct an error on a Grade Forgiveness petition form, they should email registrar@osu.edu. Once a Grade Forgiveness petition form has been received, it cannot be withdrawn.

Answers to common questions

  1. If you decide to drop the class after your Grade Forgiveness petition has been approved, the university will cancel that request and return that Grade Forgiveness instance to you.
    • Note: If a course is dropped after the Grade Forgiveness has been applied and the new grade has been posted (as in the case with Fresh Start), the Grade Forgiveness instance will not be returned.
  2. Grade Forgiveness can only be applied to Ohio State courses: the first attempt of a course is defined as the first attempt taken at Ohio State, and the second attempt of the course is defined as the second attempt taken at Ohio State.
    • This rule is intended for a second attempt's grade to forgive a first attempt's grade. Third attempts are not eligible for grade forgiveness.
    • Note: It does not matter which Ohio State campus the class is taken at for either attempt.
  3. To schedule a course for grade forgiveness, simply re-enroll in it. You will submit the Grade Forgiveness petition during the semester when you are re-taking the class.
    • Note: Some departments have special rules about repeating courses that are taken as a sequence, such as Math or Chemistry. Please check with an advisor or review the department website for special Grade Forgiveness rules.
  4. Academic standing is not retroactively reviewed if a first attempt's grade is removed from the GPA calculation due to forgiveness.
  5. The original grade will not be removed from the student's GPA until after the final drop deadline for the term has passed (after the 10th Friday for full-term courses). Generally, transcripts will be sent after the new grade has posted.
  6. Requests for classes in which the student has previously earned a passing grade may not be approved, based on class-seat availability.

If you have questions about this information and how it relates to your specific situation, please contact your advisor.