About the Policy
Under the grade replacement policy, undergraduate, graduate and nondegree students (law students are not eligible) may retake a CU Boulder course in which they earned a low grade in an attempt to improve their cumulative GPA.
The grade the student earned in their most recent prior attempt will still be included on the transcript and in their total attempted units, but will be removed and replaced by the latest grade in their cumulative GPA and total earned units as long as that grade is the same or better. If a lower grade is earned in the latest attempt, grade replacement is not applied and the grades from both attempts will be used in computing cumulative and major grade point averages, total credits and academic standing.
There are slightly different eligibility criteria for undergraduate and graduate students:
- Undergraduate students must have earned a C- or lower in their previous attempt
- Graduate students must have earned a C+ or lower in their previous attempt
To retake a course for grade replacement, the student must simply register for the class again. The Office of the Registrar will run a process for students to apply grade replacement to all eligible courses and students after final grading each term. Students who wish to have a repeated course excluded from grade replacement processes and calculations may opt out of grade replacement by contacting registrar@colorado.edu.
If a student enrolls in a course previously taken and subsequently drops the course, the original grade stands and will be calculated in cumulative totals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Student Eligibility
Yes, effective spring 2022, nondegree students (including certificate-only students) are eligible for grade replacement in qualifying courses.. Law students are not eligible.
Yes. Suspended students enrolled through Continuing Education are still eligible.
Course Eligibility
- Why is the grade replacement threshold for undergraduates a C- or lower?
- If a student received a W in their first attempt, is that course eligible for grade replacement?
- If a student took a student-option course as pass/fail in their first attempt and earned a P (pass) or S (satisfactory), is that course eligible for grade replacement?
- If a student took a student-option course as pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory in their first attempt and earned an F, is that course eligible for grade replacement?
- Are course grades earned as a result of an academic honor code violation eligible for grade replacement?
- Can an undergrad repeat a graduate-level course for grade replacement?
- Can a graduate student use grade replacement on a class they originally took as an undergrad?
The undergraduate threshold of C- was selected because some degree programs require students to earn a C or better in course prerequisites.
No, W grades do not count as the most recent prior attempt. W grades do not impact the GPA. If the student received a W grade in their only previous attempt, grade replacement will not apply. If the student has attempted the course multiple times, then the most recent letter-graded attempt is included in the end-of-term grade replacement process.
No, the student must have earned an eligible letter grade in their first attempt of the course. Additionally, the student can't retroactively change the grade mode for the course to make it eligible; they must have changed the grade mode by the deadline for the term in which they took the course.
If it was a student-option course, then yes, because an F is an F regardless of the grade mode. However, the student must retake the course for a letter grade to use grade replacement. Courses graded pass/fail only or satisfactory/unsatisfactory are not eligible for grade replacement.
No. The Office of the Registrar works with Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution to flag courses on student records when a student is found responsible for an academic honor code violation. Such courses are not eligible for grade replacement under this policy.
Yes. Grade replacement applies to a student's career (undergrad vs. grad), not to the level of the individual course.
For example, an undergraduate student could take a graduate course (perhaps as part of the BAM program) and do poorly in the first attempt. They could then repeat the course again as an undergraduate and try to do better the second time. The grade from the second instance would then replace the grade from the first instance.
No. Grade replacement applies to a student's career; therefore, once a student graduates (or attains graduate standing), they can no longer replace a grade earned during a previous career.