Effective for Spring 2023 only, please see https://advising.msu.edu/about/credit-no-credit for a one term adjustment to course eligibility, credit limits, and repeats. See the revised policy at https://policies.msu.edu/_assets/pdfs/policies/registrar/MSU-University-Policy-Credit-No-Credit-Policy.pdf.
Undergraduate students can repeat a course no matter the previous grade. Undergraduate students who enrolled in a course for CR, or P cannot repeat the course on a credit basis. Students may repeat a course for a maximum of two times for three total enrollments and can repeat a maximum of 20 credits.
A graduate student who received a grade of 2.0 or above, CR, or P in a course may not repeat the course on a credit basis with the following exception: with the approval of the associate dean, a graduate student may repeat a course in which a grade of 2.0 or 2.5 was received. The number of credits that a graduate student may repeat is determined by the student's academic advisor or guidance committee, in accordance with unit policies.
Whenever a course is repeated on a credit basis, the last grade and credits earned completely replace the previous grade in the satisfaction of requirements and computation of the cumulative grade-point average. All entries remain a part of the student's permanent academic record.
Any course repeated for credit must be taken on the same grading system under which the course was taken the first time, except where standard requirements to the contrary must be satisfied in order to meet graduation requirements.
Credit by Examination may not be used to repeat a course in which a grade below 2.0 was received.
A student who has taken a course as a visitor may subsequently enroll in the course for credit with the approval of his or her advisor.
Financial Aid and Repeats
Federal financial aid regulations limit the number of times a student may repeat a course and receive financial aid for that course. The following guidelines apply to students eligible for federal aid.
- A student may receive aid when repeating a course that was previously failed (received a 0.0 or No Pass) multiple times.
- Once a student passes a class, they can only receive aid for retaking that course one additional time, regardless of the grade earned for that additional attempt. Any subsequent attempts will not be eligible for aid.
- If a student retakes a course that is not aid eligible, a recalculation of aid is done to exclude the credits for the repeated course. Students are notified by the Office of Financial Aid if their aid needs to be reduced.
- A course that is dropped is not considered an attempt for purposes of this policy.