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Repeated Courses

Summary

Some Stanford courses may be repeated for credit; most courses may not. Under the General University Grading System, when a course that may not be repeated for credit is retaken by a student, special rules.

Policy Statement

Some Stanford courses may be repeated for credit; they are specially noted in this policy. Most courses may not be repeated for credit. Under the General University Grading System, when a course which may not be repeated for credit is retaken by a student, the following special rules apply:

  1. A student may retake any course on their transcript, regardless of grade earned, and have the original grade, for completed courses only, replaced by the notation 'RP' (repeated course). When retaking a course, the student must enroll in it for the same number of units originally taken. When the grade for the second enrollment in the course has been reported, the units and grade points for the second course count in the cumulative grade point average in place of the grade and units for the first enrollment in the course. Because the notation 'RP' can only replace grades for completed courses, the notation 'W' cannot be replaced by the notation 'RP' in any case.

  2. A student may not retake the same course for a third time unless the student received a 'NC' (no credit) or 'NP' (not passed) when it was taken and completed the second time. Undergraduate students must submit a request for approval to take the course for a third time with the office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE), via the office of Academic Advising, Sweet Hall. When a student completes a course for the third time, grades and units for both the second and third completions count in the cumulative grade point average. The notation 'W' is not counted toward the three-retake maximum.

Students may not enroll in courses for credit for which they received either external test or transfer credit. If students enroll in courses at Stanford for which they received equivalent external test or transfer unit credit, the duplicating unit credit will be removed.

Implementation Information

The repeat policy is implemented once per quarter after the grades due deadline has passed. So long as both instances of enrollment have received a final grade (not I, N, L, or GNR), the repeat process will update the first graded instance to RP.

Contact Information

Academic Records and Enrollment, Office of the University Registrar

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