Beginning with the 2007-2008 academic year, a Grade Forgiveness policy was approved for the four senior institutions in the USC system. The policy states that every currently enrolled fully-admitted, degree-seeking undergraduate student earning a "D+", "D", "F", "FN"or "WF" in a USC course may take a total of two (2) undergraduate courses for a second time for the purpose of Grade Forgiveness. The steps to the grade forgiveness procedure, the complete policy, and the application for Grade Forgiveness are found below.

GRADE FORGIVENESS PROCEDURE

1. Read the Grade Forgiveness Policy (below) thoroughly and completely.  
2. Complete the Application for Grade Forgiveness. This application must be completed prior to submitting a request for Grade Forgiveness. Students must answer yes to all questions on the Application for Grade Forgiveness to be eligible for Grade Forgiveness.  
3. If you qualify for Grade Forgiveness and have selected an applicable course, the completed application should be brought to the USC Aiken Records Office located in Room 109 of the Penland Administration Building. The form may also be faxed to the USC Aiken Records Office at (803) 641-3347, or mailed to the USC Aiken Records Office at 471 University Parkway, Aiken, SC 29801.

GRADE FORGIVENESS POLICY

It is the policy of the University of South Carolina Aiken that every currently enrolled fully-admitted, degree-seeking undergraduate student earning a "D+", "D", "F", "FN" or "WF" in a USC Aiken course may take up to two (2) undergraduate courses for a second time for the purpose of grade forgiveness. Both the first and second grades shall appear on the USC system permanent record, but only the second grade will be used in computing the University of South Carolina system grade point average. An explanatory notice will appear on the record. Once grade forgiveness is applied to a repeated course, the action may not be revoked.

This policy does not preclude students from repeating classes multiple times, in accordance with program requirements, but only the second attempt at the class may forgive the original grade of "D+", "D", "F", "FN" or "WF". Grade forgiveness can only be applied once per course for a maximum of two courses (not to exceed eight credits) on a student’s undergraduate academic record, without regard to the number of degrees sought. Under the grade forgiveness policy, the forgiven and repeated class must both be the same class taken at the same USC campus. Courses transferred from other institutions are excluded from this policy.

Courses in registered terms, for which Grade Forgiveness is applied, will remain on the students Academic Transcript with a notation of "E" (for exclude) and the credit and grade will be excluded from the GPA. Forgiven courses are included in a student's total attempted hours, but not in the passed or earned hours.

Established requirements for repeating classes, admission to, or progression in, specific academic programs of the University take precedence over the grade forgiveness policy. Program or progression grade point averages are not affected by this policy. Refer to the guidelines for each program for specific requirements.

Only a regular letter grade can replace a forgiven grade. Grades of "W", "I", "S", "U", or "AUDIT" may not replace previous grades. Courses intended to be repeated for additional credit, such a research or applied music, are not eligible for grade forgiveness.

Students who have been granted Academic Forgiveness to reset the grade point average after readmission are not eligible for course grade forgiveness. Please refer to the Bulletin entry for Academic Forgiveness for Former USC Students with Less Than a 2.00 Cumulative GPA. Courses transferred from other institutions are excluded from this policy.

Semester honors (dean’s or president’s honor list), academic standing (scholastic deficiency, probation, suspension), or previous grade point totals will not change retroactively as a result of applying this policy. Eligible students wishing to apply the course grade forgiveness policy to a course enrollment may do so at any time during his/her undergraduate enrollment, but no applications will be honored after the degree is awarded. Once grade forgiveness is applied to a repeated course, the action may not be revoked.

Application for Grade Forgiveness (.pdf)