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Grade Point Average (GPA) Adjustment

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Effective Date: August 2023
Last Reviewed: October 2018
Last Revised: February 2023
Next Review: February 2026

Policy Statement

The Grade Point Average (GPA) Adjustment policy provides students the opportunity to make progress toward degree completion by allowing them to remove a maximum of six courses with grades C- or lower from the calculation of their overall GPA and earned hours.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a GPA adjustment, students must meet all the following conditions at the time of the request:

  • Officially admitted, reenrolled or reinstated to Kent State *
  • Seeking a Kent State undergraduate degree or certificate
  • Enrolled in undergraduate credit courses at Kent State
*

Students who are dismissed may apply for GPA adjustment if they appeal and are reinstated.

Students with a previous undergraduate degree or certificate and currently enrolled in a subsequent undergraduate program are eligible with the following stipulations:

  • Students who earned a Kent State associate or bachelor’s degree or certificate may request a GPA adjustment for failed grades (F, NF, SF, U) and only C-, D+ and D grades for the courses that were not used toward earning the previous degree or certificate.
  • Students who earned a non-Kent State associate or bachelor’s degree or certificate may request a GPA adjustment for failed grades (F, NF, SF, U) earned before or after the awarded degree or certificate and only C-, D+ and D grades earned after the awarded degree or certificate.

Reason for Policy

This GPA Adjustment policy is an alternative to the Course Repeat policy and allows students to request specific course grades to be removed from their GPA and overall credit hours subjected to specific conditions for eligibility and approval.

Procedures

To apply for a GPA adjustment, students must complete the following steps:

  1. Meet with an academic advisor to begin an application
  2. Provide a written statement describing their plan to assure successful academic performance in the future
  3. Select a maximum of six courses with grades C-, D+, D, F, NF, SF, M and/or U to be removed from the GPA and earned hours

Once the steps outlined above have been completed, the Office of the University Registrar will remove the student-selected grades from the calculation of the student’s GPA and earned hours. The grades will be retained on the student's transcript with the notation of an “E” (excluded) in the repeat column. The official grade for the courses will be changed to X* (e.g., XC-, XD) to denote a GPA adjustment.

The following stipulations to course forgiveness will be enforced:

  • The GPA Adjustment policy applies only to coursework taken at Kent State University and only to the students’ Kent State transcript. Students cannot request the policy for grades earned from transfer courses.
  • Students cannot request the policy for courses taken for a pass/fail grade.
  • The course must officially be recorded on the student’s transcript for grade adjustment to be considered.
  • Students selecting a GPA adjustment for a course required to graduate with their declared program must retake this course unless the dean of the college in which they are enrolled approves a suitable substitution.
  • The original GPA (includes any courses under the GPA Adjustment policy) will be used in determining eligibility for Latin honors, distinction or other recognition, as well as satisfactory academic progress eligibility for federal financial aid, based upon the entirety of students’ undergraduate academic career and record of academic performance.
  • A student may submit multiple requests for GPA adjustment until the maximum six courses is met or the student graduates with that degree or certificate, whichever comes first. Students cannot request this policy for a course in a degree or certificate program after that degree or certificate has been awarded.
  • Students who participated in academic forgiveness in the past may request GPA adjustment if they had fewer than six courses removed from their GPA and earned hours under the previous policy. Maximum six courses may be removed under previous and proposed policy, combined.
  • Once the course grade and credit hours have been removed from the student’s GPA and earned hours, they will not, under any circumstances, be reinstated.
  • A graduate school may review a student’s complete undergraduate record (including any courses under the GPA Adjustment policy) when making admission decisions.

Forms/Instructions

Students must contact an academic advisor to begin an application.

Additional Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How does the new GPA Adjustment policy differ from the Academic Forgiveness policy?
    The Academic Forgiveness policy has been revised and renamed GPA Adjustment. The process for applying and the eligibility requirements have been modified to simplify the process and remove unintended barriers for students to receive a second chance at pursuing their academic goals and progress for degree completion.
  2. What is the difference between the GPA Adjustment policy and the Course Repeat policy?
    GPA Adjustment allows for students to select a maximum of six courses with grades C- and lower to be removed from the calculation of their GPA and overall credit hours. Course Repeat also allows for courses taken to be excluded the student’s GPA; however, in contrast to the GPA Adjustment Policy, students must take the same course again (i.e., repeat), and have only the highest grade earned in the attempts be applied to the GPA. You should consult with your academic advisor regarding both policies to help them determine which one applies best to your circumstances.
  3. How will using GPA Adjustment affect my financial aid?
    Courses forgiven under GPA Adjustment still will be used in determining your financial aid eligibility. Grades and credit hours (earned and attempted) from forgiven courses will be reflected in your Satisfactory Academic Progress calculation found in FlashLine.

Additional FAQ: GPA Adjustment

Definitions

Admitted: Offered admission to enroll in a program at Kent State University.

Earned Hours: Credit hours for courses that the student completed with a grade or administrative mark that is considered passing.

Enrolled: Student has completed course registration for a specific term.

GPA (Grade Point Average): An indication of a student's academic achievement at Kent State University, determined by the number of credit hours attempted at Kent State University and the grades received. The Kent State GPA is calculated to three places past the decimal point and not rounded.

GPS Degree Audit: A summary of all official program requirements merged with the student’s academic record to provide a real-time assessment of progress toward graduation.

Reenrolled: Act of being restored to active-student status in order to register for courses and pursue completion of an academic program after an absence of one full academic year or longer.

Reinstated: Act of being restored to active-student status after academic dismissal in order to register for courses and pursue completion of an academic program.

Student Transcript: The accurate and complete record of a student's academic coursework attempted at an institution, presented in either electronic format or paper format.

Related Information

Revision History

Amended August 2023: Revised policy clarifies that students must be seeking a Kent State undergraduate degree/certificate and enrolled in undergraduate Kent State courses (i.e., not open to guest students or former students who do not return to Kent State). In addition, the required quiz is eliminated; instead, students initial each statement that was part of the quiz on their application request.

Amended August 2022: Revised policy eliminates the one-year away requirement from Kent State, allows students with a previous degree to be eligible with certain stipulations, replaces GPA and credit-hours requirement for eligibility with requirement that students meet with their academic advisor and provide a written statement describing their plan to assure successful academic performance in the future. Instead of removing all grades C- and lower from the GPA, students select a maximum of six courses with grades C- and lower to be removed. Policy is renamed Grade Point Average (GPA) Adjustment.

Amended August 2012: Revised policy applies to the clause for Kent State associate degree holders to allow forgiveness to be applied toward any course not used for a previous associate or certificate degree, rather an any course after earning the previous credential.

Amended August 2011: Revised policy decreases the time away from three (two for veterans) to one year for all students; and removes stipulation that students cannot take coursework elsewhere for at last three years. Students who earned a Kent State associate degree are now eligible for coursework taken after that degree.

Amended August 2005: Revised policy add C- to the list of grades that are forgiven after eligibility.

Amended August 1981: Revised policy decreases the time away only for students who were enlisted in the armed forces, from three to two years. Former students who did complete coursework elsewhere may be eligible if three years passed since that study. Revision also adds an eligibility requirement of 15-30 credit hours of graded coursework with a 2.000 GPA. Once eligible, all grades D or lower are forgiven.

Effective September 1976: Establishes a formal Academic Forgiveness policy for all undergraduate students. To be eligible, former students must be away from the university for three or more calendar years and have not attended another university during that time.

Effective September 1968: Establishes an administrative policy regarding academic forgiveness for former students who had left the university to serve in the armed forces. To be eligible, students must be away from the university for three or more calendar years.