Grade Policies: Acceptance, Repeats & Forgiveness 

Consistent with the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission’s Title 133 Procedural Rule, Series 22: Grade Point Average for Associate and Baccalaureate Degrees

Grading System 

West Virginia State University has adopted the following grading system:

Developmental Courses

Enrollment in college-level courses in English and mathematics requires demonstration of a certain minimum level of proficiency as indicated by scores on ACT or SAT examinations, or scores on one of several placement instruments approved by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, or by a minimum grade of C in a developmental course taken at an institution which offers these courses. The University records grades in developmental courses on the student’s transcript to create an official record of the student’s eligibility for college-level English and mathematics courses at West Virginia State University.

Institutions that offer developmental courses in English and mathematics commonly designate these courses by course numbers beginning with 0 (e.g., MATH 020; ENGL 020, ENGL 099). 

In accordance with Section 2 of Series 22: 

• Developmental courses will be excluded for all purposes of graduation.
• Developmental grades are now among those identified with an E, which means excluded on the transcript.
• As the E(xclusion) indicates, developmental grades and credit hours are not included in determining official semester or cumulative grade point averages.
• Credit hours earned in developmental courses are not included as degree credit.

Guidelines for Grades of Incomplete    

A grade of Incomplete (I) extends the deadline for completion of coursework for a specified time beyond the end of the semester when circumstances such as serious illness or other circumstances beyond the normal control of the student prevent the completion of all course requirements. 

Transferred course work listed on received transcripts as “I”, “IP”, “Q” or any other indication of incomplete or unfinished course work is not accepted until a new official transcript is updated to the Office of Registrar with final earned grade. 

Repeating and Replacing Grades

Series 22 Procedure Rule outlined by WVHEPC in Section 3, caps the provision of qualified “D” or “F” repeated grades at 21 credit hours:

3.1. If a student earns a grade of “D” or “F” (including failures due to regular and/or irregular withdrawal) on a course taken prior to the receipt of a baccalaureate degree, and if that student repeats this course prior to the receipt of the baccalaureate degree, the original grade shall be disregarded and the grade or grades earned when the course is repeated shall be used in determining the grade point average. The original grade shall not be deleted from the student’s record.

• In upper division courses, a student may formally repeat up to eight credit hours, of a grade of “C”, with the written permission of the appropriate head of the academic unit where the student’s major is housed.
• The privilege of the “D” and “F” repeat is capped at 21 credit hours, including any request for a “C” repeat in an upper division course.
• Additional repeated courses outside the above prescribed  “D/F” repeat policy are not permitted to count toward graduation.  
• Students may not receive duplicated credit from the same course, unless specifically noted in the course description and may not exceed the hours specified in such description. While credit hours will be removed, the course and grade are still calculated in cumulative GPA.

Discretionary Academic Forgiveness

Following Sections 4 and 5 of Series 22: This policy pertains only to graduation requirements and not to such requirements for professional certification, which may be within the province of licensing boards, external agencies, or the West Virginia Board of Education.
A student who has grades of F and/or D may petition the grades by completing the online form found under the Office of the Registrar webpage. Students may petition to disregard the grades for the purpose of computation of the cumulative grade point average only under the following conditions:

• Only F and/or D grades from courses taken at least five years prior to the request may be disregarded for grade-point computation. A student must choose to keep all D grades or have all eligible D grades forgiven;

• When F and/or D grades are disregarded for grade point average computation, these grades will not be deleted from the student’s official transcript;

• Students who elect to remove eligible grades of “D” will have such grades and any attached earned credit hours disregarded for purposes of grade point average computation; 

• The student requesting academic forgiveness must not have been enrolled in any college or university on a full-time basis (i.e., 12 or more credit hours) during any semester or term in the previous five years. If the student has enrolled on a part-time basis (i.e., less than 12 credit hours) during the specified years, the student must have earned at least a grade point average of C in all coursework attempted;

• To apply for academic forgiveness, a student must be currently enrolled and must complete the appropriate online form found on the Office of the Registrar webpage. The student must certify that he/she has not been enrolled as a full-time student at any college or university for five consecutive years prior to the request;

• Once the student applicant has completed 12 credit hours of required courses at West Virginia State University (not including developmental courses) with no grade lower than a C and has submitted the appropriate form, the  Registrar will calculate the student’s GPA. The University Registrar will then grant the academic forgiveness for the F grades as well as the D grades if the student so requests, which the student earned at least five years earlier.

**Please note a designated separate “Forgiveness” for students enrolled in the Regents Bachelor of Arts program at WVSU. This designated forgiveness is only applicable to those active in the program. Changing from this program to another forfeits the designated “Forgiveness” of the specialized RBA, Regents Bachelor of Arts.

For “RBA Forgiveness details, please see the Regents Bachelor of Arts website Here or in the Catalog  

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