Course Retake Policy - Impact on Federal Aid

Federal regulations state that a student may receive federal aid for only one additional attempt of a previously passed course. A "passed" course is defined as any grade higher than an "F," regardless of institutional or program requirements for a higher grade.

If a student retakes a previously passed course more than once, the course will not count toward their Title IV enrollment status. Because Pell Grants and Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loans are based on enrollment intensity, this may reduce total grant and loan funding.

Enrollment Intensity is the percentage of a student's enrollment status relative to what's considered full-time. At Union, enrollment in three credit-bearing courses is considered full-time for federal aid purposes. Because federal aid amounts are based on eligible courses, an uncounted course may reduce funding. However, grants and loans follow different rules:

• Pell Grants: There is no minimum credit requirement. If one or more repeated courses no longer count, the Pell Grant will simply scale down to match the student's exact enrollment intensity.
• Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans: Students must maintain at least half-time enrollment. If a student meets this minimum, loans will be prorated based on enrollment intensity. If the repeat rule drops any student below half-time, loan eligibility will be lost entirely.

The following examples assume the student remains at least half-time, so federal loan eligibility is not affected.

• All repeated coursework is counted in SAP calculations (GPA, pace, and maximum timeframe).
• Courses not counted toward enrollment status will reduce Pell Grant award levels as well as Subsidized/Unsubsidized loan levels, but do not affect institutional merit/grant aid.
• This policy explains the impact of course retakes on federal Pell Grants and Subsidized/Unsubsidized loans; institutional policies on retakes are separate and can be found in the Academic Catalog.