If you are an undergraduate student and you feel you’ve been graded unfairly or that you could do better in a class, you have options for trying to raise your GPA.
What you can do if you’re not happy with a grade
Retake the class (grade replacement)
If you did poorly in a course, you may be able to take it again to remove your earlier grade from your cumulative GPA. You can take advantage of this grade replacement policy if:
- You’re an undergraduate student
- You’re pursuing your first bachelor’s degree from IU
You can use grade replacement for a maximum of 15 credit hours, subject to approval by your school. You can request a grade replacement no more than twice for a single course, and each attempt counts toward your 15 credit limit.
To use grade replacement, the repeated course grade should be the same as or higher than your previous attempt at the course. Any replaced grades will be excluded from your cumulative program GPA, but will still appear on your academic record with an X to show that the grade was excluded.
Please note that grades that have been assigned as the result of academic misconduct (i.e. plagiarism) may be repeated for credit but may not be replaced with an "X" by this or any other grade replacement policy.
Some IU East schools may not honor grade replacement when you apply to the school or in computing your graduation honors. Check with your school or division for more information.
Once a grade replacement has been put on your record, it can’t be reversed.
Grade replacement is available only for courses taken at Indiana University.
To petition for your grade replacement, you'll need to complete the Petition for Grade Replacement form online, or pick up a paper form in the Office of the Registrar.
Request a grade change
If you believe there’s been an error in the calculation or assignment of a grade, it’s your responsibility to contact your instructor within 10 business days after the course grade is posted. The instructor can request for your grade to be changed if there’s an error.
If you can’t resolve the matter with your instructor or you’re unable to contact them, consider submitting a grade change appeal.
You’re able to submit an appeal only if you took the course within the last five years. (Academic units may choose to enforce shorter time periods.) Exceptions to this five-year period are extremely rare.
The grade change appeal process
First, appeal to the Dean of your School:
- Contact the Dean in writing within 20 business days after the course grade was posted, including the following:
- Student’s name
- Student’s ID number
- Student’s correct mailing address
- Name of course and number
- Full name of instructor
- The assigned grade
- The date you contacted your instructor about the grade change request and its result.
- Course syllabus
- An argument, which demonstrates a valid reason that the instructor would be obligated to assign a better grade, which should include an analysis of relevant evidence.
- Relevant evidence may include: final exam, assignment instructions and/or student’s electronic gradebook, and/or copies of previous communications with instructor, and/or witness testimony
- The Dean may appoint a faculty designee of the school to review the appeal.
- The Dean or designee may require additional documentation.
If your appeal to the Dean is unsuccessful, you have one final option, to appeal to the Admissions & Academic Affairs committee:
- Prepare and submit a formal letter within 30 business days after the course grade was posted, and email it to appeals@iue.edu or mail it to:
Admissions & Academic Affairs Committee
Office of Academic Affairs
Indiana University East
2325 Chester Blvd., Richmond, IN 47374 - The letter should contain the following:
- Student’s name
- Student’s ID number
- Student’s correct mailing address
- Name of course and number
- Full name of instructor
- The assigned grade
- The date “Appeal to Instructor” was initiated and result
- The date “Appeal to Dean of School” was initiated and result
- Course syllabus
- An argument, which demonstrates a valid reason that the Dean’s decision should be reviewed, which should include an analysis of relevant evidence.
- Relevant evidence may include: final exam, assignment instructions, and/or student’s electronic gradebook, and/or copies of previous communications with instructor and/or Dean, and/or witness testimony.
- The committee may require additional documentation.
- The decision of the committee will be final.
Request grade forgiveness
IU East’s Grade Forgiveness Policy encourages capable, mature Indiana University students to return to IU East after they have achieved poorly during a prior enrollment period, offering a second chance to undergraduate students seeking their first bachelor’s degree.
If your first attempt at your undergraduate degree from IU didn’t go so well, grade forgiveness may be your key to getting back on track at IU East. The grade forgiveness policy may allow you to improve your GPA if you meet the following criteria:
- You’re an undergraduate student
- You’re pursuing your first bachelor’s degree
- You’ve been away from the IU system and have not attended any other college, university, or IU campus for at least two calendar years
- Upon returning, you have completed at least 12 credit hours of graded course work, at IU East, and passed all courses with a GPA of at least 2.0
This grade forgiveness policy applies to all IU East undergraduate degree programs.
If you’re interested in grade forgiveness, talk with your academic advisor for details. After meeting with your advisor, you will be given a link to an online form to begin the process.
The fine print
You can request grade forgiveness only once. However, taking advantage of this doesn’t keep you from using other available course-specific grade replacement options after you start taking classes again.
Forgiveness is available only for courses taken at Indiana University.
A student’s transcript should accurately reflect all of the student’s academic work. Transcripts of students who exercised grade forgiveness will reflect all grades. A statement on the transcript will explain which grades have been excluded from the GPA calculation. For financial aid eligibility, your entire transcript will be evaluated.
Schools retain the right to grant forgiveness and may set guidelines for a minimum GPA above which you can’t petition for forgiveness. If you change schools after re-enrolling, your new school might not honor the forgiveness granted by your previous school.