Grade Forgiveness and Faculty Senate Petitions

Grade Forgiveness Policy

Under Penn State's Grade Forgiveness Links to an external site. policy, if a student earns a D or F grade in a course but then repeats the course and earns a better grade, the original grade can be forgiven. If a grade forgiveness request is approved, the original course still will appear on the student's official transcript, but will not earn credit or count towards the student's term or cumulative GPA.

Students can access the Grade Forgiveness Request form online in LionPATH by choosing "Grade Forgiveness" under "Academic Records". The form is only available to degree-seeking undergraduate students after a course has been repeated and a grade posted, where the original grade was a D or F.

 

Faculty Senate Petitions

When students have not followed a policy listed in the Policies and Rules for Undergraduate Students Links to an external site. and believe an exception to the policy may be warranted, they may submit a petition to the Senate Committee on Education for consideration.

The Senate committee does not grant petitions automatically. Strong, documented justification must be provided to establish the circumstances that warrant an exception. Examples are Retroactive Late Course Drops and Retroactive Withdrawals from an entire term based on extenuating circumstances that affected academic performance.

It is to the student’s advantage to submit a complete, well-documented petition. In a petition, students must describe extenuating circumstances beyond their control that warrant consideration of a retroactive action, and be able to provide written documentation of those circumstances. They must also establish why they did not follow existing University policies before the established deadline.

Please be aware that an approved petition for ANY petition type, could affect a student’s bursar account or student aid in a way that may cause a student to owe money. Before initiating ANY petition, you should consult with Bursar and Student Aid staff members to determine financial and student aid implications. In addition, student athletes, students in the Comprehensive Studies Program (CSP), international students, and students receiving veterans benefits can be impacted, and should consult with those offices to avoid losing eligibility or benefits.

Students initiate the petition process by speaking with an adviser at their campus advising center.