​COURSE REPETITION

A student who earns a D, F, W, or NP grade may repeat the course up to two times to improve the grade of the substandard work. Withdrawals (notations of W) will count toward the two allowable repeats. A student may not repeat a course more than two times to alleviate substandard work.

A student may not repeat a course to change a grade of C or above. (Note this same procedure may be followed in case of grades UF and WF which appear on some older transcripts.) Courses repeated under the provisions of this section will be indicated as repeated on the permanent academic record of the student.

Course repetition at Santa Ana College does not guarantee that other institutions will approve such action. This determination will be made by the respective transfer institutions.

Repeatability of Courses

Courses may be repeated under the following circumstances:

Substandard Work: A student has up to three enrollments in the same course (SAC and SCC combined) to receive a passing grade.​ After three attempts, the student can no longer register for the course within this college district.​

Non Repeatable Course: A student who earns a D, F, NP or W grade may repeat the course twice to improve the grade of the substandard work. The last grade earned will count in the GPA calculation. Courses repeated under the provisions of this section will be indicated as repeated on the permanent academic record of the student. A student may not repeat a course to change a grade of C or better. After three enrollments, the class must be completed outside the Rancho Santiago Community College District.

Significant Lapse of Time: Students may be permitted to repeat the course no less than 36 months since the most recent grade was obtained AND an institution of higher education to which a student wishes to transfer has established a recency requirement that the student cannot satisfy without repeating the course (Title 5, §55043). Students may submit a Petition for Course Repetition Exception Form to repeat the course. Grades awarded for courses repeated under this provision shall replace the original grade. Only one repetition may be used for significant lapse of time (W grade counts towards repetition).

Legally Mandated Training: Repetition of courses for which the student is legally mandated by statue or regulation. Pursuant to Title 5 Section 55040, of the California Code of Regulations, Santa Ana College has adopted the following policy with regard to repeating courses for which the student has certified or documented that course repetition is legally mandated. Student may submit a Petition for Course Repetition Exception Form to repeat a course.

Course repetition shall be permitted in cases where such repetition is necessary for a student to meet a legally mandated training requirement as a condition of continued paid or volunteer employment. Such courses may be repeated for credit, any number of times, regardless of whether or not substandard work was previously recorded, and the grade and units received each time shall be included for purposes of calculating the student’s grade point average. Santa Ana College reserves the right to require a student to certify or document in writing that course repetition is necessary to complete legally mandated training pursuant to this section.

Variable Unit Courses. When a course is designated as repeatable and is also variable unit, the number of repeats dictates how many times the course may be enrolled in for credit. A variable unit course which is not designated as repeatable may be registered for until the maximum number of units has been attempted. No portion of the class may be repeated to improve grade point average.

Courses Related in Content (commonly referred to as a Family of Courses)
New regulations governing the repetition of credit courses in the California Community College system effective Fall 2013 have eliminated certain repeatability in the Art, Dance, Kinesiology (activity courses), Music, and Theatre departments. While students will not, in most cases, be allowed to repeat active participatory courses in these
departments, students will still be allowed to enroll in a series of active participatory courses that are related in content (commonly referred to as a family of courses) a maximum of four times.

A family of courses may include more than four courses, but students are limited to a maximum of four courses in any family. Further, all grades, including W, will count toward the four course enrollment limitation. Students can repeat Art, Dance, Kinesiology (activity courses), Music, and Theatre Arts courses that are included in Families of Courses in which an NP, D, F, or W was assigned; however, all enrollments count toward the 4 enrollment maximum for each family of courses.

For further questions regarding enrollment into a Family of Courses, contact the Admissions and Records office.​