What a professor can teach you about failing a class
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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The vast majority of colleges and universities will allow you take re-take the class to replace it with a better grade on your second attempt.
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If you fail a college class, you aren’t alone. There are lots of students who fail their college classes and it’s not entirely uncommon.
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If you fail all your classes, the university will likely place you on academic probation and you will need to meet some academic standards moving forward to maintain enrollment. There could be other consequences so read the entire guide.
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It depends. If you need the course to graduate, you would need a passing grade to satisfy that degree requirement. If you don’t need the course, you could still graduate unless your G.P.A. is too low. And if you are in a really selective college or program, you could get kicked out for the failing grade, but this is more uncommon.
What can I do if I fail a class?
Okay, you’re probably fretting and wondering what is going to happen now that you failed a college course.
Or you know you’re going to fail because there just isn’t a chance you’ll ever pass and you see a F on the horizon.
You may be asking yourself what does this even mean?
Where do you go from here?
As a former college professor, I know the devastation some students feel when they fail a class, but don’t worry, I am going to explain exactly how failing a class impacts you, and what to expect after failing a class.
Look, even as a college student, I failed all my classes as a freshman. And I would say that everything turned out just fine for me and it’s likely everything will be okay with you too.
You don’t want to end up in a situation where you get kicked out of college for bad grades.
Most of this information is only applicable to public universities in the United States and for undergraduate students.
What does failing a class even mean?
Most often, failing a college class in the United States and most other countries means that a student earned a grade of a F in the course. But since some programs and universities require a C or above for it to be counted towards your degree program, a D might be considered failing too.
So, if you received a F in a college course, this is typically a grade percentage below 60%. But remember, some programs or universities may require a C or above in a class for it to count towards your credit hours so even a D could mean trouble for you.
A D grade in a college course would usually be an overall grade of a 60% - 69%. I will be discussing how both grades impact you and some suggestions on how to deal with a failing grade. You need to make sure you check your college’s grading scale to see how they categorize grades.
But most students start getting concerned when they make a F because this hurts your G.P.A. more and you’ll most likely need to repeat the class.
Let’s dive right into how this effects you.
What happens if I fail a college class?
There are many consequences and they differ based on the circumstances.
Let’s assume you actually earned a F in a course. And you may have even failed more than one course because sometimes that can happen. There are several ways this can impact you. Here is a list of ways that failing a course can impact a student.
G.P.A. Academic probation/suspension
Most universities will require a 2.0 G.P.A. to avoid being placed on academic probation. Colleges want you to do well, and if you have a G.P.A. below 2.0, they could place you on academic probation. You could be required to complete remedial classes, take a seminar, or take fewer credit hours. And if you cannot get your G.P.A. to satisfactory levels again, you could be suspended.
Repeat rule
Some states or colleges may have rules that only allow students to repeat a course a maximum number of times. I usually see a three-peat rule where colleges say that you can only take it twice before additional fees apply. While not a dealbreaker, who wants to pay more for classes if you don’t have to.
30/45
Some states have rules that start requiring higher tuition for courses that go beyond your major by 30 or 45 hours, or something similar. For example, if you need 120 hours to complete your degree, and you have to keep repeating courses, and go beyond 150 hours to earn your degree, the institution may charge higher tuition.
Delayed graduation
The longer you take to complete your degree, the further away your graduation is. And this hurts you because the longer it takes to graduate, the more money you are spending on college. And you are delayed in starting your career. Finally, this diminishes your return on investment too.
Scholarships
Some scholarships might require a minimum G.P.A. for you to continue to receive funding so be careful if you are on some sort of aid.
Program eligibility
If you are in a very selective program or university, you could get suspended or kicked out. Make sure you know exactly what the college and your program says about failing grades to make sure you understand the consequences.
Transcript
When you fail a course, you’ll have that on your transcript and if you have to provide transcripts to future employers, this could hurt you. Think about it for a minute. If you were an employer, and you saw several candidates’ transcripts, and all but one had awesome grades, which one would you take if they were similar in all other ways? Probably the one with the better grades. It may not always be a factor, but most jobs that I applied for after college required my transcripts. I can’t say how much they paid attention to that sort of thing, but you want to try and avoid bad grades.
What should you do if you fail a class?
Don’t start to go down a rabbit hole where you are consumed with your bad grades. Focus on the facts and let’s make a plan to move forward.
Figure out what went wrong to avoid the same problems in the future. Seriously. I want you to really dig deep and think about what you could have done differently.
Did you skip class too often?
Did you fall asleep during lecture?
Did you just not put the effort in to pass the class?
Was the professor hard?
Is the subject really difficult?
Whatever you do, try to internally figure out what you could have done differently to get a better outcome next time.
Now, you will need to look at your degree audit and determine what your next steps are.
You have a couple of options when you fail a class.
Repeat the class
If you need this class for graduation, you are going to need to re-take it so that you can earn credit towards your degree program. If you fail the class and want to replace it with a better grade, the vast majority of colleges and universities will allow you take re-take the class to replace it with a better grade on your second attempt.
Take another course
If you don’t care about having a F on your transcript and don’t need the course for graduation because you can take another course instead, you can simply take another class to avoid having to face the same problems you did the first time. For example, if you must earn 3 credit hours in a foreign language and failed a Spanish class and realize that you would rather take a French class instead, you could do that. Just remember that your F will remain on your transcript and hurt your G.P.A.
Appeal
If you think that your professor might have made a mistake in your grading, you could appeal to your college and follow the process of a grade appeal. Make sure you have plenty of evidence to support a grading error. You aren’t necessarily appealing a failing grade because you don’t want to fail, but because there was a factual mistake in your grading. See your college’s policies because most will require you to try and resolve the issue informally first.
What can I do if I make a D in a course?
Most colleges will accept a D as a passing grade, and it will count towards your degree requirements. If you make a D in a course, you might not get earned credit for the course if that course requires a C or better. You might be required to take it again, if it is needed for your degree program. Otherwise, it will hurt your G.P.A. Most colleges will allow students to repeat a course to replace a lower grade.
Sometimes colleges will require a C or above in some classes for the credit to count towards your degree program. This can especially be true if you are a graduate student. As a graduate student, you almost always need to earn a C or higher for it to count towards your degree program.
And some programs may even have a limit on the number of Cs, Ds or Fs you can receive before you are dismissed from the program or college.
So, check with your college if you are going to make a D in a course to see if you will need to re-take it. Most of the time, a D in a college course will count towards your degree requirements. But you will still need a 2.0 G.P.A. to graduate and if you make too many bad grades, you won’t have the minimum G.P.A. to graduate.
Remember, if you have too low of grades, it can effect your G.P.A. and you could fall below the 2.0 G.P.A. requirements of most institutions and be placed on academic probation.
Overall, a D grade is usually considered passing, unless you are a graduate student or the university requires students to make a C or above for a class in their major. And you’d have to retake the course to replace the grade, if they allow that.
What can you do if you think you are going to fail a course?
You might not be at the end of the semester yet, but you think you are going to fail your class. If you find yourself in this situation, there are a few things you can do.
Ask for an incomplete
If you are in this circumstance because of a personal issue, like an illness or family emergency, or something similar, you could talk to your professor and ask if you can get an incomplete in the course. This would allow you to have time to complete the remaining coursework after the semester ends. But it still may not be enough to help you pass unless your professor allows you to make-up previous coursework.
Withdraw from the course
If the withdrawal deadline hasn’t passed, you could withdraw from the course and avoid receiving a F in the class. You will likely need to initiate this process yourself but understand the consequences of making this decision.
Ask for help
I would recommend that you talk to your professor and find out what your chances are to pass the course, and find out how you could improve. Don’t be afraid to reach out and talk to them.
What can you do if you fail a class twice?
If you failed a class twice, you have a few options. If you need the course to graduate, you will need to re-take the class. There are a few rules you need to be aware of though. Most public universities in the United States will have some rules about repeating a class too many times.
This is called a three-peat rule. You have two chances to take the course and pass, and on your third attempt, you will have to pay higher tuition.
The rules for private or for-proft colleges may be different so check with your institution.
Some students might prefer taking the course at a community college and transfer the credit. But this depends on your college and if they will accept the incoming credit. However, just know that if you do this, the college may accept the credit BUT won’t likely replace the failing grades.
In most situations, you want to repeat the class to earn a better grade, at your college, and replace the bad grades to help your G.P.A.
And be really careful about selecting your next professor for the class. I would try and get some extra tutoring, or see if a different learning modality would work better for you (i.e., online or face-to-face).
Is it okay to fail a college class?
While it is not ideal to fail a college class, it is very common and nothing to worry too much about BUT it might be a BIGGER deal based on your circumstances. The most important thing to do is try and turn your academic situation around. You should plan to re-take the course and pass next time.
And avoid repeating the same thing the next semester. Otherwise, it can be okay to fail a college class because many colleges have resources to help students who are struggling and you can simply re-take the class and replace the bad grade.
I don’t advocate that students fail a course, but if it happens, you’ll have to improve and do better next time. Don’t let this failure take over your life and don’t be too disappointed in yourself.
I really do believe that you can recover from a bad grade if you have the dedication.
When I was in college, I did fail all my classes my very first semester of college. I am not afraid to admit it because I know that I didn’t try hard enough.
I am actually happy I failed because I realized that I was going to have to put in the work and a degree wouldn’t just be handed to me.
You can do this too.
If I fail a college class, can I retake it at another university and transfer it?
If you failed a college course at your college, you can take the course at another university or college and transfer that course to your current university. But your current university MAY NOT replace the F you got in their course. So, it will stay on your transcript.
However, you will receive the credit for the course. Just remember that every course won’t transfer as an equivalent, and you should always check with your institution before attempting to transfer credit hours.
And don’t leave until you check out my article that goes into more detail about retaking a class because I outline everything.
Now that I have covered what a failing grade means for you, and how to handle a failing grade, you should be better prepared on how to deal with a F on your transcript.
You got this.
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