Course Completion

Deadlines

BYU Independent Study suggests completing all coursework and exams three weeks before any personal deadlines. Some examples of these deadlines may include graduation deadlines, employment application deadlines, and graduate school application deadlines.

Course Completion Notices

Contact customer support to request a course completion notice. High school course completion notices are available to your local institution through the BYU Independent Study Educator Portal if you have them listed in your account when the final grade is posted.

University Course Semester Deadlines

All university course grades are posted on an official Brigham Young University transcript. If you need your course grade to appear in a particular semester or term, you must submit all your completed coursework and exams (including available retakes) by the following deadlines:

• Fall 2025: December 3, 2025
• Winter 2026: April 8, 2026
• Spring 2026: June 4, 2026
• Summer 2026: July 30, 2026

There are no exceptions to these deadlines. Please be aware that courses completed after the posted deadlines but before the first day of the next semester or term may still be recorded under the previous semester or term on the transcript. 

Course Expiration

Course expiration dates are 365 days from the date and time of enrollment, unless specified otherwise in your course. Courses that expire without being completed will not be listed on the transcript. All coursework and exams including any available retakes must be completed before the course expiration to receive credit.

Course Extension

Unless otherwise specified in your course, a 90-day extension may be purchased once for $20. Extensions are 90-days from the original course expiration date regardless of the day the extension was purchased. Students may self-serve an extension before the course expiration date, or they will need to contact Customer Support. For extenuating circumstances, please see the Petitions Process page.

All assignments must be submitted online according to the instructions in your course. Some assignments are graded automatically upon submission; instructor grading will take longer.

In most courses, it is possible to resubmit an assignment or quiz for a $10 fee. Please refer to your course syllabus for further details on the resubmission policy specific to your course. After you have requested the final exam, you may not resubmit any assignments or mid-course exams.

Course Discussion Boards: Course instructors are responsible for monitoring and administering the discussion board related to his or her course. Provided in the course are instructions and guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable discussion board posts. Any posts that are unseemly, profane, or contain solicitations or requests for a student email address, physical address, or other personal contact information, are not permitted, will be deleted, and may subject the student to discipline pursuant to the BYU Independent Study Student Code of Conduct.

Response and Grading Times: Instructors are expected to respond to student inquiries within 2–3 business days. Instructors are also expected to post grades for student assignments within 10 business days.

Appointments: Some courses require students to make appointments with the instructor or TA. In the event the student must cancel an appointment, he or she must do so at least 24 hours before the scheduled appointment time. Students must schedule appointments at least six hours before the planned appointment. Should a student miss a scheduled appointment, he or she will receive no score (zero points) for the missed appointment and generally may not reschedule the missed appointment. If an instructor misses the appointment, he or she will work with the student to reschedule the missed appointment, and the student will not be charged a fee for the missed appointment.

Generally, a student must be at least 14 years old to take BYU Independent Study high school and university courses and 12 years old to take seventh- and eighth-grade courses. BYU Independent Study may, at its sole discretion, consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis where a student can demonstrate his or her ability to succeed in the course by taking a standardized test or something similar.

BYU Independent Study and its programs are committed to improving web accessibility for our students and their parents. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Levels A and AA provide helpful recommendations to make web content more accessible. BYU strives to apply WCAG 2.1 recommendations.

BYU Independent Study is also committed to providing a learning atmosphere which reasonably accommodates persons with disabilities who are otherwise qualified to participate in BYU Independent Study programs and activities. It is the policy of BYU to prohibit unlawful discrimination against persons with disabilities and to provide reasonable assistance in bringing them into the mainstream of campus life. To accomplish this, BYU complies with all applicable disability laws. BYU Independent Study programs differ in some ways from other university programs, so accommodations given for BYU Independent Study learning may differ from accommodations given for learning in Brigham Young University main campus classes or other universities.

Please select the type of course you want to request an accommodation for to proceed.

High School Courses University Courses

Once a course is completed (after all assignments and the final exam are graded), the final grade and course completion date are posted online. If the student provided a name of an educational institution when registering, a course completion notice will be emailed to the counselor.

A permanent academic record for each student that records the course work attempted or completed is kept by BYU Independent Study. Access to these records is strictly controlled by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). See BYU Independent Study’s Privacy Policy.

BYU Continuing Education (BYU CE) is part of Brigham Young University (BYU), and our policies are based on the policies of BYU, tailored to the unique offerings BYU CE makes available to students and families.

BYU CE strives to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity for all its programs. Thus, our students are expected to follow all general BYU CE testing rules and policies, including those listed in instructions for specific exams and those provided by our contracted proctors or proctoring services. If students violate testing rules, instructions, or policies, or in any way indicate the likelihood of academic dishonesty during an exam, BYU CE reserves the right to void their test score and/or course grade.

Academic Honesty  

BYU CE upholds the highest standards of academic integrity. As a student in any BYU CE program, you are expected to conduct yourself in a manner that reflects honesty, trustworthiness, and responsibility. Students need to complete all coursework, assignments, and exams on their own and be evaluated based upon that work.  

Students should avoid academic dishonesty and misconduct in all its forms, including but not limited to the following: 

Cheating 

Cheating refers to copying other people’s work or using unauthorized materials, devices, or assistance during an exam or assignment. Examples include but are not limited to 

• copying from another person’s work during a test, quiz, assignment, or project 
• allowing someone to copy your work during a test, quiz, assignment, or project 
• using notes or other unauthorized materials during a test, a quiz, an assignment, or project without permission from the instructor 
• working with other people on a test, quiz, assignment, or project without permission from the instructor 
• taking or completing a test, quiz, assignment, or project for another person or allowing another person to take or complete an assignment in place of the student

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is a broad term for a suite of tools that utilize artificial intelligence algorithms to create novel content. GenAI (e.g., ChatGPT) can be a powerful tool to assist students in their schoolwork (e.g., idea generation, information gathering). However, the use of GenAI tools must not violate the essential learning outcomes of an assignment or course or violate other forms of academic dishonesty. If the use of GenAI is not explicitly stated as allowed in the individual assignment or in the course syllabus, assume that using GenAI is not permitted.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is using other people's words, ideas, or data without citing, quoting, or referencing the original author. Plagiarism may occur with respect to both unpublished and published material. Copying another student’s work and submitting it as one’s own individual work without proper attribution is a serious form of plagiarism.   

Examples of plagiarism include but are not limited to the following: 

• Direct Plagiarism—The verbatim copying of an original source without acknowledging the source. 
• Paraphrased Plagiarism—The paraphrasing, without acknowledgement, of ideas from another that the reader might mistake for the author’s own. 
• Plagiarism Mosaic—The borrowing of words, ideas, or data from an original source and blending this original material with one’s own without acknowledging the source. 
• Insufficient Acknowledgment—The partial or incomplete attribution of words, ideas, or data from an original source. 

There are three ways in which plagiarism occurs. Please read the following definitions so you understand how to avoid plagiarism in your writing and assignments:

Intentional Plagiarism. The deliberate act of representing the words, ideas, or data of another as one’s own without providing proper attribution to the author through quotation, reference, or footnote. 

Inadvertent (Accidental) Plagiarism. Involves the inappropriate, but nondeliberate, use of another’s words, ideas, or data without proper attribution. Inadvertent plagiarism usually results from a failure to follow established rules for documenting sources or from simply not being sufficiently careful in research and writing. 

Misrepresentation. Falsifying or fabricating information from an original source or author in assignments or exams. Examples include but are not limited to

• citing a source that does not exist 
• creating fake information, words, or data and stating the fake information, words, or data as though they come from an official author or source 
• citing a source from an author or source that does not support those claims or results
• citing an author or source in a reference section or bibliography section when the author or source is not referenced in the assignment 
• purposefully changing the meaning or application of data, words, or information from another source or author 
• creating fake data or results to support conclusions 

Other Academic Misconduct 

Academic misconduct includes other academically dishonest, deceitful, or inappropriate acts that are intentionally committed. Examples of such acts include but are not limited to

• inappropriately providing or receiving information or academic work so as to gain unfair advantage over others
• planning with another to commit any act of academic dishonesty
• attempting to gain an unfair academic advantage for oneself or another by bribery or by any act of offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting anything of value to another for such a purpose
• changing or altering grades or other official educational records
• obtaining or providing to another an unadministered test or answers to an unadministered test
• continuing work on an examination or assignment after the allocated time has elapsed
• submitting the same work for more than one class without disclosure and approval

Consequences of Academic Dishonesty  

If academic dishonesty is identified, the BYU CE administrators or the course instructor may take disciplinary action. In some cases, the department, the college, or the university may also take action independent of the instructor or BYU CE. Potential consequences may include but are not limited to the following: 

• reprimanding the student orally or in writing
• requiring the work affected by the academic dishonesty to be redone
• receiving a lower or failing grade on the assignment or exam
• receiving a lower or failing grade for the course
• removing the student from the course
• prohibition from re-enrollment in the course or any other BYU CE courses
• referral to university disciplinary action, which may include further sanctions as deemed appropriate by the university

Petition Process

Students may appeal disciplinary action through the Petition Process.

There may be occasions when a student believes his or her academic work or conduct has been unfairly or inadequately evaluated.¹ Typically, such differences of opinion can be amicably resolved informally between the student and BYU Independent Study’s faculty and staff; however, BYU Independent Study recognizes that this is not always possible. It is BYU Independent Study’s policy to encourage satisfactory resolution of academic grievances at the lowest possible administrative level. What follows are the procedural steps to accomplish this goal:

1. The grievance must be initiated by the student no later than three months (90 days) from the day the final grade is posted for the course in which the alleged unfair or inadequate evaluation or discipline occurred.
2. The student should initially address the grievance by writing to the instructor² to request a review and resolution. This initial communication should be sent to is_petitions@byu.edu. Staff will ensure that the instructor receives the communication. 
3. If the instructor is unavailable or if the student has a valid reason to believe that the matter will not be dealt with fairly or that retribution may result, the student may submit the grievance directly to the BYU Independent Study Educational Services Manager at is_petitions@byu.edu.
4. The Educational Services Manager will review the case and make a decision. If deemed necessary by the Educational Services Manager, a review committee will be convened to further investigate the petition. The committee will present their findings to the Educational Services Manager and provide a recommendation for a resolution to the petition.
5. The Educational Services Manager will determine the resolution of the grievance and give the decision in writing to the student and faculty member within 10 business days. The decision is final and not subject to further appeal, except that the Dean of the BYU Division of Continuing Education may at his or her sole discretion choose to review and alter any determination of the Educational Services Manager with regard to a grievance.

Notes

1. Academic evaluations subject to this policy include grading, disciplinary actions arising from violations of the BYU Independent Study Student Code of Conduct, the withholding and/or revocation of a grade for academic reasons, and the withholding of transcripts or special notation on transcripts for academic reasons.
2. For purposes of this policy, “instructor” means any teacher or other individual who is authorized by BYU Independent Study to academically evaluate students, or who has a legitimate need to know about the processing and disposition of an academic grievance.