Normalmente si parla di ***debito formativo*** come sinonimo comunemente in uso,

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

IN ITALY


(1999)


We can foresee that students can recover their failings ("formative debt" ["debito formativo"]) the following year with the aid of the school which is obliged to organise catching-up and support activities, to which students must participate. In few years it will be clear if the ministerial guidelines will be correctly applied or if the abolition of the "repeat examinations" will cause generalised promotions.

[...]

The ["esami integrativi"] have been abolished and replaced with an oral discussion for pupils who have successfully completed the first year of compulsory upper secondary education and request for transferring to a different course of studies. Ministerial Decree no. 323 of 9-8-1999 [2.9.2.] provides that students recover their ***failings (formative debt ["debito formativo"])***, verified during the oral discussion, the following year with the aid of the school which is obliged to organise catching-up and support activities

www.bdp.it/europa/dossier_01_en.doc

A glossary provided by a danish educational institution

"an educational sequence consisting of Bachelor's (1st cycle) degree plus a Master's (2nd cycle) degree in two different subject areas, usually not closely related (e.g. Business Studies plus Law or Languages). Enrollment to the 2nd cycle often requires conditions to be fulfilled (e.g. taking some extra examinations to pay off a recognized ***formative debt***)

http://www.au.dk/da/is/koordinator/glossary.htm

I hope this helps Anthony ! Greetings from the Murgia !

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Note added at 45 mins (2007-01-07 22:16:48 GMT)
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I'm well aware that I didn't come up with an "American" equivalent of ***debito scolastico*** / ***debito formativo*** ! Sorry !

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Note added at 59 mins (2007-01-07 22:30:46 GMT)
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I reckon this may be of interest to you !

http://www.wes.org/ewenr/04May/Italy.htm

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-01-07 22:47:42 GMT)
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5. Grades earned for study abroad courses

The CU-Boulder Study Abroad Committee, with the approval of CU-Boulder schools and colleges, has developed a grading formula for each study abroad site.


In some cases, the letter grades (A-F) assigned overseas are based on the American grading system or a similar system

These grades appear on your CU-Boulder transcript and are averaged into your CU-Boulder GPA unless you are in the College of Engineering, which does not allow grades to be posted for course taken away from the Boulder campus.
On these programs where grades are posted, you are not allowed to take courses pass/fail.

In other cases, the grading system is so different that the foreign grades are converted to pass, no credit, or fail grades on the CU-Boulder transcript.

Based on a conversion formula developed by the Study Abroad Committee, the converted grades are defined as:
Pass (C- or better),
No Credit (D+ to D-), or
Fail (F).
Because a grade of Pass earned on a CU-Boulder study abroad program must be equivalent to a C- or better, you can use these courses to fulfill major and college requirements where appropriate.
The pass/fail credit earned on a CU-Boulder study abroad program is exempt from college limits on student-elected pass/fail credit.
On these programs where pass/fail credit is earned, letter grades cannot be recorded on the CU-Boulder transcript.

http://studyabroad.colorado.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Abroad....


I think ***FAIL CREDIT *** might work in the end . What do you think ?