Academic Forgiveness Policy

Purpose

The purpose of the Academic Forgiveness Policy is to give Minnesota State Community and Technical College undergraduate students a one-time opportunity to establish a new grade point average (GPA) if the specified policy criteria are met.

Definitions

Two consecutive years

Two consecutive years is defined as 24 continuous months.

Policy

Students seeking academic forgiveness may choose one of two options allowed by the College if they meet the criteria. Academic forgiveness can be granted only one time during a student’s career at the College and is irrevocable once applied to a student’s record. Academic forgiveness applies only to credits earned prior to the semester/term that a student became eligible to request academic forgiveness.

Option One - This option is for students who have not attended M State for at least two consecutive years but who are continuing in their previously declared major.

Students must meet the following criteria:

• A student must not have been enrolled at the College for a minimum of two consecutive years; and
• Upon returning to the College, the student must have successfully completed six credits with letter grades of A, B or C.

Selecting this option will fulfill the one-time opportunity to invoke academic forgiveness.

Option Two - This option is suitable for students who have changed majors and are currently enrolled and/or returning after an academic suspension.

Students must meet the following criteria:

• A student must have a processed course of study/program major change on file with the College; and
• A student must have successfully completed six credits in the new course of study/program major at the College with letter grades of A, B or C.

Selecting this option will fulfill the one-time opportunity to invoke academic forgiveness.

Criteria applicable to both Option One and Two:

Academic forgiveness cannot be granted if a student has transferred credits from Minnesota State Community and Technical College to complete a post-secondary degree at another institution.

Academic forgiveness will be applied to all letter grades of F that were earned either prior to the student’s absence (option 1) or prior to the student’s program major change (option 2).

Academic forgiveness will be indicated on the transcript and the calculation of the student’s GPA will be updated to reflect academic forgiveness has been granted. This GPA calculation will include letter grades of A, B, C, D but will not include F letter grades received prior to the point of academic forgiveness. Letter grades that do not impact a student’s GPA include P, W, FN, FW, NC (this list is not exhaustive) and are not included in academic forgiveness. Course titles and grades for all courses remain on the transcript, with those courses that have been forgiven marked with brackets, for example: [F].

Academic forgiveness does not relate to or affect financial aid eligibility. A student’s cumulative completion rate is not adjusted by the implementation of academic forgiveness.

Responsibility

Student

The student must make a formal request by submitting an Academic Forgiveness Form found at www.minnesota.edu/forms, in the student records section.

College Registrar or Designee

Process student requests for academic forgiveness.

Related Policies and Procedures

Minnesota State Community and Technical College Academic Forgiveness Procedure