Academic Forgiveness Policy for Returning Undergraduates

Georgian Court University recognizes that, despite a student’s best efforts, life circumstances interrupt academic progress, impact academic standing and Grade Point Average (GPA) in ways that may impede continuation in a student’s academic program and make successful pursuit of a degree difficult. The Academic Forgiveness Policy for Returning Undergraduate Students provides students who have been academically dismissed, or those who have withdrawn from the University to avoid academic dismissal, or who had decided, based on their academic performance, that the pursuit of a degree at that time in their life, was not “the right time,” with a chance to establish an academic standing that reflects their increased maturity and commitment to successful degree completion.

 

Through the Undergraduate Academic Forgiveness process, a student who has been away from GCU for a period of at least two years is given a one-time opportunity to remove prior course work from their academic record from GPA computation and from earned credit computation, consistent with the tenets of the University Transfer of Credit policy as delineated in the Academic Policies and Procedures section of the Undergraduate Catalog.

 

Undergraduate Academic Forgiveness must be requested during the re-application process before the first semester of a student's return. An academic plan must be completed with the faculty advisor, consistent with the program's guidelines and policies regarding academic performance and conforming to the program’s stated requirements, prior to the start of the student’s return. This policy will not supersede the existing requirements of specific academic programs. In addition, the student will be required to complete no fewer than 12 credits within the first two semesters upon return to GCU with a minimum GPA of 2.000 to have academic forgiveness applied to their transcript.

 

Undergraduate Academic Forgiveness is not available to students who have previously been awarded a GCU associate’s or bachelor’s degree.

 

Students may only request academic forgiveness once, and if academic forgiveness is approved it is irrevocable. The student's academic standing will be set to "Good Academic Standing." All courses and grades that fall within the academic forgiveness record will remain on the student’s transcript with the notation “Academic Forgiveness Granted.” All forgiven grades will be annotated on the transcript with an ‘R’ (for example, RC–, RD+, RD, or RF). Grades thus annotated will be excluded from the university GPA calculation and earned credits toward the degree calculation. All grades earned at GCU of C (2.000) or higher will count in the earned credits, will be used in the determination of the university GPA, and will be used to fulfill GCU degree completion requirements.

 

Undergraduate Academic Forgiveness does not relate to or affect Financial Aid eligibility. A student’s cumulative completion rate of attempted credits is not reduced by the approval of Undergraduate Academic Forgiveness.

 

Undergraduate Academic Forgiveness is a policy of Georgian Court University and may not be recognized by outside institutions or agencies (e.g. New Jersey Department of Education, accreditation agencies or bodies, other universities and colleges).

 

For additional information, please contact the Registrar’s Office.