Academic Forgiveness Download to print

Purpose: The Academic Forgiveness policy pertains only to former Kent State students returning to the university as undergraduate students after a significant absence and prior to earning any degree at any institution. It provides them an opportunity to have their academic standing reflect their increased maturity and readiness, and improved level of academic performance gained since the interruption of studies at Kent State. Specifically, once the returning students have demonstrated the ability to sustain a satisfactory level of academic performance following their return, all grades of C-, D+, D, F, NF, SF, M and U earned during the previous Kent State enrollment will be disregarded in the cumulative calculations of hours attempted, quality points earned and grade point average.

Eligibility: Academic Forgiveness is available to any Kent State University student who has not been enrolled for a period of at least one calendar year (12 months).

Procedure: Any student who has not been enrolled at Kent State University for at least 12 consecutive months may request information on the Academic Forgiveness policy and an Application for Academic Forgiveness form from student’s academic advising office. Once the acknowledgement portion of the form is completed, the student’s records will be reviewed by the appropriate dean at the conclusion of each subsequent term.

After returning to Kent State, a student must complete a minimum of 12 graded credit hours with a minimum 2.000 GPA to be eligible for academic forgiveness. If the student meets these conditions, has completed the Application for Academic Forgiveness form, and requests to have the policy applied, the following steps will be taken with regard to the student’s academic record:

1. All courses in which grades of C-, D+, D, F, NF, SF, M or U were received in the previous period of Kent State enrollment will be retained on the academic transcript with the notation of an “E” in the repeat column, which denotes courses excluded from GPA calculation, and the official grade will be changed to X* (e.g., XC-, XD, etc.), which denotes academic forgiveness.
2. All cumulative calculations of hours attempted, quality points earned and cumulative GPA also will be adjusted.
3. If a student has been awarded an associate degree and/or certificate from Kent State University, only courses not used in the completion of an associate degree and/or certificate will be eligible for the application of the Academic Forgiveness policy.

If the student fails to maintain a minimum 2.000 GPA for the first 12 semester hours of graded coursework following return to the university, the eligibility period shall be extended through the term that encompasses the 24th semester hour of graded coursework. Students are permitted to use the provisions provided by the Course Repeat Policy during the extension period. If after completing 24 graded semester hours, the returning student has not achieved a 2.000 GPA, eligibility for the academic forgiveness will have expired.

Exceptions/Explanations: The Academic Forgiveness policy is non-selective. It applies to all grades below C (2.000), with the exception of courses taken on a pass/fail basis that were earned in the previous period of Kent State University enrollment, or to none. In the event that a course for which the students previously had received a “passing” grade of C-, D+ or D is required for the degree program the students are pursuing, the students must retake this course unless the dean of the college in which the students are enrolled approves a suitable substitution. The original GPA (unadjusted by the application of the Academic Forgiveness policy) will be used in determining eligibility for university, collegial, departmental or professional honors or other recognition based upon the entirety of students’ undergraduate academic career and record of academic performance. Former students returning to the university may request the application of the Academic Forgiveness policy to their record only once in their career at Kent State and within the eligibility standard.

The Academic Forgiveness policy applies only to coursework formerly taken at Kent State University and only to the students’ Kent State transcript. It is available to undergraduate students only. The dean of the college or regional campus or director of the independent school in which the students are enrolled at the time of eligibility for the application of the Academic Forgiveness policy shall determine all questions as to the eligibility for, and the application of, the Academic Forgiveness policy. Completed forms are submitted to the University Registrar for validation and application to the students’ records.