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Academic Fresh Start

Make a Clean Start

Undergraduate students who have experienced academic difficulty can make a clean start when returning to Motlow after an extended absence. Academic Fresh Start is a plan of academic forgiveness. The Fresh Start allows eligible students to resume study without being penalized for their past unsatisfactory scholarship and signals the initiation of a new QPA/GPA to be used for determining academic standing.

Contact the Admissions Office

Readmitted students who were formally enrolled in the institution, as well as transfer students who meet institutional requirements for admission, and who have been separated from all institutions of higher education for a minimum of four (4) years are eligible for the Fresh Start. Contact: admissions@mscc.edu

Institutional policies governing the readmission of former students and admission of transfer students must comply with TBR policy 2:03:00:00 Admissions.  This policy requires that the “transfer applicant’s grade point average on transferable courses must be at least equal to that which the institution requires for the readmission of its students. A student may utilize the Academic Fresh Start only once. The Fresh Start is formally applied on the day after the 14th day (census date) for the institution in which the student remains enrolled.

Qualify for the Fresh Start

  • Be separated from all collegiate institutions for at least four years (8 semesters)
  • Apply before the end of the first semester of attendance
  • File a formal request with the Director of Admissions and Records to be submitted to the Vice President for Academic Affairs office
  • Be a degree-seeking student
  • Once the Fresh Start is granted
    • The student’s permanent record will remain a record of all work completed
    • Courses taken and previously failed will be excluded from the calculation of GPA
    • Courses with a grade of D will be excluded from the GPA calculation when a grade of C or better is required for the student’s program
    • The student’s GPA and credit hours will reflect courses for which passing grades were earned and retained

Financial Aid

An Academic Fresh Start will not remove Financial Aid eligibility standards under Satisfactory Academic Progress rules.  All attempted hours will be counted for Financial Aid and Tennessee Lottery standards.  

All Tennessee Board of Regents institutions will honor a Fresh Start provision granted at another TBR institution. A student who plans to transfer to a non-TBR institution should contact that institution to determine the impact of Academic Fresh Start before implementing the program at Motlow. Contact: financialaid@mscc.edu.

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