Academic forgiveness means that grades earned during a prior enrollment period at the University of Wisconsin-Stout will not be used in the computation of a student's cumulative grade point average. However, such grades will continue to appear on the student's official transcript.
A returning undergraduate student is eligible for academic forgiveness when all the following criteria are met:
- At least five continuous years have elapsed since the last term of enrollment at UW-Stout or any other institution of higher learning. (Exception: Courses that must be completed as a precondition for re-entry.)
- The student has not earned a baccalaureate degree.
- The cumulative grade point average earned at UW-Stout was below 2.0 at the time of re-entry.
The program director should help a student who meets the criteria determine whether repeating coursework or seeking academic forgiveness is the better alternative. The student's request for academic forgiveness must be approved by the student's program director, the dean of the college, and the associate vice chancellor. The approved request will be forwarded to the registrar who will record academic forgiveness on the transcript. All courses with a creditworthy grade (i.e., those with grades of "O," "S," "CR," and "D-" or better), completed five or more years before re-entry may be used to satisfy degree requirements when academic forgiveness is granted. These grades are not included in the student's cumulative grade point average. However, program requirements must be followed when a minimum course grade is specified. The student's new cumulative grade point average will be based only on the grade points earned after re-entry to UW-Stout. A student may be granted academic forgiveness only once.
Students who are granted academic forgiveness are eligible to graduate with academic honors (i.e. cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude); however, the forgiven coursework will be used in the grade point average (GPA) calculation for academic honors.
A returning graduate student is eligible for academic forgiveness when all the following criteria are met:
- At least one continuous year has elapsed since the end of the last term of graduate enrollment at UW-Stout or any other institution of higher learning (Exception: Courses that must be completed as a precondition for re-entry.)
- The student has not earned a graduate degree.
- The cumulative grade point average for graduate enrollment earned at UW-Stout was below 2.0 at the time of re-entry.
- The student attains a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA for the first nine credit hours of graduate coursework upon returning to UW-Stout.
- Minimum course grades are met in accordance with applicable program’s requirements.
- Within the next regular (fall or spring) academic semester after the completion of the first (upon return) nine graduate credit hours, the student submits a request for academic forgiveness to the applicable program director.
Administrative considerations:
- The program director should assist a student to determine whether repeating coursework or seeking academic forgiveness is the preferred alternative.
- The student’s academic forgiveness request must be approved by the student's program director, the dean of the college, and the associate vice chancellor. If approved, the associate vice chancellor will forward a memo to the registrar who will record academic forgiveness on the student's transcript.
- The student would have all grades for the specified period excluded from calculations of graduate grade point average.
- The student’s new cumulative grade point average will be based only on the grade points earned after re-entry to UW-Stout.
- All course work and grades would remain on the student’s UW-Stout transcript. These grades may be used to satisfy degree requirements when academic forgiveness is granted. Program requirements must be followed when a minimum course grade is specified.
- A student may be granted graduate-level academic forgiveness only once.