Academic Forgiveness

How Academic Forgiveness works

A student seeking a certificate or associate's degree whose grade point average (GPA) is below 2.0, may request up to twelve (12) credits of coursework taken at GRCC in which the student earned below a "C" to be excluded from the computation of the minimum 2.0 grade point average required for graduation. However, forgiven grades shall remain on the student's transcript with a notation of their exclusion from the GPA computation. Students must have completed an additional 12 sequential credits with a C or higher and not received grades below a "C" in courses taken after the most recent semester for which academic forgiveness is being sought.

Academic forgiveness may be granted only once. Academic forgiveness applies only to a student's cumulative GPA on their transcript and does -not apply to financial aid policies regarding satisfactory academic progress. There is no guarantee that academic forgiveness will be recognized by any other college or university.

This policy may not be used to assist a student in attaining academic honors. Secondary application programs with additional admission criteria, including a number of health programs, may or may not consider forgiven grades when evaluating whether students meet program admission requirements. Students pursuing a secondary application program are advised to consult with the Program Director regarding specific program admissions requirements with respect to forgiven grades.

Procedures and requirements

Procedures and requirements of students seeking academic forgiveness:

• Academic forgiveness exists for the purpose of assisting students that have shown academic improvement to obtain a degree from GRCC.
• Students with GPA above an overall GPA of 2.0 may not apply for academic forgiveness.
• Students must have earned a C or above in all subsequent coursework from the requested forgiven grades.
• Students must be registered for classes at the time of applying for academic forgiveness.
• Students must be near completion of their associate degree program, being in progress or having earned at least 42 credits prior to applying for academic forgiveness.
• Students may not request courses to be forgiven that may be replaced by repeating the course.
  • The following exception applies:
    • the course is no longer required for their declared academic program
    • and they are eligible to graduate in their declared program once forgiveness is approved.
• Students must certify that they plan to earn their degree from GRCC, and be declared in that academic program.
• Students may only apply for academic forgiveness once.
• Grand Rapids Community College will continue to consider all grades for purposes of satisfactory academic progress for financial aid calculations.
• Students must understand that academic forgiveness may result in impacts to their satisfactory academic progress for financial aid calculation: completion of credits
• Students request academic forgiveness by submitting the webform on the Student Records webpage.
• Students will receive an email confirmation once their request is approved. Once approved, academic forgiveness will not be reversed.