Academic Forgiveness Form

Academic forgiveness allows students to declare courses taken ten or more years prior to the term of admission or readmission to be forgiven, which means the work is not included in the GPA or credit hours earned. Students applying for transfer or readmission must request academic forgiveness at the time of application and may choose the start term for forgiveness, provided it is ten or more years before the current application term. Academic forgiveness applies to all coursework completed during and prior to the selected term at all institutions. Partial forgiveness by term or course is not permitted. Academic forgiveness cannot be rescinded once enrolled. Currently enrolled students cannot request academic forgiveness.

Applicants must provide official transcripts for all institutions attended, including those where work may be forgiven. All academic work that has not been forgiven will be considered in the admissions review process. Applicants without such coursework will be considered based on first-year admission criteria.

Forgiven academic work at SMU for readmitted students will remain on the permanent SMU record, with a notation of “academic forgiveness.” Forgiven grades will be excluded from the grade point average and number of hours earned at SMU and will not be used when determining academic probation, suspension, honors, and graduation. Academic forgiveness does not change the catalog that is in effect for degree purposes. Students may take placement examinations for courses which they previously had credit.