Fresh Start

Effective and Applicable Fall 2020 forward

Fresh Start purposely replaces and supersedes  “Academic Bankruptcy." It provides undergraduate students returning to Indiana University Southeast after a hiatus a comparable GPA platform to transfer students, whereby prior credit earned applies to degree requirements, but the grades and grade points of that prior IU history are not included in calculation of the cumulative program GPA. All grades, credits, and courses remain visible on the transcript, but an adjustment is applied to the academic record to remove the GPA points/values from the cumulative Program GPA calculation that appears at the bottom of the student's official transcript.  Credit for any prior IU coursework completed with grades of C or better, including credit taken as a non-degree, visiting student will continue to count towards degree and/or program requirements. Students begin their post-Fresh Start academic record with a renewed Program GPA of 0.0, just like they were brand new freshman. 

Eligibility and Application to Record 

• For undergraduates pursuing first bachelor's degree only;
• Who have not been enrolled at any IU campus for at least two calendar years; 
• Who have now re-enrolled at IU Southeast and stay enrolled through census date;
• And submit application on or before last day of scheduled classes of the return semester.

All IU Southeast undergraduate students who meet the criteria, regardless of the academic unit of enrollment, are eligible to apply for Fresh Start.

Academic Bankruptcy 

Effective and Applicable Fall 1996 to Summer 2020

Undergraduate students who have not attended IU Southeast for at least two years, are pursuing their first bachelor’s degree, and are returning to IU Southeast for the fall semester 1996 or later may request academic bankruptcy. Bankruptcy means that all grades earned during the term(s) in question will not be counted in the calculation of the program GPA. The grades will remain on the student’s official transcript and will count in the IU GPA. Academic Bankruptcy may be requested for no more than two terms of IU Southeast course work. Two consecutive summer sessions may be considered a single academic term for purposes of this policy. The petition must be submitted during the first semester back at IU Southeast. This part of the Academic Bankruptcy Policy may be invoked only once in a student’s academic career. Academic Bankruptcy Petition forms are available from your academic school or division.

For additional information on either of these policies, see full statements here.