Any student formerly enrolled as an undergraduate student at Appalachian may choose to re-enter the university under one of two forgiveness policies. Either of these policies permit a student to retain all earned credit while resetting his/her institutional cumulative grade-point average to 0.00 for academic standing and graduation purposes. Students wishing to return to Appalachian under forgiveness must apply for readmission, select the desired forgiveness policy, and send official college transcripts from all accredited institutions attended after leaving Appalachian.
Students returning under either forgiveness policy are considered for financial aid eligibility upon completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students not making satisfactory academic progress (SAP) towards the completion of a degree also need to complete a Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form to be considered for financial aid eligibility. More information on SAP and the appeal form can be found here: Satisfactory Academic Progress/Academic Probation Warning.
For forgiveness policies, transferable credit is defined as:
- completed coursework,
- coursework that can be used for graduation purposes at Appalachian, AND
- coursework that does not repeat an Appalachian course for which credit has been earned
To be considered for admission, students under the age of 21 must meet the high school minimum course requirements, as established by the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina System. Meeting these minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.
One-Year Forgiveness
Any former Appalachian student who has not attempted any courses at Appalachian for a minimum of one calendar year (including summer terms) and has earned at least 30 new semester hours of transferable credit from other collegiate institutions since last attending Appalachian may apply for readmission under the One-Year Forgiveness Policy. Eligibility for readmission under the One-Year Forgiveness Policy is determined by averaging all grades earned in transferable coursework at another accredited institution with all grades earned previously at Appalachian. This combined average, as determined by Appalachian, must be at least a 2.00 on a 4.00 scale.
Two-Year Forgiveness
A former Appalachian student that has not attempted any courses at Appalachian for a minimum of two calendar years (including summer terms) may apply for readmission under the Two-Year Forgiveness Policy. Eligibility for readmission under the Two-Year Forgiveness Policy is determined by averaging all grades earned in transferable coursework since leaving Appalachian. This combined average, as determined by Appalachian, must be at least a 2.00 on a 4.00 scale.
Students returning under a forgiveness policy should consider the following:
- All courses taken prior to using a forgiveness policy will still be visible on the student's Appalachian transcript with the original grade and a notation that they are excluded from grade point average computation. Students that have been granted forgiveness are not eligible to graduate with honors.
- Students may only be granted forgiveness upon re-entry and may only be granted forgiveness ONCE during their academic term.
- Forgiveness does not override specific grade requirements for specific courses, individual colleges/schools or departments/programs.
- After forgiveness has been granted, students must also complete a minimum of 30 hours in residence at Appalachian State University in addition to all other graduation requirements to be eligible for graduation.
- Students returning under a forgiveness policy will retain all attempted hour counts. All attempted hours from attendance at Appalachian and all transfer hours continue to count toward the tuition surcharge and financial aid eligibility.
- Forgiveness does not affect the number of repeat grade counts available. Students are limited to four grade repeats during their academic career.
- Forgiveness does not affect the number of career drop counts available. Students are limited to four career drop counts during their academic career.
- The process of resetting the grade point average to 0.00 is completed within the first two weeks of classes in the student's re-entry term.
- Students must have earned a C or better in coursework in addition to other requirements for the credit to be considered transferable.