Academic Fresh Start

• Academic Fresh Start is a provision of the “Right to an Academic Fresh Start” legislation published in the Texas Education Code, Section 51.931. 
• Under this law, a Texas resident may apply for admission to an institution of higher education and, at the same time, request that the institution ignore all academic course credits or grades earned 10 or more years prior to the start date of the semester for which the applicant seeks admission.  
• An applicant who elects to take advantage of Academic Fresh Start may not pick the course credits or grades that are to be eliminated from consideration. All course grades and credits must be excluded from GPA calculation and use toward degree/certificate requirements. 

To apply for an Academic Fresh Start at Weatherford College 

• You must be a Texas resident 
• Your Coursework must be 10 years or older
• You must be able to provide all transcripts from previous institutions

• Academic Fresh Start must be requested at the time of admission or readmission. If an Academic Fresh Start has been declared at a previous institution, there is no need to request it when applying to Weatherford College. In this situation, the official transcript from the transferring school MUST indicate the Academic Fresh Start. 
• If you are a former Weatherford College student, all prior coursework will remain on the Weatherford College academic transcript. A notation will be recorded on the transcript that identifies those courses as Eliminated by Fresh Start.
• Courses taken prior to the Fresh Start may not be used to fulfill degree/certificate requirements at Weatherford College. 
• The Academic Fresh Start is irrevocable. Once the Fresh Start is requested, approved, and posted to the Weatherford College transcript, it may not be revoked. It is important to realize that all courses with passing grades, and any prerequisites with passing grades will need to be retaken. 
• The Academic Fresh Start does NOT apply to veterans who are eligible for the Montgomery G.I. Bill. All prior coursework must be evaluated and applied to the veteran’s degree requirements.  

• Academic Fresh Start clears only your academic record, not the number of semesters you have been in higher education. 
• The maximum number of semesters for receiving federal Pell Grants is 12, which must include all of the time you have spent taking dual credit courses and community college courses, including those from over ten years ago. 
• Contact finaid@wc.edu for details.

• Read and Submit a signed acknowledgment form.
• Submit official transcripts from all former institutions.
• Submit the signed acknowledgement form to the office of Student Services.