Academic Amnesty

Academic amnesty provides an opportunity for an student or applicant to start a new academic record. When academic amnesty is awarded, effective with a given semester all college or university level credits and grades earned prior to that semester are no longer recognized and thus are not used in subsequent academic status determinations or grade point average calculations. The award of Academic Amnesty does not change a student's financial aid history.

Academic Amnesty for Undergraduate Students

A student who has interrupted his/her college education for a minimum of three years may apply for academic amnesty upon admission to UL Lafayette. Academic amnesty does not apply to individual courses. Academic amnesty may be requested for all previous college/university courses. If academic amnesty is granted, it shall not be rescinded.

Application & Eligibility

A request for academic amnesty by a student enrolled at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette should be made to the student's academic dean within one calendar year of the date of re-enrollment.

An applicant who seeks academic amnesty in order to be admitted to the university will present his or her request to the appropriate Dean's office for approval of amnesty for admission.
 
To be eligible for Academic Amnesty students:
  • may not have attended any institution for a period of at least the last three years
  • must be readmitted or in the process of applying to a degree-seeking program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  • must not have recieved a degree

Application of Academic Amnesty to the Student Record

If students are granted Academic Amnesty:

  • it is irrevocale
  • it applies to all coursework prior to the effective date in which Academic Amnesty has been granted
  • all coursework will remain on the student's academic record (transcript), however, the courses will not be included in the calculation of the student's grade point average
  • all coursework will continue to be counted for Financial Aid purposes
  • all coursework included in Academic Amnesty is notated with an "E" in the repeat column on the student's academic record (transcript) and a notation will be placed on the student's transcript above the term in which amnesty was approved

Additional Information

  • amnesty does not apply to credit that was earned based off of an ACT score
  • courses granted academic anmesty can not be used to satisfy degree requirements
  • amnesty may not be recognized by all programs at UL Lafayette or other institutions, as well as, many graduate and professional schools do not recognize amnest
  • UL Lafayette does not automatically recognize academic amnesty granted to a student by another institution. A request to recognize academic amnesty granted by another institution should be made to the academic dean or to Undergraduate Admissions.

    Further information regarding Academic Amnesty can be found in the current Undergraduate Catalog.

Academic Amnesty for Graduate Students

Academic amnesty can be considered only if the graduate student applicant has not been enrolled in any college or university at the graduate level for at least two years prior to the effective semester of the amnesty. Academic amnesty can be considered only if the graduate student applicant is seeking admission as a degree- or certificate-seeking student.

A request for academic amnesty by an applicant to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Graduate School should be made to the Graduate Appeals Committee and must include:

  • a letter of application that sets forth reason and justification for the request for academic amnesty
  • a letter of support, with any condition deemed necessary, from the graduate coordination for the program to which the applicant is seeking admission, endorsed by the Department Head and Dean of the College
  • all other materials required for graduate admission

    Further information regarding Academic Amnesty for Graduate Students.