Academic renewal (policy 54-90) provides an opportunity for former students to resume their academic career without being penalized by their past academic record. Academic renewal is an academic forgiveness policy. To be eligible for academic renewal, the student must:

• have a cumulative GPA below 2.0 and
• must not have taken a Penn State course in the last four years.

When academic renewal occurs, the student's academic record remains unchanged, but the cumulative grade point average starts over. A notation of academic renewal will be included on the transcript.
Students initiate a request for academic renewal by consulting an adviser in the college in which the student expects to re-enroll or the Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). The college/DUS adviser and campus Registrar review the student's academic record in accordance with the provisions stipulated by Senate policy 54-90 and determine whether Academic Renewal is the best course of action. If the student is eligible for Academic Renewal, the University Registrar will record the change and notify the student of the decision regarding academic renewal. If renewal is approved, students in the following categories may apply for re-enrollment.

• Previous degree students
• Previous division of undergraduate studies conditional students
• Previous nondegree regular students

Retroactive requests for Academic Renewals are permitted providing that the stipulations identified by Senate Policy 54-90 are upheld.