Academic Fresh Start

Texas Senate Bill 1321, entitled “Right to An Academic Fresh Start” allows a person who is a resident of Texas to apply for undergraduate admission and not have coursework completed 10 or more years prior to the date of anticipated enrollment included as consideration in the admission decision. This allows undergraduate students to begin a new course of study with a clear academic record.

About the Academic Fresh Start

This is an “all or nothing” option. You are not able to pick and choose which courses to ignore and which courses to count. If you choose the “Academic Fresh Start” option, you will not receive any credit for any courses you took 10 or more years ago.

This means that:

  • Courses taken previously cannot be used to fulfill new prerequisite requirements.
  • Courses taken previously cannot be counted towards your new degree.
  • Courses taken previously will not be counted in your new GPA calculations.
  • The provision does not affect coursework completed between the 10 year prior date and the new enrollment date.
  • Even if you choose the Academic Fresh Start option, you must still complete the usual admissions process, including providing information on all colleges or universities previously attended and providing official copies of transcripts from all schools you attended. Nothing in the law prohibits a public university from applying standard admissions requirements.

Students under the Fresh Start provision must still meet the criteria for the Texas Success Initiative unless they have met one of the exemptions. The Academic Fresh Start provision does not affect Texas Success Initiative exemptions claimed on the basis of college credit earned prior to September 1989.

Academic Fresh Start may be claimed only upon application to Texarkana College and will not be applicable to currently enrolled Texarkana College students.

Once enrolled, Academic Fresh Start may only be requested upon application for readmission to the College. Students can apply for readmission and request Fresh Start only after resigning for one calendar year. The Fresh Start application must be completed and granted prior to re-enrolling.

Once the “Right to an Academic Fresh Start” provision has been claimed, and the student has enrolled, the provision cannot be reversed.

An applicant may use the Academic Fresh Start provision only once at Texarkana College.

Applying for Fresh Start

Students must submit an application for Fresh Start prior to enrollment at Texarkana College, preferably at the time they apply for admission or re-admission. Students will not be reviewed for Fresh Start until they have completed their admissions file and been admitted to the College. Please visit applytexas.org to complete an admissions application to Texarkana College. Download and print an Academic Fresh Start application. The application should be completed and signed. It can be mailed to the Office of Admissions:

Texarkana College

Office of Admissions

2500 North Robison Road

Texarkana, TX 75599

The application may also be completed at the Office of Admissions during regular office hours.

The Texarkana College Director of Admissions is the final authority on applying or interpreting Texas Education Code 51.931, “Right to an Academic Fresh Start”. When the Fresh Start application is approved, the Texarkana College Registrar’s office will be notified and upon enrollment, a message will be posted to the student’s academic record indicating admission has been granted through the Academic Fresh Start provision. If the student was previously enrolled at Texarkana College, the grade point average will be changed on the academic record for any coursework completed 10 or more years prior to the re-enrollment date. The original courses or grades will not be considered in the grade point average, but they will remain on the Texarkana College academic record.

Academic Fresh Start clears only your academic record. When deciding your eligibility for financial aid, the school must still count all prior credits earned. Students who earned a graduate degree prior to enrolling as an undergraduate under the Academic Fresh Start option will only be eligible for aid available to graduate students. Please contact the Texarkana College Financial Aid office at 903-838-0671 or financial.aid@texarkanacollege.edu if you need additional information or have any questions.

Contact Us about Academic Fresh Start

For more information on Academic Fresh Start or any questions pertaining to the application process, contact our Admissions department at 903-823-3012 or by email at admissions@texarkanacollege.edu.