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.
Note: 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 courses you took 10 or more years ago.
This means that:
- Courses taken previously cannot be used to fulfill new prerequisite requirements
- Course 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 years 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.
Additional Notes
- 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 granted Fresh Start until they have completed their admissions process and been admitted to the College.
Download and print an Application for Fresh Start (PDF). The application should be completed and signed. It can be mailed to the Office of Enrollment Services:
Texarkana College
Office of Enrollment Services
2500 North Robison Road
Texarkana, TX 75599
The application may also be completed at the Office of Enrollment Services during regular office hours. The office is located on the first floor of the Nelson Administration Building. Visitor parking is available.
Acceptance of Fresh Start Application
The final authority on applying or interpreting Texas Education Code 51.931, Right to an Academic Fresh Start, is the Texarkana College Registrar. 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 here 10 or more years prior to the re-enrollment date. The original course or grades will not be considered in the grade point average, but they will remain on the Texarkana College academic record.
Effect on Financial Aid
Academic Fresh Start clears only your academic record. When evaluating your eligibility for financial aid, the school must still count all prior credits attempted.
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 903-823-3267 or financial.aid@texarkanacollege.edu if you need additional information or have any questions.