Students may petition to have their academic record reviewed for academic renewal of substandard academic performance under the following conditions: 

  • Academic renewal may be applied to two distinct terms/sessions of work and is a one-time irreversible option.
  • Academic renewal cannot be used to disregard prior academic credit or course work which has been applied toward an associate degree or certificate earned at Cuesta College.
  • For any term/session in which course work is to be disregarded, all substandard academic work in that term/session will be disregarded, excluding satisfactory grades.
  1. Substandard Academic Work - course work for which grades of 鈥淒+,鈥� 鈥淒,鈥� 鈥淒-,鈥� or 鈥淔鈥� have been recorded. 
  2. The 鈥淲鈥� symbol shall not used in calculating student鈥檚 GPA.
  3. Credits earned on a 鈥減ass-no pass鈥� (鈥淧,鈥� 鈥淐R,鈥� 鈥淣P,鈥� or 鈥淣C鈥�) basis are not used to calculate student鈥檚 GPA.
  • If grade alleviation has already been applied two times for a course included in the requested term/session to be disregarded, the course will not be eligible for academic renewal without repetition and will remain on the academic record. No more than two substandard grades may be alleviated from calculation of the student鈥檚 GPA for a course.
  • A period of at least one year must have elapsed since the completion of the work to be alleviated.
  • To alleviate course work, the student must have:
  1. Completed a minimum of 12 semester credits since the term(s) to be alleviated with at least a 3.0 GPA; or
  2. Completed 18 semester credits since the term(s) to be alleviated with at least a 2.5 GPA; or
  3. Completed 24 semester credits since the term(s) to be alleviated with at least a 2.0 GPA.
  • Recalculation of the GPA will be used toward qualification for graduation with honors.
  • Academic standing for the term/session(s) will be adjusted.
  • When courses are repeated under this procedure, the permanent academic record shall be annotated in such a manner that the record of all work remains legible, ensuring a true and complete academic record.

Steps for Academic Renewal:

  1. The student initiates the request by filing a Petition for Academic Renewal without Course Repetition in Counseling Services. The petition must be signed by the student and counselor.
  2. Student must submit official (sealed) transcripts from all accredited colleges or universities where coursework was completed.
  3. The Director of Outreach & Enrollment Services will determine eligibility for academic renewal without course repetition.
  4. If academic renewal requirements are met, eligible courses will be alleviated from the student鈥檚 permanent record.
    • Calculation of the student鈥檚 GPA begins at the first term being alleviated under Academic Renewal.
    • Alleviated coursework will be annotated on the student鈥檚 transcript with an 鈥淓鈥� for exclusion with a notation of 鈥淎cademic Renewal鈥� and the substandard grade will be excluded from the student鈥檚 GPA calculation.
  5. The Academic Renewal process may take approximately 4-6 weeks to process before appearing on the student鈥檚 transcript.
  6. Students may view unofficial transcripts online via the myCuesta web portal. Go to the Student Self Service.  Click on  Student Records on the left and click on  鈥淰iew Unofficial Transcripts.鈥�
  7. Students must submit online authorization and pay applicable fees to order official transcripts.