How to Expunge a Class From a College Transcript

Even the best of students occasionally find one class particularly difficult and their grade reflects that level of difficulty. Earning a bad grade in a college course happens for a number of reasons, including becoming overwhelmed with a difficult course load or neglecting the class in favor of work, friends or extracurricular activities. The reason for your low grade is meaningless; all that matters is that your college transcript now shows that you received a low grade in that particular class and it will negatively affect your transcript for the remainder of your college career. While the policy at many colleges states you cannot expunge a class or bad grade from your transcripts, some colleges offer you the opportunity to try.

Letter of Request

Compose a written letter to the enrollment center of your college asking that a class is removed from your transcript. Before you do this you should check with the policy at your school to see if this is permitted or if you are merely wasting your time on a fruitless pursuit.

Include the name of the class and the date you took the class on your written request. If you have more than one F you want to expunge you need to provide that information to the school as well.

Deliver the letter of request to the enrollment center and wait for a decision. A faculty member at the center will contact you when a decision has been made. Some colleges, such as Oakton Community College, require you have less than 15 credit hours of F grades to qualify for expungement. Community cColleges in California allow you to petition to expunge a grade from your transcripts by taking the same class a second time; the college then uses the better grade to calculate your grade point average.

Withdraw From Classes

Track your grades during the semester. Talk to your professors about attempting to raise grades that are lower than you'd like. If you absolutely cannot raise your grade you do have other options to prevent a bad grade from appearing on your transcripts.

Check your college's academic calendar to see when the last day to withdraw from a course is. All colleges offer a last day to withdraw where you can remove yourself from a class with a grade of "W" rather than a failing or otherwise low grade.

Speak to your academic advisor about withdrawing from the class. She can withdraw you from the class prior to the deadline and you will receive a "W" on your transcripts, which does not affect your grade point average. Some colleges, such as the University of Michigan, offer first-time college students the ability to withdraw from classes during the first semester of college without even having a "W" on your transcripts.

Academic Clemency

Obtain a student petition contract from your academic advisor -- this is available for college students in Arkansas. The academic clemency policy, established in 1991, allows students that have not been enrolled in a college for at least 5 years to petition to have bad grades removed from your old transcripts when you decide to go back to school.

Complete the petition by answering all of the questions, providing your name and contact information and listing the name(s) of your former Arkansas colleges as well as the dates you attended.

Give the petition to your student advisor. You will receive notification through the mail if your previous bad grades are expunged from your transcripts.