Restart a degree program with a fresh GPA There is a hypothetical situation I've wondered about. When an undergraduate student receives an undesirable class grade, that grade is typically left on their transcript (with the exception of sparing "grade forgiveness" allowances) for the rest of their academic endeavors. Naturally, this allows the student's Grade Point Average to be viewed as a decent reflection of the student's academic aptitude.

It is my understanding that if an undergraduate student leaves a university for some years before finishing their degree program, but returns at a later date, the old class grades will still be on the student's transcript and factored in with the new grades to derive the new GPA for the student. However, this new GPA does not appear to reflect the student's current academic aptitude to me; the student may now have far more experience and skill now than the years before when those old grades were given.

Although I understand that universities typically do not remove select class grades from a transcript, is it common for a university to allow an undergraduate student to simply restart a degree program tabula rasa, with a new blank GPA and no previous class credits?
I'm not sure whether it's common, but my university has a policy like this, called Fresh Start.  A student who returns after an absence of at least five years can have their GPA recalculated, omitting all classes with grades of C&minus; or lower.

As far as I know, they still get to keep credits earned for those classes, and those grades still appear on their transcript; they just aren't included in the GPA calculation.