Iowa State is offering students a second chance at getting their degrees through the Summer Trial Program and the Academic Renewal Program.

The programs can help students who were not successful in their first attempt at college or would not normally be able to attend Iowa State due to academic circumstances, said Phil Caffrey, associate director of admissions.

The Summer Trial Program is intended for incoming freshmen who did not meet the admissions requirements, Caffrey said.

The Academic Renewal Policy is for students who have not yet gotten their degree because of difficulties during their first time at Iowa State, said Kathy Jones, registrar.

Through the Academic Renewal Policy, students can omit one or more terms from counting toward their cumulative GPA, Jones said.

“The courses and grades from that term will not count toward graduation,” she said.

Students may utilize the Academic Renewal Policy for a number of reasons, Caffrey said.

“[The Academic Renewal Policy] allows for students who came directly out of high school whose priorities were not in line,” he said. “For some reason or another they dropped out. Those grades follow them everywhere. [The Academic Renewal Policy] is to help get them out of an academic hole.”

A student who has not been attending Iowa State for five consecutive years and has not yet graduated is eligible for the Academic Renewal Policy, Jones said.

Another program that gives students a second chance is the Summer Trial Program, Caffrey said.

High school students who do not meet the standard requirements prior to admission to Iowa State have a chance to prove themselves, he said.

Students are required to take six credits of classes with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 and no grade lower than a C-minus. Once students accomplish this they are considered a regular ISU student, he said.

“Its another way of saying that you can prove it to us — we just make you start in the summer,” Caffrey said.

Each year 70 to 100 students take part in the Summer Trial Program, Caffrey said. Between 70 and 80 percent of the students who partake in the program are successful.

The Academic Renewal Policy began in the summer of 1994, Jones said. Two hundred fourteen students have taken advantage of the opportunity the Academic Renewal Policy offers.

Amy Healy, senior in family and consumer sciences in education, is a student who took advantage of the Summer Trial Program.

“In high school I didn’t apply myself, and when it came time for graduation I didn’t know what I had done with the past four years,” she said.

Healy’s high school counselor spent an hour every week with her discussing her options and together they decided on the Summer Trial Program at Iowa State.

“Where would I be right now if my counselor didn’t take the time?” Healy asked.

The application of herself during the past four years has proven a lot to Healy, she said.

“There are times when I get down on myself and I think, ‘Amy, you got yourself here, don’t give up now,’ ” she said.