Fresh Start Program

The Fresh Start Program is offered to select students applying for first-year and transfer admission. If you apply to USF, your admission letter will state if you’ve been offered admission through the Fresh Start Program.

If you accept this offer, you’ll be provided with additional academic support to ensure you’re on a clear path to graduation. We are confident that you’ll be successful at USF, and we look forward to working with you from the very start.

Financial Aid

Under our Fresh Start Program, you are not eligible for merit or institutional aid.* Domestic students may, however, submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and apply for federal financial aid.

*Students who have graduated from a Catholic high school and/or who have attended one of our partner community colleges will automatically receive the Chancellor’s Award and/or the Community College Partnership Scholarship, respectively. However, they are not eligible for additional merit or institutional aid due to the terms of the Fresh Start Program.

Terms of the Fresh Start Program

In accepting our offer of admission through the Fresh Start Program, you agree to meet the following expectations:

• Live on campus for at least your first year
• Meet with your Academic Success Coach in the Center for Academic and Student Achievement (CASA) during the first week of school and monthly thereafter in your first year
• Attend mandatory meetings based on any action items that arise in your meetings with your CASA Academic Success Coach
• Meet with your faculty adviser before class registration
• Complete the student success survey in your first semester at USF
• Complete mid-semester progress reports
• Take USF101 (a one unit class) in your first semester on campus

Once you meet the conditions above for your first year and maintain a semester GPA of 2.0, you will no longer be designated as a participant in the Fresh Start Program. Regardless of your designation, all other standard academic and disciplinary policies apply while you are at USF.

Questions?

Please contact Sara Solloway, Assistant Dean for Student Academic Success at slsolloway@usfca.edu or (415) 422-6742.