Graduation Requirements for the Baccalaureate Degree
For graduation, a student must meet the following requirements:
Quantitative Requirements - A minimum of 120 credit hours of course work, including the University Studies requirements and the prescribed courses for the major, are required for a bachelor's degree. Students seeking a second bachelor's degree must complete all degree requirements according to that major's program of study. At least half of the second major courses must be completed at Spalding. Exceptions to this policy are
- If a student has a second major, the minimum requirement for a major in psychology is 24 hours.
- If a student has a second major in business administration, the minimum requirement for a major in communication is 36 hours. A student with a second major in business administration is required to take COM 203, 204, 233 300, 343, 381, 443, and 449, in addition to the support courses required in both majors. Students with a second major in business administration will count no more than three hours of COM 443 toward completion of the communication major.
Qualitative Requirements - The candidate for the bachelor's degree must have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.00 in the total course work and in the major. For all students entering Spalding University on July 1, 2007, or later, all completed courses in the major must have a grade of C or higher. The only exceptions are for Nursing majors, who have always been required to have a grade of C or higher in each Nursing course, and for Occupational Therapy majors, who have always been required to have a grade of B or higher in all Occupational Therapy and Health Science courses. All Social Work majors must earn no less than a "B" in any Social Work course.
Educational Testing Service Proficiency Profile - All students are required to take the Educational Testing Service Proficiency Profile Rising Junior Exam before completing 91 credit hours. This exam should be taken while the student is a rising junior (80-90 credit hours).
Degree Audit - Applications for graduation must be submitted online through WebAdvisor at least two months prior to the anticipated conferral date. Timely scheduling of the application for graduation is the responsibility of the student.
Residence - At least one year in residence (one year of attendance) at Spalding University is required of all candidates for a degree. Typically, the residency includes the last 30 hours of academic coursework; however, in extenuating circumstances, the Provost may permit that the residency requirement be satisfied by including institutional academic credit earned earlier. The exception to this policy is the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences, which requires that all Occupational Therapy courses must be taken at Spalding (special consideration may be given on an individual basis).
Transfer Students - Spalding University awards degrees only to those students who have earned at least 25% of the credit hours required for the degree through instruction offered by Spalding University. For baccalaureate degrees requiring 120 hours, the minimum amount of hours that must be completed at Spalding is 30.
To graduate, all students must have taken at least one-half of the credit hours required in the major field(s) and, if applicable, the minor field(s) at Spalding University. Students in the RN to BSN program must complete a minimum of 28 hours in their major at Spalding University.
In order to graduate, the student must have final grades posted in all previously taken classes. A student cannot graduate with an X grade or an I grade still posted on the transcript. Students cannot graduate with missing grades for any previously taken classes. Once all final grades have been submitted to the Registrar and have been posted on the student's transcript, then the degree will be posted.
A student is expected to complete the degree requirements set forth in a particular version of the university catalog. Normally, this will be the catalog in effect at the time the student is admitted to the major or degree program in which the degree will be earned. In cases involving a second major or minor, the applicable catalog is the catalog in effect at the time of admission to the first major or degree program. For the student who changes a major or degree program, the catalog in effect when the student is admitted to the new major or degree program will be applicable. Only with the specific approval of the college dean may a different catalog be selected. Students must complete the bachelor's degree within 10 years. Any student who is not enrolled for a period of twelve (12) months or greater will be subject to the degree and program requirements at the time of readmission.
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