Degree Requirement FAQs

In certain rare instances, a department chair may make an academic exception to permit a student to substitute a course for a certain course requirement. 

If you have received approval for a course substitution, waiver, or other exception from your Department Chair or Academic Dean that is not reflected on your degree audit, please send documentation to the Office of the Registrar so your audit can be updated. 

The minimum total credit, grade, general education curriculum, internship, capstone, and residency requirements cannot be waived.

Individualized Major changes must also receive approval through an Individualized Major Proposal Revision submitted to the Individualized Major Committee before they can be applied to your record.

Yes. Students are permitted to have course overlaps between degree programs. A course may overlap between a general requirement and a major or minor requirement, between two majors, between two minors or between a major and a minor. 

Limitations:

• Students may declare a total of three (3) programs: two majors and one minor or one major and two minors.
• A student may declare two (2) majors within one department, but may not declare a major that has two different concentrations.
• A course cannot fulfill more than one requirement within a program. Example, THRS 2213 is a course that is approved to fulfill a Theology and Religious Studies Elective within the International Studies major and also could fulfill the Area/Regional Elective within the International Studies major. However, this course cannot be used to fulfill both requirements.

No. A course cannot fulfill more than one requirement within a program. Several majors have course requirements with a menu of courses that could fulfill the requirement and some of the same courses could be used to fulfill another requirement within the major. Despite a course being an option under multiple major requirements, a course can only be applied to one requirement in the major and the student will need to use a different course to complete the other requirement(s).

Arts and Sciences Students Residency Requirements:

All A+S undergraduate students must complete 64 credits at Emmanuel in order to graduate. You may have transferred in more than 64 credits to Emmanuel, but a minimum of 64 credits at Emmanuel, including 50% of your major and any minor must be completed at Emmanuel in order to earn a Bachelor's degree. Internships to fulfill the College Requirement (whether a major program requirement or not) and senior capstones must be completed at Emmanuel with an Emmanuel registered course and supervised and graded by Emmanuel faculty.

Graduate and Professional Programs (GPP) Students Residency Requirements: 

Undergraduate programs within the Graduate and Professional Programs have varying residency requirements based on program. Please note that undergraduates must complete sixty-four (64) credits at Emmanuel to be eligible to earn Latin Honors.

• Bachelor of Science in Business Administration: Up to 80 credits may be transferred in. Forty-eight (48) credits must be completed at Emmanuel College to meet the residency requirement.
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing: Up to 96 credits, including up to 40 credits for Associate of Science in Nursing degree coursework may be transferred into the RN-BSN program. Thirty-two (32) credits must be completed at Emmanuel College to meet the residency requirement.
• Graduate Programs: Graduate students may be transfer at maximum 6 credits into the graduate program that has not been used for any other graduate program.  All other program requirements must be completed at Emmanuel.

The graduate level coursework from the Early Entry program will be applied to the graduate degree and cannot also be used for the undergraduate credit requirement. Students enrolled in the Early Entry program should view the "Total Credit Requirement" block on the Progress page to view the total credits completed and credits needed. This requirement block has been programmed to exclude graduate level courses.

It depends both on what the class is being used for and what degree program you are in. Undergraduate students require a grade of C (2.0) or better for courses to fulfill major or minor requirements. A grade of D (1.0) is needed for general requirements and free electives to earn credit. Nursing students should see the Nursing Student Handbook for specific course requirements needed for Nursing Program. Undergraduates must have a major and cumulative GPA of 2.0 to graduate. 

Graduate students must earn a minimum of B (3.0) in an individual course for the course to "count" for the program, and must earn a cumulative GPA of 3.0 to graduate.

Undergraduate students may take up to two courses as Pass/Fail that are being used only for free elective credit. View the Pass/Fail policy for more information, deadlines, and process.

Yes. COF courses have been set up with equivalencies in our system and should automatically appear in your degree audit (Progress screen on Student Planning). However, if a course is not appearing on the audit in the way in which a student believes it should be, they are encouraged to contact us at regmail [at] emmanuel.edu (regmail[at]emmanuel[dot]edu).
 

If you believe your anticipated graduation date is incorrect, please contact the Office of the Registrar at regmail [at] emmanuel.edu (regmail[at]emmanuel[dot]edu). Our Senior Assistant Registrar for Records will review your degree requirements and update your record accordingly.

Students with a declared major will be able to view their major GPA on the Progress page of Student Planning. Scroll down to the Major requirement section. Under the title of the major but before the first requirement, will note "Must have 2.000 minimum GPA for this requirement. Current GPA: (student's major GPA will be listed here)."

Students pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at Emmanuel College must complete at minimum:

• 128 total credits
• 64 credits in residence (see residency section for more specific information on residency and off-campus work)
• All requirements for their declared major(s), minor(s), certificate(s), and General Education Program

Completing all required courses for a major, minor, certificate, and general education program does not automatically result in 128 total credits. Additional Free Electives may be needed.

Students pursuing a graduate (master's) degree must complete 30-36 credits depending on the program and all prescribed coursework outlined by the program.

All undergraduates must have at 2.000 overall (cumulative) GPA and a 2.000 minimum major GPA at minimum regardless of whether all course requirements and credits have been met.

All graduate students must have a 3.000 GPA for graduation.

A Free Elective is any course that carries academic credit, has not previously been completed with a passing grade or equivalent to another course previously taken.\

For many undergraduate students, “Free Electives” are required to meet the credit minimum to graduate. Completion of all major, minor, certificate, and General Education requirements does not guarantee that a student has earned the 128 credits required for graduation. When additional credits are needed to reach the minimum, Free Electives must be completed to reach 128 numeric credits.

• Language + Culture (LC)
• Literary Inquiry (LI)
• Ethical Reasoning (ER)
• Historical Inquiry (HI)
• Social Science (SS)
• Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
• Natural Science with Lab (NSL)
• Natural Science (NS)
• Religious Inquiry (RI)
• Religious Inquiry (RICT)
• Visual/Creative Inquiry (VCI)

Sometimes. A course may satisfy:

• A Major or Minor requirement and a General Education requirement (Areas of Knowledge and/or Essential Value)
• Major and minor requirement
• One Area of Knowledge requirement and one Essential Value requirement
• A Writing Intensive requirement and another requirement (AOK, Essential Value, Major, Minor)

All course requirements and designations were evaluated and approval by the College’s Curriculum Committee. However, a course cannot fulfill multiple Area of Knowledge (AOK) requirements or multiple Essential Values, nor be used to satisfy multiple requirements within the same major or minor. See General Education requirements question above.

Because some courses may fulfill more than one requirement, the total remaining requirements on your audit does not always equal the number of courses or credits you still need to graduate. In many cases, each remaining requirement assumes completion of a separate 4-credit course. When one course satisfies multiple requirements, fewer courses may be needed to complete overall requirement types, but additional credits may still be necessary to reach the 128-credit minimum for graduation.

EXAMPLE:  A student has to complete both a major and Writing Intensive (WI) requirement and 8-credits to meet the 128 credits needed. If one course fulfills both major and WI requirements, the student has completed both requirements by taking one 4-credit course. While this reduces the number of outstanding requirements, it does receive 8 credits earned by taking two separate courses. Only 4-credits are earned. As a result, an additional Free Elective is needed to reach the 128-credit minimum.

The same principle applies when a course fulfills both an Area of Knowledge requirement and an Essential Value requirement, such as Religious Inquiry (RI) and Social Justice (SJ).

Removing a program may change your remaining degree requirements and the number of credits you still need to graduate.

Your graduation audit is based on your official declared major(s), minor(s), and certificate(s) the College has on record as of the date specified in the communication. When a minor, certificate, or second major requirement appears in your graduation audit letter, it is assumed that completing those courses will contribute credits toward the 128-credit minimum required for graduation.

When removing a concentration, minor, certificate, or second major, the associated courses no longer need to be completed. However, the 128-credit minimum remains unchanged. Thus, some or all of the credits that would have been earned through that program may need to be replaced with Free Electives.

EXAMPLE: if your audit indicates that you need one additional course to complete a minor and you decide to remove that minor, you may still need to complete another 4-credit course to reach the 128 credits required for graduation.

Because program changes can affect both degree requirements and graduation eligibility, students should contact the Office of the Registrar before making any changes to their academic program.

No. Students cannot earn credit twice for the same course. Repeating a course may improve a student's GPA or help satisfy an undergraduate major, minor, prerequisite, or general education requirement, but it does not generate additional credits toward graduation. Graduate coursework that does not meet the minimum grade must be repeated for a B or better.

Courses that fulfill core undergraduate major or minor requirements (specific courses that must be completed for the major or minor) may be repeated to meet college requirements of a C or better or a C- in a pre-requisite to progress to the next course in a sequence. The student must repeat the same course.  

A course may be repeated only once. Students may not enroll in a course for a third attempt at Emmanuel. Students who have not successfully completed a required course after two attempts should consult their academic advisor and may need to petition the Academic Review Board to discuss available options, which may include a major change.

All course attempts and grades remain on the transcript. For repeated courses, only one set of credits is awarded, and the higher grade is used in the overall GPA calculation.  Courses that have met the minimum grade needed for the requirement the course is being used for may not repeat the course.

Courses that have earned the minimum passing grade may not be repeated.

Transfer and study abroad coursework cannot be applied to your degree until an official transcript is received and processed. A grade of a C or better must be earned in order for these courses to have the potential to be added to your record. 

If you are expecting transfer or study abroad credit that does not appear on your audit, contact the Office of the Registrar.

Outstanding requirements listed on your audit may change once official transcripts are received and evaluated.

Not always. Many internship, practicum, research, or directed study experiences carry academic credit, while others may fulfill the College Internship requirement without awarding credits, such as INT 1010.

Students who complete a 0-credit internship (such as INT 1010) satisfy the College internship requirement but do not earn credits toward the 128 credits required for graduation. As a result, they may need to complete additional Free Elective credits to reach the minimum credits required for their degree. INT 1010 cannot be used to fulfill a credited internship requirement for a major. Most majors at Emmanuel require a credited internship listed in the major requirements.

Your audit is based on your course registration and declared program(s) of study as of the date noted in your audit email. The communication includes both your declared academic programs and the courses for which you were registered at the time the audit was completed.

If your schedule has changed, you received final grades, or submitted an official transcript for potential transfer credit since the audit was prepared, the remaining requirements listed in your letter may no longer accurately reflect your degree progress. Adding, dropping, withdrawing, or changing courses may affect your remaining graduation requirements, total credits, and anticipated graduation timeline.

Students are responsible for ensuring that any schedule changes do not delay degree completion. If you have made changes to your schedule and are unsure how they may affect your graduation requirements, please contact the Office of the Registrar for assistance.

No. Students may elect to have a double major by fulfilling all the requirements for a major in two different departments. Students who successfully complete two majors only earn one degree. Degrees are 128 credits comprised of general education requirements, majors, and additional credits. If your double major falls under two different degrees, students you will need to choose which degree they would like to receive and have noted on all official documents. 

EXAMPLE: A Biology (BS) and Sociology (BA) double major may elect to receive a Bachelor of Science degree or a Bachelor of Arts degree, but they don’t earn both. Students may not change their degree after the degree has been conferred.

Students graduating in May will complete their degree application and apply for graduation in the January prior to their graduation. September graduates will apply in May and June. December graduates will apply in September.