Undergraduate
Graduate
Academic Standards
To earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah you must complete the General Education and Bachelor Degree Requirements and meet the following minimum academic standards.
Total Semester Credit Hours
A minimum of 122 semesters credit hours is required for a bachelor’s degree.
Upper Division Credit Hours
Of the minimum total hours, 40 semester hours must be in upper-division courses. Students pursuing a Bachelor of University Studies degree must complete 56 hours in upper-division courses. Unversity of Utah upper-division courses are 3000 level and above. Credit from a two-year college will not count toward upper-division hours.
Residency Hours
- A minimum of 30 semester hours must be completed at the University of Utah.
- 20 of the last 30 semester hours must be completed at the University of Utah.
Telecourses, online courses, and courses at satellite campuses count as hours in residence. Independent Study correspondence courses, petitioned courses, and exam credits do not count. Some majors have residency requirements for credit hours in the major.
Minimum 2.0 Cumulative GPA
A 2.0 is the minimum GPA required to remain in Good Standing at the University of Utah. (NOTE: Some majors require higher GPA’s.) Accepted transfer work is not included in the University cumulative GPA.
For more details on Scholastic Standards, click here.
Credit Limitations
Undergraduate Petition for Graduate Credit. University of Utah degree-seeking students may be allowed to select certain graduate courses (5000 level or above) taken while enrolled as an undergraduate student for graduate credit. Such graduate credit is limited to six semester hours or two courses. Credit used to earn the University of Utah undergraduate degree may not be counted toward a graduate degree. Graduate credit may only be granted if a B or better was earned in the specified courses and the courses were taken no more than three years prior to the petition. Requested courses will remain on the undergraduate record but will be recorded as graduate credit on a student’s academic record to be used toward the graduate degree.
Undergraduate Petition for Graduate Credit
Request for Graduate Credit in BS/MS Program. Undergraduate students in the BS/MS program are allowed to select up to 12 credit hours of graduate level courses (5000 level or above) taken while still classified as an undergraduate student to be used in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the graduate degree. Questions regarding this procedure should be directed to the Office of the Registrar or departmental advisor. Courses used to earn the undergraduate degree may not be used toward a graduate degree, nor may courses used to earn the graduate degree be used toward an undergraduate degree. Students who drop out of the BS/MS program cannot use requested credits toward an undergradaute degree and are not guaranteed acceptance of these credits toward a graduate degree. Requested courses will remain on the undergraduate record but will be recorded as graduate credit on a student’s academic record to be used toward the graduate degree.
Request for Graduate Credit in BS/MS Program
Extension, Correspondence, and Non-matriculated Credit. A maximum of 30 semester credit hours of extension and correspondence credit may be applied toward the 122 minimum hours requirement; if the student has 30 hours of courses taken in residence, 10 of the last 30 hours of credit may have been taken through AOCE correspondence courses.
Not more than 30 credit hours earned under non-matriculated status may be counted toward a bachelor’s degree. These hours may be applied toward a degree as soon as the application for University admission has been processed and matriculated status has been received.
Honors at Graduation
Honors are awarded at graduation to undergraduate students who complete with distinction at least 60 semester credit hours of undergraduate course work at the University of Utah. Fifty or more of those hours must bear letter grades. Transfer hours and credit by examination are not used in the computation of honors.
Candidates who have met the above criteria will be recognized with honors for the graduation ceremonies based on his/her academic standing in January. Students who do not meet the criteria or who renew his/her graduation application after this time will not be considered for honors until May. Candidates graduating spring term must maintain the cumulative GPA or higher at the end of the spring term to be eligible to graduate with honors. Therefore, Honors are tentative and subject to change based on final grades.
Honors are determined within each college as follows:
Summa Cum Laude is conferred upon bachelors degree students whose cumulative GPA ranks them in the top 1% of the graduating class of each college based on a five year average of the top 1% in that college.
Magna Cum Laude is conferred upon bachelors degree students whose cumulative GPA ranks them in the next 2.5% of the graduating class of each college based on a five year average of the next top 2.5% of that college.
Cum Laude is conferred upon bachelors degree students whose cumulative GPA ranks them in the next 4.5% of the graduating class of each college based on a five year average of the next top 4.5% of that college.
For the honors GPA ranges for each commencement year, click here.
|
Print-Friendly Page