Graduation Requirements & Eligibility

Student Responsibility for Degree Completion

Students should discuss their specific degree requirements with their advisors throughout their academic careers. While an advisor is to be of help to a student in planning and confirming the student’s progress toward graduation, ultimately it is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the requirements for graduation and the number of hours he or she has completed toward graduation.

Changes in undergraduate degree requirements must be approved by the last day of the spring semester in order to take effect in the following academic year. Such changes must be communicated immediately to the University Registrar. Deans, by exception, may allow a student to take advantage of new degree requirements immediately if the exception will allow the student to complete degree requirements.

General Graduation Requirements

The general requirements for earning a baccalaureate degree from Saint   Louis University are as follows:

1. Satisfactory fulfillment of the lower- and upper-division course requirements within each area.
   
2. Completion of not less than 120 semester hours of credit, excluding lower-division military science and physical education courses, with an overall grade point average of 2.00. Grade point averages are figured on the basis of hours attempted (not merely hours passed) and grade points earned.
3. At least the last 30 semester hours of a student’s degree program must be taken at the Madrid or St. Louis campuses of Saint Louis University. Individual schools or colleges may have policies that vary from this norm.
4. A degree candidate must file an application in the Academic Dean’s office before the end of the second week of the semester or session in which graduation is intended. Students must be in good academic standing to file the application.
5. Because of the progress being made in various fields of learning, collegiate credits earned more than ten calendar years prior to graduation will be reevaluated. If circumstances warrant, a student may be required to take further work or repeat certain courses before a degree is conferred.
6. Seniors who have a grade of Incomplete in any course needed for graduation should clear the record and have the change of grade submitted on appropriate forms to the Academic Dean’s office by April 1 for May graduation, by July 1 for August graduation, and by December 1 for January graduation.
7. All course requirements for a degree must be completed or be in progress before or during the semester for degree conferral. The University will award a degree if all required course work is completed, and needed documentation received, within 40 calendar days of the University conferral date. Beyond 40 calendar days, awarding of the diploma will be deferred to the next University conferral date. See individual schools/colleges for additional graduation requirements.

Double Undergraduate Degrees

It is possible for a student to receive two undergraduate baccalaureate degrees from Saint Louis University. These degrees may be pursued either simultaneously or sequentially. They may be earned in the same college or school or in two colleges or schools of the University. If two colleges or schools are involved, the student must apply and be admitted to each college. The requirements of both majors must be satisfied and at least 150 credit hours must be completed.

The student must complete the core requirements in one college/school; if two colleges/schools are involved, it is recommended, and may be required, that a student complete the core requirements of both colleges/schools. Students planning a double degree program must have the prior approval of both major departments and the Dean(s) involved.

If a student simultaneously completes in less than 150 semester hours the requirements for one degree program in one school (termed the primary school) and major area requirements in another school/college, the student will receive the degree granted by the primary school and the second major will be noted on the student’s transcript. Any student fulfilling requirements of two majors of which one is in the Cook School of Business must be enrolled in the Cook School of Business and must be pursuing the B.S. degree in Business Administration.

If a student simultaneously completes in less than 150 semester hours the requirements for two degree programs within one school of the University, the student may select the degree to be awarded and the transcript will note the second major.

A student is classified as a second bachelor’s degree candidate if he or she is seeking an undergraduate degree and has previously received a baccalaureate degree. The prior bachelor’s degree—internal or external— must be balanced in terms of prior course work.

In the College of Arts and Sciences this means that students must have at least one three-hour college level course from each of the nine core curriculum areas of Foundations of Discourse, Cultural Diversity, Foreign Language, Fine Arts, Literature, Science, Mathematics, World History, Social Science and have completed nine hours of Philosophy and nine hours of Theological Studies with the last six hours each taken at Saint Louis University. Deficiencies in these core areas must be removed before awarding of the second bachelor’s degree, so as to preserve the unique   character of Jesuit liberal education.

Students completing a second bachelor’s degree in the Cook School of Business are required to have a balanced undergraduate program and will need to complete the remaining business core and concentration requirements.

Students seeking a second baccalaureate degree in the School of Nursing may do so in either the generic or the accelerated option. The prerequisites are identified specifically in the School of Nursing’s information available online.

Graduation Honors

Determination of honors and cumulative grade point averages will be made at the time of graduation. For the purpose of computing honors and cumulative University, departmental or college grade point averages, any grade of “I” will be calculated as an “F.” Honors will not be recomputed if the “I” is subsequently changed to another grade. Any grade of “I” remaining on the student’s record at the time of graduation must be resolved within 30 calendar days of the commencement date, at which time the “I” will automatically be converted to an “F.”

Averages for graduation honors are computed only on the basis of course work taken in the schools or colleges of Saint Louis University. Students receiving a first baccalaureate degree must have completed 54 earned semester hours in residence at Saint Louis University in order to be eligible to graduate with honors. A student with a baccalaureate degree from another institution may be awarded a second baccalaureate degree with academic honors if at least 48 credit hours are earned at Saint Louis University and the minimum grade point average (based on Saint Louis University course work only) is satisfied.

Graduation honors are awarded as follows:

• Cum laude for a grade point average of 3.500-3.6999.
  
• Magna cum laude for a grade point average of 3.700-3.8999.
  
• Summa cum laude for a grade point average of 3.900-4.000.