Undergraduate Policies and Procedures

Graduation Policies

Timely Graduation

In accordance to Texas Education Code, section 51.9195, The University of Texas at Dallas provides current undergraduate students information in understanding the benefits of timely graduation, including the average tuition costs and earnings lost when graduating more than four years. For additional information, see www.utdallas.edu/costs-scholarships-aid/costs/tuition.

Application for Graduation

Students must complete the online application for graduation after meeting with their academic advisor. The procedures and deadlines for submitting this application are listed in the online Comet Calendar and Academic Calendar. Students are encouraged to apply for graduation prior to registering for their last semester. Students who apply after the posted deadline may be required to pay a nonrefundable late fee. Completion of the graduation application is an acknowledgement upon completion of all degree requirements, the student will graduate at the end of the semester. Students cannot withdraw the online application for graduation once it has been submitted. The University reserves the right to graduate any student who has satisfactorily met all requirements for graduation. All in-progress courses on the academic record must contain final grades prior to certification and posting of final graduation status. Once the graduation grade point average (GPA) is set, any change of grades or repeat of coursework affects only the overall GPA.

Graduation Commencement Ceremonies

Commencement ceremonies are held at the conclusion of each spring and fall semester. There is no summer graduation ceremony.

Students scheduled to graduate following a summer semester may petition to take part in the following fall ceremony. Students who graduate at the conclusion of the fall or spring semester may only graduate in the respective graduation ceremony.

Any questions regarding the commencement ceremonies should be directed to the Office of the Registrar.

Graduation with Honors

Students who show particular distinction in scholarship at the University are afforded the opportunity of graduating with Collegium V Honors, Latin Honors and/or Major Honors. Only grades earned at The University of Texas at Dallas are used in determining grade point average (GPA) for graduation with honors.

Collegium V Honors Program

Students graduating with Collegium V Honors must complete at least 24 semester credit hours within the Honors Program and maintain a 3.500 cumulative grade point average on at least 45 semester credit hours of graded credit. In their senior year, students must complete a senior thesis or senior project. They also must participate in a select number of extra-curricular events over the course of their academic career.

Latin Honors

Graduates may earn one of three degrees of Latin Honors: summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude. Requirements for graduation with Latin Honors are as follows:

A minimum of 45 UT Dallas graded semester credit hours are required. Each Latin Honors level requires a minimum GPA to be attained over all coursework taken at The University of Texas at Dallas. In the case of a student with a double major who wishes to graduate with Latin Honors, a single honors designation will be awarded in the primary major. Students graduating with double degrees who wish to receive honors for both degrees must complete separate honors requirements for each degree.

The grade point requirements for Latin Honors are issued by the University in the summer of each academic year and apply to graduates in the following academic year. The thresholds for each level of honors are determined from a rolling average of the grades of all graduates for the previous six long semesters. Averages are computed separately for each school within the University. The GPA that represents the top five percent of all graduates in a particular school will be considered the threshold for awarding summa cum laude honors. The GPA that defines the next 10 percent in each school will be the lower limit for magna cum laude. The average grade that defines the next 15 percent in each school will be considered the benchmark for awarding cum laude honors. A minimum GPA of 3.400 is required for any Latin Honors.

Major Honors

Students may graduate with honors from their individual school based on participation in their school's Honors Program as applicable. The school's Honors Program may provide two levels of recognition, Honors and Distinction. All students must have completed a minimum of 30 graded semester credit hours to qualify for Major Honors.

The requirements for school honor's recognition vary across schools. Students should review the descriptions within the school section of the catalog. To graduate with school distinction honors, students must complete an undergraduate thesis judged by faculty to be of exemplary quality.

Collegium V, Latin, and Major Honors are reported on students' transcripts and diplomas.

Graduation Under a Particular Catalog

The life of a catalog is six years, counting the first fall of any catalog as the starting point, or "year 0." For example, the catalog in force 2011-2012 expires at the end of the academic year in 2018. If the catalog in force at the time of a student's admission expires during the student's career at The University of Texas at Dallas, the student must consult with an academic advisor to choose the most logical active catalog the semester before expiration. If the student does not consult with an advisor before the catalog expires, the advisor will select the most logical active catalog for the student.

Provided the requisite courses continue to be offered, and given continuous enrollment, students are bound by the Core Curriculum requirements of the catalog in force at the time of admission, within that catalog's six-year limit. For students who change their major, the graduation requirements for that major will be those stated in the catalog in force at the time of the change. The Core Curriculum requirements, however, remain those of the catalog in force at the time of matriculation unless the student specifically chooses those of a more recent catalog or the catalog in force at the time matriculation expires. Should any requisite major courses cease to be offered, substitutions would be made by the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education.

Should any requisite Core Curriculum courses cease to be offered, substitutions will be made by the Office of Undergraduate Education. Core Curriculum requirements must be met by all students pursuing a baccalaureate degree at The University of Texas at Dallas, regardless of their major. A specific course may be used to satisfy only one core requirement. Individual academic programs may require courses contained in parts of the University Core Curriculum to satisfy particular degree requirements. Students may be required to take extra courses if they fail to select these courses.

Administrative requirements such as minimum grade point requirements may change for all students with the issuance of a new catalog.

Graduation Requirements

Each candidate for a baccalaureate degree must complete a minimum of 120 semester credit hours of coursework. Some degree programs require more than 120 semester credit hours. Within this requirement, students must complete the following:

• Incoming freshmen must enroll and complete requirements in UNIV 1010 Comets to the Core Pre-Assessment. They will also enroll into the corresponding school-related freshman seminar course, i.e. ARHM 1100, ATCM 1100, BCOM 1300, BIS 1100, BBSU 1100, ECS 1100, EPPS 1110, NATS 1101, or UNIV 1100.
• Students, including transfer students, who complete their core curriculum at UT Dallas must enroll and complete UNIV 2020.
• At least 51 semester credit hours of upper-division (3000/4000 level) coursework, to include a minimum of 12 semester credit hours of advanced courses in the major subject.
• At least 45 semester credit hours must be taken at The University of Texas at Dallas.
• At least 24 of the last 30 semester credit hours needed for a baccalaureate degree must be taken at The University of Texas at Dallas.
• No coursework may be taken off campus in a student's final graduating semester.
• All transfer credit must be submitted with official transcripts prior to a student's final graduating semester.
• All in-progress coursework must be completed in order to graduate.
• A maximum of three semester credit hours of physical education activity can be applied toward degree requirements.
• A minimum GPA of 2.000 on a 4.000 scale (C average) is required in the major and related courses, in any declared minor, and overall. Major preparatory classes are included in the calculation of the major GPA. Only grades earned at The University of Texas at Dallas are used in calculating this GPA.
• Students must satisfactorily complete all degree requirements specified by the school or college in which the degree is offered. (See "Academic Degree Requirements") In many instances, the college/school/department academic program requirements may exceed the University core requirements.
• Students must satisfy the Core Curriculum. (See Core Curriculum for full description.)
• A candidate for a degree must be enrolled at UT Dallas during the semester in which the Office of the Registrar confirms completion of degree requirements. Students may register in absentia if enrollment in a course is not required. (See "In-absentia Registration" for further information.)
• Students must complete an official degree plan prepared by the academic unit, pursuant to the required filing of degree plan, Texas Education Code, Section 51.9685. The degree plan must be on file no later than the completion of 45 or more earned semester credit hours. The degree plan will be reviewed at the completion of 75 semester credit hours.
• Students will be notified by the University that filing a degree plan is required by state law and prevent students from obtaining official transcripts until the degree plan is filed.
• To qualify for a double degree or a double major from The University of Texas at Dallas, please review "Other Degree Requirements."

Note: General and specific requirements for degrees in undergraduate programs may be altered in subsequent catalogs.