Undergraduate Graduation Policy

Students are required to graduate at the end of the term in which all degree requirements are completed. Degree requirements are those requirements, including university, college and all other requirements necessary to earn a minimum of one undergraduate degree and any declared degrees/majors/minors/concentrations. That is, additional degrees/majors/minors/concentrations may be earned; however, they must be completed in the same term as the first degree/primary major is completed. Except in the case of readmission, undergraduate students must meet the graduation requirements which are stated in the Undergraduate Bulletin issued for the year in which they entered Marquette. Substitutions or waivers for specific courses required for degree completion may occur, as determined by the college and/or the Marquette Core Curriculum committee.

Students who have interrupted their enrollment from the university, are normally obliged to follow the degree/major/minor/concentration requirements in effect at the time of readmission. Policies that are in effect at the time of the return, apply to all students, regardless of the term of initial enrollment. Students are responsible for keeping themselves informed of the requirements which apply in their particular cases. Students have faculty advisers available who assist in planning and implementing their plan of studies; however, it is ultimately each student’s responsibility to know and fulfill the requirements for graduation specified for the selected plan. This should be done not only by utilization of specific advisers, but also with Academic Advisement, the university’s online degree audit tool on CheckMarq provided to all undergraduates. With Academic Advisement, students track their degree progress until graduation. It is the responsibility of students to immediately bring any discrepancies found in Academic Advisement to the attention of their college.

A candidate for a baccalaureate degree must meet the following graduation requirements:

1. In all undergraduate colleges and programs, a minimum of 120 credits earned and a cumulative grade point average of 2.000 is required for a Marquette undergraduate degree.
2. Credits required to be completed in residence at Marquette:
   1. A minimum of 45 total credits must be completed at Marquette. Up to 15 of the 45 credits may be completed through an approved study abroad program.
   2. A minimum of 32 upper-division credits must be completed at Marquette. This may include upper-division credits from an approved study abroad program.
   3. The final 30 credits needed to complete a Marquette undergraduate degree must be completed at Marquette, unless those credits are earned in an approved study abroad program, or are earned as part of a written/contractual agreement with another institution, in which Marquette students participate during the final year of their degree program.
   4. A minimum of one-half of credits in the major, minor, and concentration not attached to a major must be completed at Marquette.
3. Students must attend all courses, lectures, or any other exercises that are required, even though, in some cases such activities receive no recognition in terms of credit hours.
4. Students' records must be cleared of all grades that are not permanent, i.e., grades of I, IC, IE and NG.
5. Students must file the online application for a degree by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar; however, because students are required to graduate at the end of the term in which all university, degree requirements are complete, the university reserves the right to graduate a student without a graduation application on file. If the university exercises this option, there is no guarantee students will be able to participate in Commencement.
6. Commencement is held in May, after the spring term. Participation in Commencement does not mean students are graduated. See the Commencement Policy in this section for further details.
7. Exceptions to this Graduation Requirements policy must be approved by the Office of the Provost, except:
   • the course and bulletin year exceptions listed in the 'Graduation Requirements' section above (as approved by the college)
   • number 3 above (as approved by the college)
   • the dean’s office in the college where the student’s program resides may exempt up to 6 of the final 30 credits from being completed in residence (number 2c above)

For additional college requirements, consult the Degree Requirements listed for each undergraduate program in this bulletin.

Special Note for 2023-2024: Students who attended Cardinal Stritch University in a bachelor's degree program during the 2022-2023 year and directly transfer to a bachelor's degree program at Marquette University in Fall 2023 or Spring 2024 with fewer than 45 credits remaining in their Marquette program are exempted from the standard Marquette residency requirement (items 2-6 listed above). In lieu of the standard residency requirement, exempted students must complete all remaining credits for their undergraduate degree at Marquette. Exempted students are expected to remain continuously enrolled (fall and spring terms) at Marquette until the completion of their bachelor's degree.

Graduation Latin Honors

The grade point average is used to compute graduation Latin honors. The computation is made by dividing the total number of grade points earned at Marquette University by the total number of grade point hours earned. The official Marquette GPA of all students is calculated by the student information system and this GPA is not rounded up or down for any reason. To graduate with Latin honors, candidates must be pursuing their first bachelor's degree, earned at least 60 grade point hours and 60 degree hours at Marquette University, normally as a junior and senior. First bachelor's degree is defined as the first bachelor's degree earned from any institution. When students earn a concurrent additional bachelor's degree (i.e., finish in the same term as the first bachelor's degree), the additional degree is also eligible for Graduation Latin Honors, if the first bachelor's degree qualifies.

Graduates whose grade point average is 3.500, graduate with cum laude (Latin for 'with honor'); graduates whose grade point average is 3.700, graduate with magna cum laude (Latin for 'with great honor'); and graduates whose grade point average is 3.900, graduate with summa cum laude (Latin for 'with highest honor'). Graduation Latin honors are recorded on diplomas, noted in the published lists of graduates at Commencement and recorded on students' transcript.

Graduation Record

The academic record of students is frozen once the degree is posted and may not be altered thereafter, unless required to do so by law and/or a documented university error is discovered after the degree is posted. This includes, but is not limited to: all relevant grade point averages, grades, additional information relating to the degree(s), major(s), minor(s), concentration(s), Latin Honors and academic censure.