General Degree Requirements

Main Content

Catalog Year. Catalog year refers to the undergraduate catalog rules and requirements to which you have been assigned.  Each academic year SIU publishes an Undergraduate Catalog which serves as an agreement between the university and student that outlines rules, policies, overall degree requirements, as well as specific program/major requirements.

A catalog year is assigned as the year/term that you matriculate to the university.  If you are part of Saluki Transfer Pathways, your catalog year corresponds to the first year/term you attended college after high school graduation. This means that the SIU program requirements influencing your course decisions at community college will not change when you transfer regardless of subsequent curriculum updates.

Your catalog year can be found on Degree Works and a digital copy of each Undergraduate Catalog can be found at catalog.siu.edu.  It is important to note that your catalog year is valid for up to seven continuous years. If you are still pursuing your baccalaureate degree after that time period, your catalog year will be subject to current curricula requirements and your degree requirements may change.

Degree Works. Progress toward degree can be monitored using the Degree Works audit system available through SalukiNet for all students with a catalog year of summer 2012 and later. The audit system is used to clear all undergraduate degree awards. Please also see the Bachelor’s Degree section of the catalog for additional information about degree clearance.

Associate Degree

Each candidate for an associate degree must complete a minimum of 60 hours of credit in approved courses. Each student must complete the residence requirement by completing a minimum of 15 credit hours of technical courses within a major for the Associate in Applied Science degree at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Each student must maintain a C average for all work taken at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The degree-granting unit for the associate degree is the College of Health and Human Sciences.

Baccalaureate Degree

Each candidate for a bachelor’s degree must complete the requirements listed:

Hour Requirements. Each student must complete at least 120 credit hours of credit, which can include credit for work experience, College Level Examination Program (CLEP), Advanced Placement Program (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), military credit, and proficiency examination credit. MATH 107 and UNIV 388 cannot be counted in the 120 hours required for graduation. Each student must have at least 42 hours in courses that number 300 or above from a four-year institution.

Residence Requirements. Each student must complete the residence requirement by taking a total of 42 semester hours at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Only credit for those courses for which the student has registered and for which a satisfactory grade has been recorded at Southern Illinois University Carbondale may be applied toward the residence requirement hours. Credit for CLEP, Advanced Placement, military credit or proficiency credit is considered non-resident.

Grade Point Average Requirements. Each student must have a C average for all work taken at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and a C average for all major work taken at the University (2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale).

Forgiveness Policy. The University has adopted a policy for students whose only graduation problem concerns the C average required for all work taken at the University. Such students may ask that the average be computed by one of the following methods: (1) by excluding from calculation of the grade point average a maximum of 13 credit hours of D or F grade earned at the University or, (2) by earning a grade point average of 2.10 or higher for the last 60 credit hours of work completed at the University. The student will be graduated if the average meets either of the two alternatives. It should be noted that the two alternatives are offered as a means of computing the GPA for graduation only and may not be used for any other purpose. Major requirements, including major GPA, are not subject to this policy, However, all grades, including those designated as repeats, are included in forgiveness calculation.

Course Requirements. Each student must meet the University requirements and the requirements of the academic unit, the major, and the minor, if required. The University Core Curriculum Requirements, which are explained in chapter three, total 39 credit hours. The requirements of each college and for the specific major and minor programs are explained in chapter five.

Issuance of Transcripts/Diplomas

Official Transcripts

Official transcripts consist of a student's complete academic history, including all undergraduate and graduate level work. An official transcript is issued in portrait format and contains the seal of the university and the signature of the University Registrar assuring the authenticity and accuracy of the content. Transcripts will show current term courses as "in-progress" beginning the fifth week of the term. The Registrar's Office will issue official transcripts of a student's academic record, including courses, grades, GPA, and degree upon request of the student. Transcripts can only be released directly to the student or to a person or entity designated by the student. When picking up a transcript in person a photo ID is required. Transcripts will include final grades as shown in Student Self-Service (Salukinet) only, not necessarily final grades as shown in the course learning management system (D2L). Students can request official transcripts in paper or electronic format for a fee to be paid at the time of the request.

Unofficial transcripts

Unofficial transcripts are available for students who started at SIU Fall 1990 or later. Students can obtain their unofficial transcript via Student Self-Service (Salukinet) at: salukinet.siu.edu.

Students who attended prior to Fall 1990 will not be able to obtain an unofficial transcript. The coursework is stored only on physical record cards.

Diplomas

Students must apply to graduate online via Student Self-Service (Salukinet) at salukinet.siu.edu
As part of the graduation application a fee is charged to the student to be paid at the time of the application.

The process of degree evaluation, degree posting, and diploma mailing takes up to ten weeks after the end of the graduation term. Once the review is completed a diploma will be mailed to the address provided by the student on the graduation application. Diploma reprints are available upon request for a fee.