Degree Requirements and Graduation
Degree Requirements

This catalog spells out degree requirements, but the best way for students to track their specific progress is through the degree audit on VitNet or Student Planning and through consultation with their advisors.

Students must follow the catalog requirements in effect when they enter Viterbo University and remain in effect as long as the student attends on an uninterrupted basis and completes a degree within the timeline established by their degree and/or program. Undergraduate students who change their major, may need to follow a different catalog. Students who enter Viterbo in the summer session are consider new students, per federal guidelines, for the fall semester and are assigned the catalog in existence for the fall semester. These requirements remain in effect as long as the student attends Viterbo University on an uninterrupted basis and completes a degree within a period of six years.

Baccalaureate Degree Requirements

Candidates for the bachelor’s degree must accomplish the following:

  • fulfill the traditional undergraduate or bachelor completion core curriculum requirements
  • complete all courses required for the major(s) and minor(s), if applicable
  • earn a minimum of 120 credits
  • traditional undergraduate students must earn a minimum of 40 upper division credits (300 and 400 numbered courses); bachelor completion students must earn a minimum of 30 upper division credits
  • achieve a minimum grade point average of 2.0
  • earn a minimum of the last 30 consecutive credits at Viterbo to not include transfer or alternative credits (see Alternative Credit section of the Academic Regulations and Policies section)
  • traditional undergraduate students must attend Viterbo University on an uninterrupted basis and completes a degree within a period of six years
Bachelor of Arts

All students seeking the Bachelor of Arts degree must complete three classes (nine credits minimum) of world language in preferably one, but not more than two languages. See the world languages section of this catalog for information about earning retroactive language credit.

Bachelor of Science

All students seeking the Bachelor of Science degree must complete 11 credits of natural science and/or mathematics. In addition to courses in the Natural Science and Mathematics Division, all courses that qualify for Scientific Reasoning in the Natural Sciences or Quantitative Literacy credit within the LIVE program count toward the total.

School of Humanities Graduation Requirement

All majors in the School of Humanities are required to complete one of the following as part of the baccalaureate degree requirements.

  • A minor from any discipline on campus.
    • For transfer students, secondary education majors, or students who change majors after 28 credits at Viterbo, a concentration of nine credits in the same discipline outside of their major will be accepted in lieu of a minor.
  • A year of study in the same language.
    • May be satisfied by four years of the same world language study in high school.
    • May be satisfied by an Advanced Placement score of three or higher in any language, regardless of whether or not Viterbo equivalent credit was awarded.
    • May be satisfied by a minimum of six transfer credits of a world language.
    • May be satisfied by retroactive Spanish credits, per the retroactive language policy.
  • A study abroad/immersion experience.
    • May be satisfied with a credit bearing study abroad experience.
    • May be satisfied with six credits of courses with embedded immersion experiences (domestic or global) of a minimum of five days in length. As examples, Viterbo offers the following courses: HIST 217, Christianity in the Ancient World; HIST 220, The City in History.
    • May be waived for a non-course embedded immersion experience (e.g. service trips) if the student can demonstrate a pre-trip orientation, connection to college-level academic content, and post-trip reflection.
Second Degree

A student may receive two degrees simultaneously provided the following conditions are met:

  • All specified requirements for both degrees are met.
  • The curriculum offered for the second degree includes at least 30 credits which are not counted towards the first degree. This means a minimum of 150 credits is required.
  • The degrees are truly different; a student may not receive two B.A. degrees or two B.F.A. degrees simultaneously.
  • Nor can a student receive a major or minor earned in one degree in a second degree; a student may not receive a B.A. with a major and B.S. with the same major.
Second Major

A student may receive a double major provided he or she has the baccalaureate degree requirements listed above and has met the requirements for each respective major. A student may receive a double major when one of the majors is an interdisciplinary major, however, only if a minimum of 18 credits not included in the interdisciplinary major are completed in the other major.

Students completing a bachelor completion degree  may not concurrently double major or double degree in a major not offered as bachelor completion.

Minor

Students are encouraged to complete one or more minors. Minors are established to enhance a student’s knowledge base and skill set by developing an additional area of interest beyond the major. Minors at Viterbo University require between 15 and 22 credits. Minors resulting in education licensure may require additional credits. A minimum of eight of the credits must be unique to the minor and must not be part of the student’s major, prerequisites or support courses for the major, nor part of another minor. There is no limit placed on the number of courses in the minor that can co-count with core curriculum requirements.

Students may declare a minor by completing a form obtained from the academic advising web page at http://www.viterbo.edu/academic-advising/forms, in the Student Help Office, from the academic advising coordinator, or in the Office of the Registrar. This form must be on file in the Office of the Registrar at least six months prior to graduation.

Honors

Honor medallions, for the commencement ceremony, are given to bachelor degree candidates who have applied for graduation by the deadline date and who have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.50 as of Sep. 1 for the winter ceremony and Jan. 1 for the spring ceremony (spring and summer graduates.) The candidate must also have or be projected to have a minimum of 45 undergraduate letter-graded credits earned at Viterbo University upon degree completion. That is, if the candidate does not have a minimum of 45 credits as of the dates above but the credits earned as of the dates above plus registered credits equal a minimum of 45 credits, the candidate will be given an honors medallion. The student must be registered for credits in the graduation term, no later than Sep. 1, for winter commencement, and March 1 for spring commencement, which includes those completing requirements in the summer.

Final honors are determined and confirmed after all grades have been issued and credit checks are completed. These honors are noted on the diploma and the transcript. Students are eligible for honors upon degree completion if they have earned the required number of semester hours on a letter grade basis and have met the required grade point average.

Academic Distinction

Viterbo Grade Point Average of 3.50 and minimum of 45 hours completed at Viterbo on a letter graded basis

Cum Laude

Viterbo Grade Point Average of 3.50 and minimum of 60 hours completed at Viterbo on a letter graded basis

Magna Cum Laude

Viterbo Grade Point Average of 3.70 and minimum of 60 hours completed at Viterbo on a letter graded basis

Summa Cum Laude

Viterbo Grade Point Average of 3.90 and minimum of 60 hours completed at Viterbo on a letter graded basis

Graduation and Commencement

All students must be enrolled for a minimum of at least one course in the semester in which they plan to finish their requirements. Because of the preparation involved with commencement and federal reporting requirements related to earning a degree, students must participate in the ceremony in the term they complete requirements. Students completing requirements in the summer must attend the preceding May ceremony.

Students must complete an online application for degree form in Student Planning no later than Sept. 15 for December graduates and Jan. 15 for May/summer graduates. This form indicates the intent to graduate and is used to provide information to students concerning commencement events, as well as provide Viterbo University with information to order diplomas and caps and gowns.

Degrees are official after the registrar checks that students have met all graduation requirements. The date listed on the diploma/transcript will be the term in which the requirements were met. If students earn credit for prior learning after they have completed other graduation requirements, their diplomas will list the term in which the credit was granted.

Diplomas

Diplomas earned by graduates will be sent approximately eight weeks after the grades for the semester are due, to the address listed on the application for degree form. All indebtedness to the university must be cleared before a diploma and official transcripts will be released. The transcript, not the diploma, is proof of an earned degree. Only one diploma is ever issued.