Degree & Graduation Policies

Graduation in Four Years

SUNY Potsdam’s undergraduate degree programs are designed to permit graduation in four calendar years from the initial date of enrollment. The College provides sufficient class offerings of required and elective courses, or appropriate substitutions, to first-time Freshmen who have the academic skills needed to complete a four-year prescribed program of study.

Students who plan to graduate in four years need to successfully fulfill all academic, grade and course work requirements in a declared first major field of study and meet all requirements for the General Education Program in the sequence indicated by the academic first major department; complete the 120-hour minimum academic requirement as well as the College residency requirement; maintain a 2.0 overall grade point average each of the eight semesters; and meet any other academic major department or School criteria established for the first major.

Students who plan to graduate in four years are well advised to formally declare an academic major before the end of the first semester in the Freshman year, although it may be possible to complete some majors in four years despite a later declaration of major. Students should meet each semester with an academic adviser in the major to plan a class schedule; and enroll in and complete a full-course load of 15 or more academic credit hours in each of the eight semesters. Students should also meet all designated College deadlines related to course registration or access to College services; and comply with all academic or administrative policies and/or procedures of the College.

Enrollment Status

To pursue the baccalaureate, students must be formally admitted to the College and accepted into a curriculum leading to a degree. This is also known as matriculated status.

College-Wide Degree Requirements

Students must complete 120 credit hours (118 academic credit hours plus 2 physical education/health and wellness credits) for the bachelor’s degree, though some majors require more. While a student must take 2 physical education/health and wellness classes, a maximum of 2 PE/HW credits can count towards the 120 credit hours required. It is the responsibility of each student to become familiar with degree requirements, graduation requirements, and all other aspects regarding academic progress.

Academic Residency Requirements

Candidates for the baccalaureate degree must complete a minimum of 30 academic credit hours towards the degree at SUNY Potsdam. Also, a minimum of 15 upper-division hours for each declared major and a minimum of one-half the credits required for each declared minor must be completed at SUNY Potsdam. Courses offered by the College at approved off-campus locations are included in residence credit.

Students taking courses elsewhere during the final 30 credits of their degree are strongly encouraged to check with their academic advisor and the Registrar’s Office to ensure that the courses they take will fulfill degree requirements.

Cumulative Grade Point Average

In order to graduate, a student must achieve an average of at least 2.0 in numerically graded courses. Students must complete at least 30 credit hours in their major with a minimum grade of 2.0 in each course. In addition, certain academic departments require more credit hours and/or higher grade point averages for their majors.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees

In addition to the College-wide degree requirements already described, candidates for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees must fulfill the following requirements. For additional information on the Bachelor of Music degree, please refer to the section on The Crane School of Music. For additional information on the Bachelor of Fine Arts, please see the listings in the Art Department or the English and Communication Department.

The Liberal Arts Requirement

All Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees must contain a minimum of 90 credit hours of liberal arts courses. All Bachelor of Science degrees must contain a minimum of 75 credit hours of liberal arts courses.

Additional Notes:

1. This requirement does not mean that students must limit themselves to 90 (or 75) credit hours of liberal arts coursework or, conversely, 30 (or 45) credit hours of non-liberal arts coursework. Frequently students complete more than 90 (or 75) credit hours of liberal arts coursework.
2. A careful accounting of liberal arts/non-liberal arts courses should be kept by students and their advisers to ensure that the 90 (or 75) semester hour requirement is completed. This rule does not preclude students from taking more than 30 (or 45) credit hours of non-liberal arts credit if desired, but no more than 30 (or 45) will be counted toward the B.A. or B.S. degree.

Courses Carrying Liberal Arts Credit

Most courses offered in the School of Arts and Sciences are given for liberal arts credit. Refer to individual course listings for further information.

Internships and practica in the School of Arts and Sciences may or may not be counted as liberal arts courses. To be granted liberal arts credit, each course must be approved by the Provost’s Academic Program Committee. In addition, no more than 12 credit hours of internships and practica may be counted as liberal arts credit towards a degree, and of these no more than six credit hours may be from any one department. Note: a maximum of 12 credits from all internship courses may be counted towards a bachelor’s degree.

For students other than music majors, up to six credit hours of non-liberal designated music performance courses (prefixed MUAP or MULP) may be used for liberal arts credit.

School of Education and Professional Studies courses designated EDLS are offered for liberal arts credit.

Requirements-Hours Outside Any One Subject

To provide for depth and diversity in liberal arts, students pursuing a B.A. degree may count a maximum of 50 credit hours, B.S. degree students may count a maximum of 55 credit hours, and B.F.A. degree students may count a maximum of 60 credit hours of undergraduate work in any one subject code towards the 120 hours required for graduation.

Upper-Division Requirement

All candidates for the B.A., B.F.A. or B.S. degree must complete a minimum of 45 credit hours in upper-division courses, that is, courses numbered 300 or above.

Notes:

1. It is not a requirement that these 45 credit hours comprise liberal arts credit courses only. However, students and advisers should be aware of the 90 (or 75) semester-hour liberal arts requirement.
2. No two-year college course may be transferred for upper-division credit.
3. Determination of upper-division credit for courses transferred from four-year colleges will be made by the Admissions Office, based on the transfer college’s transcript credit explanation key.
4. A minimum of 15 credit hours in the major must be at the upper-division level.

Second Concurrent Bachelor’s Degree

Students may complete two majors associated with different degree types (such as a B.M. and a B.A.) without completing two degrees. In such cases the degree awarded is the one associated with the first major, and only the requirements for that degree must be met. Students may not be awarded two degrees of the same type concurrently but they may complete multiple majors with the same degree.

Students may be awarded two degrees of different types concurrently only if they meet all of the following provisions.

1. Students working concurrently toward completion of two bachelor’s degrees need to file an application for a concurrent second degree with the Registrar’s Office.
2. The second degree must be in a different department from the first. Any exceptions to this rule must be approved by the Provost or designee; exceptions are rarely granted, and only when the second degree is in a discipline significantly different from the first degree.
3. The student must complete at least 30 academic credit hours at SUNY Potsdam above those required for the first bachelor’s degree, or a minimum of 150 academic credit hours total.
4. The student must complete all major and cognate requirements for the second degree.
5. Courses taken to complete General Education requirements in the first degree will apply to the second degree as appropriate. If the General Education requirements for the two degrees are different, requirements for both degrees must be satisfied.
6. The degrees will be awarded simultaneously. Students must complete requirements for both degrees by the end of the semester the degrees will be awarded.
7. All matriculated bachelor’s-level coursework taken at SUNY Potsdam will appear on one transcript with a single cumulative grade point average.

For information on completing a second degree post-graduation see Post-Bachelor’s Degree Admission and Requirements  .

Majors and Minors

The major requirement is designed to ensure that all students will have the experience of disciplined and cumulative study, carried on over an extended period of time, in an important field of intellectual inquiry. After completing 60 credit hours, or approximately at the end of the Sophomore year of study, all students must choose the subject or major area in which they wish to concentrate.

At a minimum, the major consists of 30 credit hours of study in one field. Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Fine Arts degree majors require more total hours. At least 15 upper-division credit hours of the major must be taken at SUNY Potsdam.

To be eligible to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, a student must complete 30 credit hours of the major with at least a 2.0 in each course. With the approval of the appropriate committee of the School, its dean, and the Provost, departments may establish distinct academic standards for their majors, including a higher minimum grade point average.

Declaration/Change of Major

Students may declare more than one major. If the two (or more) majors are associated with different degrees, the student will be awarded the degree of the program listed in the College’s records as the first major.

The Crane School of Music students select a major at the time of admission and are assigned an adviser prior to the beginning of their first semester of enrollment. Music students wishing to change majors, either within music or to a major in another area of the College, should refer to The Crane School of Music Student Handbook.

Students who wish to declare a major in the School of Arts and Sciences or the School of Education and Proffesional Studies may declare or change a major by emailing onestop@potsdam.edu. Majors must be declared after completion of 60 hours but can be declared earlier.

Selection of Minor

Students who wish to declare a minor in the School of Arts and Sciences or the School of Education and Proffesional Studies should email their request to onestop@potsdam.edu. 

Students who with to declare a minor in the Crane School of Music, will need to fill out the Minor/Concentration Change Form and follow the directions on the form. 

Denial of Continuation in Major or Program/Right to Appeal Denial

Departments may deny continuance in the major to students who do not meet the established academic standards. Students have the right to appeal such denial according to established procedures in the department or School concerned.

Electives

Most students have the opportunity to elect more than 50 credit hours of coursework outside the major area of study. The electives may be used to complete General Education requirements; strengthen the major; to earn a second major or a minor; to participate in Special Academic Opportunities to meet requirements for entry to various professions, including teacher education or Vocational Intent Programs; or simply to study subjects of individual interest and concern.

Students are reminded, however, that certain other graduation requirements (students pursuing a B.A. degree may count a maximum of 50 credit hours, B.S. degree students may count a maximum of 55 credit hours, and B.F.A. degree students may count a maximum of 60 credit hours of undergraduate work in any one subject code towards the 120 hours required for graduation) must continue to be carefully observed in choosing electives.

Applying to Graduate

SUNY Potsdam has four graduation dates, in January, May, August and December depending on when students complete their degree requirements; however, there is only one Commencement Ceremony each year in May. In order to graduate from SUNY Potsdam, students must file an Application for Degree on BearPAWS.  Directions for filling out the application can be found at https://www.potsdam.edu/about/offices/registrar/graduation. Since the degree verification process generally requires a few weeks to complete, students should file the Application for Degree by the beginning of the semester in which they plan to graduate. To ensure that students apply to graduate in time to review their requirements with their academic advisors before their final semester of enrollment, all students with 100 credit hours (including in-progress courses) who have not yet applied to graduate at the end of the third week of classes in the Fall and Spring semesters will have a course registration hold placed on their records, which will be removed once they apply.

Commencement Ceremony Participation Policy

SUNY Potsdam has one commencement ceremony each year in May. Undergraduate students who have completed 100 academic credit hours by the end of the Fall semester preceding the commencement ceremony and who have applied to graduate in the previous December or January, or for May or August of the current academic year, are automatically eligible to participate in the ceremony. Students with fewer than 100 credit hours may petition to participate if they can show that they will be within 14 credit hours of completion of all their degree requirements by the end of the semester in which the commencement occurs. Petitions to participate must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office by March 1st of the commencement year.

Time Limitations

Requirements for graduation as stated in the Undergraduate Catalog, in effect at the time of the student’s matriculation, shall not be binding on the College for more than six years after the date of matriculation. Students who have not completed degree requirements during that time period must pursue requirements as stated in the Undergraduate Catalog in effect at the beginning of the seventh year. Also, students may elect to follow later graduation requirements in effect subsequent to matriculation, but must then finish those requirements completely.

Posthumous Degrees

SUNY Potsdam may award a degree posthumously when a student has substantially completed the requirements for the degree and was in good academic standing at the time of death. The degree would be awarded in recognition of the student’s work and as a source of solace to the student’s family.

For a posthumous degree to be awarded, the student should be within 30 academic hours of completion of the degree, as determined by the student’s major department and at the discretion of the President of the College.

In cases where it is determined that a student has not met the requirements for a posthumous degree, a posthumous certificate of recognition may be awarded at the discretion of the President.