Graduation: Policies and Procedures

Graduation Requirements

Students must file a “Request to Graduate” form and a signed degree evaluation with the Registrar’s Office within two semesters of graduation, but no later than completing 110 credit hours. Spring or summer graduates must file the request to graduate by October 1 in the fall semester of the senior year. Fall graduates must file by March 1 in the spring semester of the senior year. Failure to file for a degree in a timely manner may result in the student not being approved to walk in the commencement ceremony.

Upon filing a request to graduate, the following minimum requirements for graduation will be evaluated for all students:

1. Complete and pass 128 semester hours. Some majors require more.
2. Complete and pass 96 hours of formal instruction (classroom instruction, independent study, co-op and field work, contract courses, validation, correspondence courses). Credit earned without formal instruction (AP, CLEP, IB, credit by examination) does not count toward the 96.
3. Complete and pass 45 hours of upper-level work (courses numbered 250 and above at Harding).
4. Complete and pass 32 hours in residence at Harding.
5. Complete and pass 23 of the last 32 hours in residence at Harding.
6. Grade Point Average Requirement:
   1. Earn a GPA of 2.0 or higher on all work; some majors require a higher GPA.
   2. Earn a GPA of 2.0 or higher in the major; some majors require a higher GPA.
   3. Earn a 2.0 GPA or higher in all work taken at Harding.
   4. Earn a GPA of 2.0 or higher in all courses taken at Harding in their major.
7. Earn 9 upper-level hours in their major (for a Bible major, 10 hours) at Harding.
8. Earn 60 hours at a four-year institution.
9. Complete and pass all Liberal Arts and major requirements as outlined in the Catalog. For the post-baccalaureate student, the liberal arts curriculum will be considered complete except when leveling courses are required as prerequisites to their major courses or when Bible graduation requirements have not been met.
10. Complete and pass 8 hours of textual Bible coursework as described in the Liberal Arts program, which must include at least 2 hours each of both Old Testament and New Testament courses. (Students enrolled in more than 8 hours in a term must enroll in a Bible class.)
11. Satisfy the English Proficiency requirement by earning a grade of C or higher in both ENG 111  or ENG 113 , and ENG 211 .
    1. CLEP, AP, or IB credit earned for ENG 111  will satisfy the ENG 111/113 requirement.
    2. AP or IB credit earned for ENG 211 will satisfy the ENG 211  requirement.
    3. HNRS 201  with a C or higher substituted for ENG 111 or ENG 211 will satisfy the requirement for that course.
    4. The requirement is waived for post-baccalaureat students.

For purposes of minimum requirements for graduation, a student may use any catalog from the date of initial enrollment in the University up to and including the year of graduation from Harding. However, a student may NOT so use a catalog that is more than eight years old at the time of student’s graduation.

Graduation Requirements