UNC Charlotte Academic Policy: Baccalaureate Degree Requirements

I. Executive Summary

This policy outlines degree requirements including residency requirements and grade point average for undergraduate students. All baccalaureate degrees require completion of 120 credit hours (except for programs that have applied for and received a waiver to exceed 120 credit hours from the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees), including completion of the General Education requirements and all requirements for a major field of study. To graduate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, students must earn at least 25% of degree requirements at UNC Charlotte, including the last 12 credit hours of work in the major field and, if applicable, at least 6 credit hours of a minor at UNC Charlotte, must be in good academic standing, and must have earned a minimum grade point average of at least 2.0 in the major/minor.

II. Policy Statement

CREDIT HOURS AND MAJOR
All baccalaureate degrees require completion of 120 credit hours (except for programs that have applied for and received a waiver to exceed 120 credit hours from the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees), including all requirements for a major field of study. Specific requirements for degrees and programs are presented under the college and departmental sections of the Catalog.

GENERAL EDUCATION
All baccalaureate degrees require completion of a common set of General Education requirements. Refer to the General Education Program section of the Undergraduate Catalog.

RESIDENT REQUIREMENT
To graduate, a student must earn at least 25% of baccalaureate degree requirements at UNC Charlotte, including the last 12 credit hours of work in the major field and at least 6 credit hours of any minor field of study. Coursework taken in residence shall be construed to mean work offered by UNC Charlotte.

  • Earning 25% of the degree (the equivalent of 30 credit hours) at UNC Charlotte is a requirement for accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Because this is an accreditation standard, there are no exceptions allowed. 
  • Exceptions to the requirement of 12 credit hours in the major may be made with the approval of the dean of the college of the student’s major. 

GRADE POINT AVERAGES
To graduate, a student must be in good academic standing and have earned a grade point average of at least 2.0 and a grade point average of at least 2.0 in the major and in any minor. Some programs require a higher grade point average. The major/minor grade point average is calculated using only courses which satisfy the major/minor requirements. Courses must have been successfully completed and credit earned (subject to the University’s repeat policy). Specific requirements for degrees and programs are presented under the college and departmental sections of the Undergraduate Catalog.

III. Definitions

  • Bachelor’s degree or baccalaureate – The post-secondary degree requiring 120 credit hours of specified coursework (except for programs that have applied for and received a waiver to exceed 120 credit hours from the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees). A bachelor’s degree is comprised of General Education courses, a major program(s), elective courses, and, in some cases, a minor program(s), and, in general, is completed in four years.
  • Catalog – A resource of all academic policies and procedures, college and degree requirements, faculty, and course descriptions. UNC Charlotte has both an Undergraduate Catalog and Graduate Catalog.
  • College – An academic unit of the University. Each of the seven discipline-based colleges at UNC Charlotte represents an organization of related departments.
  • Credit hour – an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:
  1. 750 minutes of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of 1500 minutes of out-of-class student work for one semester hour of credit; or
  2. At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.
  • Degree requirement – A set of requirements, which a student must fulfill before he/she graduates.
  • Department – A unit within a college representing a discipline. For example, the Department of English is in the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences (CHESS).
  • GPA (Grade Point Average) – The grade point average for an undergraduate student is determined by adding all accumulated quality points together, and then dividing by the total number of GPA hours the student has attempted, excluding those for which the student received a grade of I, IP, W, WE, H, P, AU, or N. In computing the grade point average, only those credits attempted at UNC Charlotte are included. See the GPA Calculator.
  • Major – The subject or area of study in which a student concentrates.
  • Minor – The secondary field of study requiring fewer credits than the major.

IV. Policy Contact(s)

V. History

  • Revised: November 10, 2010
  • Revised: January 14, 2016 [Changed language to accommodate new Academic Standing policy]
  • Revised: October 19, 2017 [Changed “last 25% of degree requirements” to “at least 25% of degree requirements”]
  • Revised: November 29, 2018 [120 credit hour standard]
  • Revised: March 14, 2019 [GPA calculation clarification]

VI. Related Policies, Procedures, and Resources

VII. Frequently Asked Questions

  • Which students are covered under this policy?
    This policy applies to all undergraduate students at UNC Charlotte.