College of Arts and Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder

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Four Year Graduation

The College of Arts and Sciences has adopted a set of guidelines to define the conditions under which a student should expect to graduate in four years. More information is available through the Academic Advising Center and major program and departmental offices.

The University of Colorado at Boulder guarantees that if the scheduling of essential courses is found to have prevented a student in the College of Arts and Sciences from completing all course work necessary for a BA or BFA degree from the university by the end of the student's eighth consecutive fall and spring semester, the college will provide tuition plus any course fees for all courses required for completion of the degree requirements. Students must satisfy all the conditions described below to be eligible for this guarantee.

This guarantee extends to all students who enrolled the summer of 1994 or after into the College of Arts and Sciences as first-semester freshmen without MAPS deficiencies and who satisfy all the requirements described below. This guarantee cannot be extended to include completion of a second major, a double degree, a minor, a teaching certificate, or other certificate program. Some CU-Boulder study abroad programs may not provide a sufficient range of courses to allow students to meet the requirements and thus students who participate in study abroad are not included in this guarantee.

Four-Year Guarantee Requirements

1. Students should enroll in University of Colorado at Boulder course work for eight consecutive fall and spring semesters.
2. No fewer than 60 credit hours of applicable course work should be completed with passing grades by the end of the second year (24 calendar months), 90 hours by the end of the third year (36 calendar months), and 120 hours by the end of the fourth year. Students should enroll in and pass an average of 15 credit hours each semester.
3. A minimum of 30 credit hours of college core-curriculum courses should be completed by the end of the second year, including college core-curriculum courses that also meet major requirements. All remaining college core-curriculum requirements must be fulfilled by the end of the eighth semester.
4. Students should complete 45 upper-division hours by the end of the eighth semester of study.
5. A GPA of at least 2.00 must be earned each semester.
6. Grades of C- or better in all course work required for the major should be earned, and students should have a cumulative GPA of 2.00 in all major course work attempted.
7. A recommended plan of study must be started toward the major no later than the start of the second semester of study (see note below for exceptions) and thereafter students must make adequate progress toward completing the major (defined by each major). A statement of adequate progress is available from the major or departmental office at the time the major is declared.
8. The major must be declared no later than the start of the second semester of study (see note below for exceptions), and students must remain in that major until graduation.
9. Students should meet with their assigned primary advisor for the major during the fifth and seventh semesters of study.
10. Students must register each semester within one week of the assigned registration time.
11. Students should avoid taking courses that are in conflict with the written advice of their assigned primary advisor.
12. Students should adhere to the General Credit and Enrollment Policies and Minimum Major Requirements listed in the Arts and Sciences section.
13. Courses in conflict with major or college core curriculum requirements should be avoided.
14. The college should be notified in writing of the student's intent to graduate no later than the beginning of the seventh semester of study, and a graduation packet should be filed no later than the deadline for the appropriate graduation date (see Graduation Deadlines section).
15. Documentation should be kept proving that these requirements were satisfied (e.g., records of advising meetings attended, advising records and instructions, etc.).

Note: The recommended plan of study for the following majors must be started in the first semester of study to be eligible for this guarantee: BA in biochemistry; chemistry; ecology and evolutionary biology; Japanese; integrative physiology; molecular, cellular, and developmental biology; geology; physics, and all majors that require foreign language course work when student proficiency falls below the entry-level language course of that major. Students seeking a BFA in dance or theatre must start the recommended plan of study for the corresponding BA program in the first semester of study and qualify for admission into the BFA program by the end of the third semester. Students seeking a BFA in film studies or fine arts must start the recommended plan of study for the corresponding BA program in the first semester of study and qualify for admission into the BFA program by the end of the fourth semester. If a student changes majors, the primary major advisor, in consultation with the College of Arts and Sciences assistant dean's office, will review the courses taken to date to determine whether the college will continue to extend the four-year guarantee.