Students are encouraged to regularly review their degree requirements to make sure they are on track to graduate. The information on this page will inform students how to monitor their academic progress while working with their Student Success coach to determine when they should apply to graduate.
Florida Poly offers three graduation dates per year, but only one commencement ceremony. Students can apply to graduate in the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Students who will graduate in the summer and fall semesters are eligible to participate in the spring commencement ceremony prior to their graduation.
The requirements for earning a Baccalaureate (Bachelor of Science) degree from Florida Polytechnic University are regulated by Florida Board of Governors regulation BOG 6.017 and Florida Poly policy FPU-5.0094AP in accordance with regional and discipline specific accreditation standards. The general requirements are as follows:
Additionally, students are required to successfully complete all courses required for their selected undergraduate degree program as identified in the Academic Catalog.
The requirements for earning a graduate (Master of Science) degree from Florida Polytechnic University are regulated by Florida Poly policy FPU-5.0096AP in accordance with regional and discipline specific accreditation standards. The general requirements are as follows:
All work used to meet degree requirements, including coursework and the successful defense of a thesis or project, if applicable, must be completed within the six year period immediately prior to the degree conferral. An approved leave of absence does not increase or alter the time limits for degree completion.
When a student enters the University, the academic catalog in effect at that time will represent the degree program requirements a student must follow to complete their degree. Broadly, this includes the basic plan of study, but it is customary that changes to that plan will occur, substitutions be made, and other exceptions as allowable will result.
Students are able to change their program of study (majors and/or concentrations) within their initial catalog year. On occasion, a student may change to a newer catalog year if it would benefit them academically to do so, and only with permission of their program Department Chair. Students may not change into a major and/or concentration which is in a catalog year prior to when they entered the University.
When looking through the Academic Catalog to find your program requirements, make sure you select the Academic Catalog year that your program of study is associated with. This can be done by selecting the appropriate year in the upper right hand drop-down box. The current catalog year will always be selected by default.
In most cases, a student's catalog year will be the same as the year they entered the University. Students who are unsure what their catalog year is can find it by reviewing their most recent Degree Audit on file. The catalog year will be listed on the top of the audit. See "Locating your Degree Audit" section below for more information.
Students can log in to their CAMS Student Portal and select the Document Tracking link in the left-hand menu. The My Documents screen will list various documents shared with students from different University departments. The Degree Audit will be part of the “REGISTRATION” department. Newer students may have a Degree Planner if a Degree Audit has not been completed yet.
Note: Students may need to select the “Include Completed Items?” checkbox on the top of the document list to view items that may be hidden.
To view the document, click on the “IMG” link on the same row as the item you wish to view. Depending on the image, you may have to have a plug-in installed on your browser (Internet Explorer is recommended) in order to see the image in a browser. To save an image document to your hard drive, right click on IMG and select -Save Target as-. Not all document items will have an image associated with it. Email the IT Helpdesk if you need technical assistance.
Understanding your degree audit
As the different degree program requirements continue to evolve over time so have the degree audits. With each passing year we have made enhancements to our degree audits to better help communicate a student's degree progress. With that said, students who are in older catalog years may have a different version of their audit on file than the version that is currently being used.
The top of the degree audit will list your current catalog year, major and concentration. If you believe the information listed there is inaccurate, email the Registrar's Office. You may be required to complete a Program of Study Changes form.
The degree audits are designed to show students course requirements which have been successfully completed and requirements which remain. Completed course requirements are noted with a grade value, the term the course was taken and, if applicable, notes to indicate if transfer/exam credit was used or if a course substitution was applied.
The curriculum at Florida Poly typically follows a term by term sequence or yearly cycle. While some courses are offered every semester there are some courses which may only be offered in the fall and some only offered in the spring. Courses offered during the summer terms are usually selected to help students get caught up so they can continue in sequence the following fall. Regardless of the term a course is taken, it is important for students to follow the course sequencing of their program to ensure they complete the necessary prerequisite courses to be successful in future courses.
Depending on when your most recent audit was completed, it may include current or future enrollment (typically highlighted yellow to include the term enrolled), to identify course requirements that are in progress. Remaining or missing course requirements are typically highlighted red.
Using your degree audit
Students are encouraged to regularly review their degree audit each semester and should keep an updated copy of it printed or saved on their computer to easily reference or bring up during advising conversations with an Academic Coach or Faculty Advisor. Below are key times or events when a student should review their degree audit.
Note: Recently submitted course substitution forms may not be reflected on degree audits. Please allow up to two weeks for changes to be noted.
Prerequisites are courses that must be taken before advancing in the curriculum. For example, MAC2311 - Analytic Geometry and Calculus 1 must be successfully completed before a student can take MAC2312 - Analytic Geometry and Calculus 2.
Co-requisites are courses that must be taken along with another course during the same semester. For example, PHY2048 - Physics 1 must be taken with PHY2048L - Physics Laboratory. If a student has previously completed a co-requisite course they may need to contact the Registrar's Office for assistance with registration.
Prerequisites and co-requisites do not follow a catalog. This means that if it is determined that a prerequisite is required for a course that was not previously required, then all new offerings of that course will carry the new prerequisite or co-requisite requirements. In some circumstances, exceptions may be made.
A change in prerequisite requirements is not arbitrary nor is it done lightly, but is a decision prompted by the program faculty who have studied student success and propose the change through an established university process for review and consideration before being approved. Such changes are done to ensure that the content of the course can be delivered at a level that meets expectations for accreditation, transfer to other institutions, and disciplinary and professional standards. When a course’s prerequisites change, the content of the course changes to presume that students entering the course will have the skills and knowledge circumscribed by the prerequisite. Institutions must have the ability to make these changes otherwise such things as continuous improvement or quality enhancement never occur.
The Registrar's Office will regularly update a student's degree audit once per year. However, there are some events which may trigger an earlier update of a degree audit. Such events are as follows:
Degree audit updates can take 5 to 10 business days to complete once a request has been made. If you have any questions regarding your current degree audit email graduation@floridapoly.edu.
Unofficial Florida Poly Transcript
Students can log in to their CAMS Student Portal and select the Unofficial Transcript link in the left-hand menu. The unofficial transcript can be printed by clicking the print icon in the upper left corner of the transcript window.
Transfer School Transcripts
Students who attended another institution prior to Florida Poly or as a transient student while enrolled at Florida Poly, can view an unofficial copy of this transcript online once it has been received by the University. Students can log in to their CAMS Student Portal and select the Document Tracking link in the left-hand menu. The My Documents screen will list various documents shared with students from different University departments. The College Transcript items will be part of the “ADMISSIONS” department.
Note: Students may need to select the “Include Completed Items?” checkbox on the top of the document list to view items that may be hidden.
To view the document, click on the “IMG” link on the same row as the item you wish to view. Depending on the image, you may have to have a plug-in installed on your browser (Internet Explorer is recommended) in order to see the image in a browser. To save an image document to your hard drive, right click on IMG and select -Save Target as-. Not all document items will have an image associated with it. Email the IT Helpdesk if you need technical assistance.
Once undergraduate (Bachelor of Science) students have successfully earned 72+ credit hours, they will be asked to apply for graduation.
Once graduate (Master of Science) students have successfully earned 18 credit hours toward their graduate program, they will be asked to apply for graduation.
Students will automatically be assigned an expected date of graduation when they begin at the University. For undergraduate students it will be four years from their start term and for graduate students it will be two years from their start term.
The expected term of graduation is reported each semester to the National Student Clearinghouse for enrollment verification purposes, as well as, to the National Student Load Data System for financial aid purposes.
Students can email graduation@floridapoly.edu to update their expected term of graduation if they have not applied to graduate yet.
We estimate that most undergraduate students complete about 15 credit hours per semester. Subtract the number of credit hours you have successfully completed from 120 (the minimum number of credit hours needed to graduate). Then take that remainder and divide by 15 to show approximately how many semesters it will take to complete the required courses. Please note: students are required to complete all courses listed on their degree audit unless otherwise substituted. If you have taken any courses that were not listed on your degree audit or used as a substitution, you may be required to complete more than 120 credit hours in order to be eligible for graduation. If you believe that you will need to complete more than 120 credit hours please review the Excess Credit Hour Surcharge webpage for important information.
Graduate students should coordinate with their Faculty Advisor or Program Department Chair to determine when their expected term of graduation should be. Graduate students typically complete their degree program within two years.
Students will apply to graduate online before the published deadline on the Academic Calendar for the term they are expected to graduate.
Undergraduate students who meet the following cumulative GPA thresholds will graduate with honors. These distinctions are recorded on the student's transcripts and diploma.
Please note: only students who are participating in the commencement ceremony will receive honor cords. Cumulative GPA is calculated based on the previously completed semesters for students whose degrees have not yet been conferred at the time of the commencement ceremony. For students who are participating after their degree has been conferred, their final cumulative GPA will be used for this calculation.
Graduate (Master of Science) students do not qualify to receive graduation honors.
For the most current information on our upcoming commencement ceremony, visit the Commencement website.
Students who are graduating during the summer or fall semesters but would like to participate in the annual Commencement ceremony may submit an Exception to Walk at Graduation Request.
Your transcripts will show that your degree has been awarded two to three weeks after the end of the semester. Please keep this in mind when ordering official transcripts. The Official Transcript Request form has a "Hold for Degree Awarded" checkbox that should be used if you will be requesting a transcript in advance.
The awarding of a degree may be delayed for the following reasons:
Students should contact the Registrar's Office to inform us if they need to change their address for mailing a diploma. Students supply a diploma mailing address when they apply to graduate, but we understand that unanticipated address changes may occur after this time. Students can also request to pickup their diploma's in person from the Registrar's Office.
Diplomas are typically mailed three to four weeks after the end of a semester. Students who have a financial hold with the University may not receive their diploma until the hold has been cleared. Once the hold is cleared the student should contact the Registrar's Office.
