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General Graduation Requirements

It is strongly recommended that students regularly review the requirements for graduation. Each Program of Study defines specific courses and the specific number of credits that must be completed. Students may have accumulated the required number of credits, but still be missing specific courses. To ensure that all program requirements are satisfied in a timely manner, students need to:

  • Review their program requirements as outlined in the Programs of Study section of the catalog

  • use the degree audit system by first logging in to the CUNYfirst Student Services Center or www.cuny.edu - Login - Degree Works Dashboard.

  • meet regularly with an academic or departmental adviser

All candidates for graduation must meet the requirements outlined below:

  1. Students must complete all the credit and course requirements for a particular Associate degree or certificate program. Note that the waiving of a specific graduation course requirement does not automatically waive the credit requirement.

  2. Students must attain a minimum cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 2.00 in all courses applicable toward a current degree or certificate program. NOTE: A GPA of 2.75 in courses applicable toward the degree is required for students graduating in the Dual/Joint A.A./B.A. Degree Program in Liberal Arts and Sciences and Childhood Education with Queens College. As of Fall 2006, students in the A.A.S. program in Massage Therapy must achieve a grade of C or better in all Biology (BI) and Healing Arts (HA) courses in order to graduate.

  3. If students are placed in remedial or developmental courses or workshops, they must successfully complete the culminating developmental course work.

  4. Students must complete the minimum residency degree requirements. Students enrolled in a curriculum leading to an Associate degree must complete a minimum of 30 credits toward that degree at Queensborough. Students enrolled in a curriculum leading to a certificate must complete at least 15 credits at Queensborough.

  5. Students who enroll in degree programs at Queensborough as of Fall 2005 as first-time freshmen and all transfer students beginning in Fall 2005 will be required to successfully complete two (2) credit-bearing Writing Intensive (WI) classes in order to receive the associate degree.

It is important to note that any changes to an academic record cannot be made after a degree has been conferred.

How Long Does it Take to Achieve the Associate Degree or Certificate?

Students come to Queensborough with a variety of educational experiences and outside responsibilities. This combination affects the length of time needed to graduate. Associate degree programs at Queensborough are designed to be completed by students in two years of full-time study (15 credit hours per semester). (The A.A.S. degree program in Nursing takes longer than four semesters because it is preceded by a one-semester Pre-Clinical Sequence.) Certificate programs take two semesters of full-time study, or one year. In addition, because many students must meet developmental writing, reading and/or math requirements before they may take certain required courses in their curricula and because many students attend on a part-time basis, most students take longer than two years to complete their degree requirements. Always keep in mind that satisfaction of the graduation requirements determines when a student will graduate, not the length of time spent at the college. Meet with your advisor to plan each semester so that you can advance toward graduation in the most efficient manner possible.