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Graduation Policies

  • Students must earn a minimum of 25% of their degree requirements at Virginia Tech.
  • No more than 50% of a student’s graduation requirements can be transferred from a two-year institution.
  • Of the last 45 semester hours before graduation, a maximum of 18 semester hours may be transfer hours. (27 of the last 45 hours must be taken at Virginia Tech.)
  • Students are allowed to attempt (12) credit hours in their degree program on a pass/fail basis exclusive of courses only offered pass/fail.
    Notes:
  • AP, AS, CBE, NOCTI, etc. are not considered transfer hours.
  • Pursuing a 2nd degree does not allow students an additional 3 hours of P/F credit.
  • University core, college, and major requirements cannot be taken on a P/F basis (unless only offered on a P/F basis).
  • Students may not repeat courses to improve their GPA where a grade of "C" or better has been earned. (A grade of A-D will be changed to P/F if it is determined the course was previously passed with a "C" or better.)
  • Students are only allowed 2 credits of Activities courses (HNFE 11XX-13XX). Examples – tennis, racquetball, weight training, etc.
  • Students will not receive credit toward the minimum hours required for graduation for courses that are considered duplicates of courses previously passed.
  • Students who do not complete the University Foreign Language requirement by completing 2 years of the same FL in high school must take 1105 and 1106 of a FL at the college level. These hours will not count toward the minimum hours required for graduation.
  • Students must have a minimum overall and in-major GPA of 2.00 to graduate. (Some departments may require a higher GPA for graduation in their degree program.)
  • Distinction – students must have completed at least 60 credit hours at Virginia Tech and earn an overall GPA of 3.40 or above to qualify for Distinction.
    • GPA of 3.40 - 3.59 earn Cum Laude
    • GPA of 3.60 - 3.79 earn Magna Cum Laude
    • GPA of 3.80 - 4.00 earn Summa Cum Laude
    *(Note that GPA's are not rounded up.)
  • Students wishing to pursue a 2nd Undergraduate degree must complete an additional 30 hours over the minimum required for their 1st degree.

Examples:

  • 1st degree = 120 hours minimum - 2nd degree would require 150 hours minimum.
  • 1st degree = 125 hours minimum - 2nd degree would require 155 hours minimum.