Degree Regulations

In this section:

• General Requirements for Graduation
• First-Year Seminar (FYS) Waiver and Exemption Policy
• Credit Residence Requirements
• Coursework Done Out of Residence
• Credit Validation

General Requirements for Graduation

All students must meet the following general requirements to graduate from WVU Potomac State College, regardless of the program of study selected:

1. Complete a specified minimum of 60 semester hours of college credit for two-year associate degree programs and a specified minimum of 120 semester hours of college credit for four-year BAS programs. Some majors require more than the minimum number of hours;
2. Complete all required courses outlined in the degree program;
3. Earn an institutional grade-point average of 2.0;
4. Satisfy the General Education Foundations (GEF) requirements as applicable to specific degree programs of study;
5. Submit an application for graduation to the Office of Academic Affairs on or before the announced deadline for submission of graduation applications during the first month of the semester or term in which the student expects to graduate.

Students are advised that to depart from the prescribed program outline of study might delay graduation. Any departure from an outlined program of study or change in major field of study must have prior written approval of the Dean or Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. Students may request waiver of a graduation requirement under provisions of the current catalog and with consent of the Dean or Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.

Back To Top

First-Year Seminar (FYS) Waiver and Exception Policy

Transfer and non-traditional students:

Transfer students who have earned 24 or more hours at another institution will have the first-year seminar course (FYS) waived regardless of college (course number indicator of 191).  Transfer students who earned credit for a freshman seminar course with similar learning outcomes at another regionally accredited institution can have the course approved as their FYS through the transfer equivalency process. Students who enroll at WVU more than four years after high school graduation, or who have been absent from the institution for more than four years, may have the FYS waived by their college or school. 

Note: Students granted a waiver will need to make up the credit hour allocated to the FYS in the Course Program of Study.

Dual enrolled high school students:

Students enrolling as first-time freshmen who are not four years out of high school are not eligible to have the FYS waived regardless of earned credits.

Back To Top

Residence Requirements

Transfer students who have completed all undergraduate work in another school in the West Virginia system of higher education must complete either the last 15 hours of work at WVU Potomac State College or at least 18 hours of work at PSC of which 8 of the last 16 hours must be on campus. Transfer students whose undergraduate work has been completed outside of the West Virginia system of higher education must complete a total of 45 hours or at least the last 15 hours of work in residence at PSC. Student’s may also be required to earn up to 8 hours in your major field regardless of the number of hours or the nature of the course transferred.

Coursework Done Out of Residence Policy

Definitions

Transfer students are West Virginia University students who have completed post-secondary coursework at a regionally accredited college or university after graduation from high school, but before registering at WVU.  Courses brought to WVU upon original matriculation are called transfer work. 

Transient students are current West Virginia University students who temporarily matriculate at another accredited institution to take courses to be recorded on their WVU transcript or who return to the University after an absence of one calendar year or less. Courses brought in to WVU from another institution are called transient work.  Transient work includes:

• Military credit validated by the American Council on Education (ACE).
• Collegiate work approved through the appropriate workflow and completed at another regionally accredited institution in the United States.
• Collegiate work approved through the appropriate workflow and completed at colleges and universities outside of the United States which are accredited or approved by the Ministry of Education (or other appropriate governmental agency) of the country in which they are located.

Rules Governing Transfer Work

• Transfer students must have earned a 2.0 GPA in baccalaureate-level work at their institution of origin to be eligible for admission to the West Virginia University system. Individual programs may require a higher transfer GPA and/or other prerequisites for admittance as noted in the University catalog. More information can be found on the WVU Undergraduate Admissions website. 
• Any remedial courses, or courses taken from a non-regionally accredited institution, that have been included in the grade point average of the institution of origin will be removed before consideration for admission to the West Virginia University system.
• Transfer students who have fewer than twenty-four transferable credit hours must also meet freshman admission standards. 
• Upon matriculation to WVU, transfer students holding an Associate of Arts (A.A.), Associate of Science (A.S.), or an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S) degree from a regionally accredited institution shall be deemed as having satisfied the WVU general education requirement.
• When applying transfer coursework to the WVU system transcript, all credit and grades earned at a regionally or internationally accredited institution will transfer to West Virginia University.
• Transfer credit is adherent to WVU policies. This includes, but is not limited to, repeated coursework policies and D/F repeat calculations. If you have questions on how this will impact your standing at WVU, please contact transfercredit@mail.wvu.edu.

Rules Governing Transient Work

• Approved transient courses will be assigned a WVU subject code, course number, grade, and credits and will be recorded on the student’s transcript.  Unapproved transient courses will be assigned credits and a grade of CR, but will not be translated into an equivalent WVU course. These courses will be designated as NOEQ 1NT and will not fulfill any requirements.
• Only students with a 2.0 GPA will be approved to take course(s) in transient. Students who have matriculated at WVU may take a maximum of eighteen (18) credit hours in transient, no more than nine (9) hours of which may be used to fulfill the major requirements indicated in the university catalog. Transient courses taken prior to fall of 2019 are exempt from the 18/9 restriction, as are courses taken through education abroad, the military, or at other WVU system campuses.

• Students who are advised by the Center for Learning, Advising, and Student Services (CLASS), may take up to the maximum allowable hours in transient. Once a major is declared, the new college can decide to allow or deny further transient work at the Dean’s discretion.

• Courses taken in transient and approved by the student’s college are recorded on the transcript and must be accepted by all WVU degree programs.

• Transient work may violate the Credit Residency Requirement and render the student ineligible for graduation.
• Courses completed for a grade other than W (Withdraw) in residence may not be repeated at another school for degree credit via the transient process.
• Students must have completed the required WVU prerequisites to take a course for transient credit or receive WVU credit for a course.
• Undergraduate transfer/transient coursework taken prior to the completion of a baccalaureate degree will not be posted to the student’s academic record towards another degree in the WVU system.  Undergraduate transfer/transient work taken after completion of a baccalaureate degree may be posted to the academic record towards a second degree in the WVU system.
• A student with extraordinary documented circumstances may appeal a decision regarding transfer or transient credit to the appropriate dean.

Procedures

• Prospective domestic and international transfer students will work through the TERR system to have their coursework reviewed and evaluated.  Determining course equivalencies, retroactive evaluation of NOEQ courses, and requesting an appeal will follow the appropriate workflow.  Once transfer coursework has posted to the WVU transcript, students will work with their departmental adviser to select courses for their first semester at West Virginia University and have their advising hold lifted.
• Transient students should work closely with their adviser before they take a course at another institution with the intent of posting the course to their WVU transcript.  Detailed instructions for initiating the transient request process can be found on the transfer and transient resource page.
  • The transient process should be completed before registering and paying tuition at another institution. Requesting approval for retroactive transient work is strongly discouraged and is done at the student’s own risk.
  • Students should meet with their adviser to discuss the appropriateness of the courses they are planning to transfer and to be informed of the policies governing transient credits.
  • Requests for transient credit must be submitted through the transient application, found on the transfer and transient resource page, and approved by the advisor and appropriate dean.
  • If the course(s) a student plans to take at another domestic or international institution is not already articulated in the TESS system, the student is responsible for submitting all necessary information required for review through the TERR portal accessible via the transfer and transient resource page.

Back To Top

Credit Residence Requirements

In order to meet residency requirements at West Virginia University locations for a bachelor's degree, students must complete a minimum of 90 total credit hours in residence or 30 of the final 36 credit hours in residence to earn a WVU degree. Individual colleges, schools, or departments may have additional residence requirements as part of their degree or major requirements. Students should consult their respective academic unit with questions regarding specific degree or major residence requirements. Coursework taken at other WVU system campuses, WVU administered credit by examination, placement credit, study abroad credit, military credit and experiential learning credit will not interrupt the final 30 credit hours in residence if earned during this period.

Academic units have discretion to require that up to 9 credits of upper-division coursework in the major, including the Capstone course, be taken in residence in the WVU system. Accredited programs may have higher residency requirements.

In order to meet residency requirements at WVU Potomac State College for an associate’s degree, students who have completed all undergraduate work in another West Virginia public higher education system must complete at least 18 hours of work at WVU Potomac State College; 8 of the last 16 hours must be on campus, or complete the final 15 credit hours of work at PSC. Transfer students whose undergraduate work has been completed outside of the West Virginia public higher education system must complete a minimum of 45 total credit hours in residence or complete the final 15 credit hours of work in residence at PSC. Student’s may also be required to earn up to 8 credit hours in residence for major fields.

Note: Resident credit hours are not synonymous with West Virginia State residency definitions for tuition purposes.

Back To Top

Credit Validation

Students seeking to complete an undergraduate degree after a significant break in enrollment may be asked to retake certain upper-division courses in their major to validate their subject knowledge (or otherwise demonstrate mastery). This requirement to re-enroll or demonstrate subject mastery in a course is at the discretion of the department chair and dean.

Courses completed in or articulated by the West Virginia University system up to seven years previous must be accepted by the student's program unless a specific accreditation policy invalidates the course. Courses completed more than seven years previous may be excluded from the major at the discretion of the program.

All prior coursework completed at WVU will be factored into the student's institutional GPA.  Coursework deemed to be insufficient to meet current course standards may be treated as elective credit but will not satisfy major requirements (as allowed by the student's academic major).  Transfer coursework will be evaluated per the University's Transfer Policy.

Back To Top

In this section:

• West Virginia Reverse Transfer Program
• Honorary Diplomas Awarded Posthumously
• Second Associate Degree
• Withholding Information

West Virginia Reverse Transfer Program

Students who have completed 15 college credits or more at Potomac State College may apply college - level, degree- applicable, transferable credits subsequently earned at any West Virginia public institution toward an Associate Degree at Potomac State College. All General Requirements for Graduation at Potomac State College must be met. Students are not eligible for participation in WVRT if they currently possess an associate degree or higher, however, a student may be simultaneously awarded an associate degree through WVRT and a baccalaureate degree.

Back To Top

Honorary Diplomas Awarded Posthumously

West Virginia University honors the memory of deceased students who did not have the opportunity to complete their degree by awarding a posthumous honorary diploma. After approval of the Dean of the student's college, the diploma can be awarded to a student who has made progress toward a WVU degree.

Second Associate Degree

A student who has received one associate degree and wishes to receive a second associate degree must satisfactorily complete enough additional credits so that the total, including all acceptable credits earned at WVU  Potomac State College and elsewhere, is at least 15 unique semester hours more than the number required for the first associate degree. All requirements, core and otherwise, of the second associate degree program must be satisfied. A second associate degree cannot be awarded to a student who has not met the WVU Potomac State College residency requirements.

Back To Top

Withholding Information

It is the policy of WVU Potomac State College to place restriction on students who have outstanding debts to a unit or units of the College. The restriction may include, but is not limited to, the withholding of a student's registration, diploma, or transcript.

WVU Potomac State College will not issue a diploma or a transcript to any student until payment of all tuition, fees, and other indebtedness to any unit of the College is made.

Back To Top