Degree Requirements
Candidates for a baccalaureate degree shall successfully complete 120 credit hours, including the requirements for the General Education Program and requirements for a declared major (students may pursue additional majors and minors as appropriate).
Credit hours are accumulated in three separate categories: General Education requirements, major requirements, and electives. The General Education Program is that part of the curriculum shared by all students in all majors. The required courses reflect 41 credit hours. The major programs each require at least 30 credit hours of coursework. Electives are those courses selected by the student that reflect neither major nor General Education requirements.
Candidates for the bachelor’s degree must complete 30 credits of coursework in residence. Coursework taken in all the College’s programs, including its sponsored study abroad or away programs and approved cooperative programs, qualifies as work done in residence. A minimum of 25 percent of any major or minor must be completed in residence. Departments may require that additional coursework is completed in residence if they so desire. Students are required to complete 300- and 400-level core coursework for the major in residence, unless otherwise approved by the applicable academic department.
For first bachelor degrees, no more than 12 credits from student teaching, clinicals, practicums, and internships combined may be counted.
Candidates for a degree must obtain a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.000 and a major grade point average of at least 2.000. Additional majors and any minors also require at least a 2.000 grade point average. Additional program-specific requirements may also apply.
A person who has earned a bachelor’s degree from Lebanon Valley College or another regionally accredited college or university may earn a second bachelor’s degree by meeting the following requirements:
- A minimum of 30 additional undergraduate credits must be completed successfully at Lebanon Valley.
- All graduation requirements for the major of the second degree must be met satisfactorily.
- Coursework completed successfully as part of the first degree program may be used to satisfy the graduation requirements of the second major.
- No course already taken in the first degree program may be repeated in the second degree program.
- No more than three credits from student teaching, clinicals, practicums, and internships combined may be counted toward a second degree. To ensure maximum flexibility, if both degrees are completed at LVC, a maximum of 15 credits internships/student teaching may be counted between the two degrees.
- Graduates from other regionally accredited colleges or universities shall not be required to meet any General Education requirements of Lebanon Valley College. However, students who earned a bachelor’s degree from an institution outside of the United States that did not include general education coursework like that typically required by U.S. institutions will be required to satisfy General Education requirements.
- No courses in the second degree program may be met satisfactorily through prior learning credit, as defined below.
- No courses in the second degree program may be taken pass/fail.
NOTE: Students carrying a second major do not automatically receive a second degree. Students carrying a second major will not receive the second degree without having met all the requirements listed above for a second bachelor’s degree.
Candidates must obtain a grade point average of 3.000 with a maximum of two C grades in the program. Additional degree requirements for each program are described under Graduate Academic Programs. The maximum time for completion of a master’s or doctoral program is seven years from the date of the admission letter. Certificate program requirements must be completed within two years. Students who have not completed their graduate program during the required period shall have their academic standing reviewed and may be asked to meet additional requirements to graduate.
As a student nears completion of the degree requirements, the student must submit an Application for Degree and Graduation Plan with the Registrar’s Office by the stated deadline. This application process provides the student with a timely opportunity to review their degree requirements and plan or change the student’s course schedule to ensure completion of all requirements.
The student must complete an Application for Degree and Graduation Plan and obtain approval of all advisors—including those for additional majors and minors, if applicable—before submitting the application to the Registrar’s Office.
The College, however, reserves the right to confer a degree on a student who has completed all the requirements for a degree but has not applied to graduate.
Degrees and certificates are awarded in May, August, and December, with a ceremony for all degree recipients held in May.
Bachelor’s degree candidates who have 11 or fewer credits remaining to complete the degree at the end of the spring semester may participate in the May graduation ceremony. Ineligible students will be invited to participate in the following year’s ceremony.
Graduate degree candidates expected to graduate in May and the following August will be invited to participate in the current year’s ceremony. December graduates will be invited to participate in the following year’s ceremony.
Certificate candidates are not eligible to participate in the Commencement ceremony.