Graduation Process and What to Do
Total Hours Required for Graduation
Students must complete a minimum of 120 hours to receive a degree from the University of Houston. Some degrees will include more than the 120 minimum in order to satisfy all the requirements for the major. Students should consult their degree plan in order to determine how many hours are required for their degree.
Students transferring to University of Houston from a community college should be aware that a maximum of 66 hours can be applied toward their degree. It is possible that some students will have more than 66 hours of credit from a community college. In these instances the advisor and students may select which 66 hours of coursework from the community college will apply to the degree when the degree plan is filed.
For students who are pursuing a minor, it is possible for some courses that are completed as a part of the general university requirements, college requirements or major requirements to also apply to the minor. In cases where one course satisfies a requirement in two areas of the degree plan, students should be aware that the course only counts once in calculating the total number of hours completed for the degree. In some instances, it is possible for students to complete all of the stated course requirements on their degree plan but fall short of the total hours required for the degree. In these instances, students will need to complete additional coursework (free electives) to bring their total hours to 120 or whatever the amount is for your degree.
Graduating - Process & What to Do
A graduating senior should make an appointment with a departmental advisor at least a semester before graduation in order to identify unexpected problems or answer any concerns in time to remedy them. The advisor will go over the degree plan to identify any remaining classes the student has to complete.
The student should then complete a graduation application during the semester he/she plans to graduate. Please be aware that there are deadline dates to apply and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences strictly enforces these deadlines. Please see the published deadlines in the course schedule. If you miss the deadline, you will not be able to be degreed in a timely manner.
Midway through the semester for which the student has applied for graduation, a "graduation analyst certification form" will be mailed to the student. The certification form will indicate that the student has been conditionally approved or disapproved for graduation. The form will list the conditions that must be satisfied in order for the student to complete the requirements for his/her degree by the end of the current semester. The conditions listed on the analyst certification form typically include: satisfactory completion of the current semesters course work, submitting official transcripts for any outstanding transfer work, submit petitions for course substitutions and filing major and/or minor degree plans.
Students should read the conditions carefully and take the necessary steps to satisfy all of the conditions by the end of the semester. If the student believes that any of the conditions listed have previously been met or are otherwise in error, the student should contact his/her departmental advisor as soon as possible. If the conditions listed on the analyst certification form are not satisfied by the end of the semester, the student will be disapproved for graduation and must reapply for graduation in a subsequent semester. Also, students who are disapproved for their degree during the preliminary review stage, will not be able to participate in the commencement ceremony unless they take care of the conditions that have caused this disapproval.
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences conducts their graduation ceremonies in the spring and fall semesters. Students who apply for spring and are approved may walk in the May commencement program. Students who are awarded for graduation in the summer and students who are approved for fall graduation may only participate in the fall ceremony.
Related link: CLASS Commencement page »
Graduating with Honors
Undergraduate students who complete their degree requirements will graduate with the stated academic honors if they achieve the following grade point averages earned in the last sixty-six (66) hours completed at the University of Houston. The University of Houston Office of the Provost is responsible for identifying those students who are eligible to graduate with honors. Some students may be designated as "potential honors candidates" on their graduation analyst certification form. However, the Office of the Provost does not generate the final and official list of honors graduates until all grades have been submitted for the semester.
| GPA Honor Designation | |
| GPA | Honor Designation |
| 3.75 to 4.0 | Summa Cum Laude |
| 3.50 to 3.74 | Magna Cum Laude |
| 3.25 to 3.49 | Cum Laude |
