Finishing the Degree Away from Swarthmore

Contact person:
Martin Warner, Registrar
email: mwarner1 (at) swarthmore.edu
phone: 610-328-8299

Advice for Social Seniors
Related Link: Transfer Credit Procedure
Jump to Senior Year Rule

Swarthmore encourages its students who have not graduated with their matriculating class to finish their degrees and graduate from Swarthmore, even if the last few requirements need to completed while away from the College. The graduation requirements are indicated in the College Catalog. Swarthmore graduates degree candidates only once a year at Commencement, and Swarthmore only graduates degree candidates who are completely finished with degree requirements. Below find additional comments to help off-campus finishers complete their degrees.

Letter of Completion available: As soon as you become completely finished and this is documented for the registrar, the registrar can write an official letter certifying degree completion. This letter has the force of the diploma with regard to employment and graduate school admission. In this way, we can acknowledge your fulfillment as soon as possible, even though technically you won't be graduated by the College until the commencement following the completion of your requirements. At that commencement date, you would be graduated and warmly welcome to attend the ceremony -- for more information about that, contact the Dean's Office. Attendance is not required; diplomas that are not picked up at Commencement are mailed home.

Caution to summer finishers: Expect delays in getting final approval of degree completion over the summer (due to vacation schedules when school is not in session). Careful advance planning regarding your expected dates with your chair(s) and the registrar can avoid most delays of this nature.

May 15 Deadline: The general deadline for completing requirements is May 15 of the year in which you intend to graduate (some departments or programs have earlier deadlines). For any transfer of credit to count toward graduation in a given year, all required documentation (official transcript and departmental final credit validation/approval) must be received in hand by the Registrar's Office by May 15 of that year.

Near or far: Some students are able to finish requirements while local to Swarthmore. Others live away, and so work to complete requirements remotely. Either way, please work closely with Registrar Martin Warner, keeping him apprised of your questions and progress so he can help you as much as possible.

Submission of Work: All students should maintain copies of everything submitted for degree requirements. Please do not submit your original copy of anything without making and keeping a copy for your records. Copies should be maintained until after graduation.

Overall credits. The basic graduation requirement is 32 Swarthmore credits. Most off-campus degree candidates will be able to earn credits elsewhere and bring those back to Swarthmore to fulfill this requirement. Note that the average course elsewhere is worth .5 to .75 credits (sometimes 1.0 credit) at Swarthmore, depending on final credit validation here. Some Swarthmore departments, but not all, permit you to write an extra paper and earn more transfer credit than otherwise would be possible. You should ask about this "extra credit for extra work" option when you arrange to do the transfer credit during the preliminary approval phase, and again when you ask for final validation of credit - this option is not available in every department, but ask. Remember, in order to transfer credit, it is vital that you follow the transfer credit procedure required by the College, getting preliminary approval and then final approval.

The Major: All degree candidates must complete a major, including course requirements and the senior comprehensive requirement. The comprehensive requirement depends on the major, and might be either credit-bearing or non-credit-bearing, depending on the department. Students should work closely with the chair of their major department regarding fulfillment of the major requirements. Regular meetings with the major advisor are likely to be essential. Finishing the major is likely to be challenging in three ways: intellectually comprehensive, largely independent work, and possibly emotionally challenging depending on past experiences. The registrar's office understands these complexities, and wants to help off campus finishers navigate these sometimes difficult waters -- feel welcome to ask for advice, we can help.

Four Semester Rule: Completed four semesters of full-time study on the campus at Swarthmore College, the last two of which are the senior year.

Senior year rule: Normally: Completed the last two full-time semesters of degree work on the campus at Swarthmore College (even if the semesters are separated in time). (The routine exception to this rule is that seniors during the first semester of their senior year, with the approval of the chair(s) of their major department(s), may participate in the Swarthmore Semester/Year Abroad Program.)
- If a degree candidate has enrolled for eight or more full time semesters of undergraduate study, four or more at Swarthmore, having done at Swarthmore the last two semesters of the eight, and has, in the view of the major department, substantially completed the major, Swarthmore views the last two semesters here as fulfilling the senior year requirement.
- Degree candidates with fewer than 8 semesters of work recorded toward their Swarthmore degree, who have completed 30 or more credits toward the degree, who have fulfilled the major comprehensive requirement, and who did the last two semesters at Swarthmore are also considered to have completed the senior year requirement. (These students may apply up to 2.0 Swarthmore credits completed elsewhere toward their degree and still be in compliance with the senior year rule.)
- Other off campus degree candidates who left the college with fewer than 8 semesters of enrollment probably have not fulfilled the senior year requirement and will likely need to return to Swarthmore to finish the senior year rule and their degree (or transfer degree candidacy to another school). Students who (a) have enrolled for fewer than eight semesters at Swarthmore and who had fewer than 30 credits before they left Swarthmore, or (b) who have enrolled for fewer than eight semesters at Swarthmore and have more than 2.0 transfer credits done in the semester(s) or summer immediately prior to the last semester at Swarthmore, have not completed the senior year requirement. Students should apply for re-admission by writing to the Dean of the College. Students can explore with the Registrar if a waiver of the senior year rule might be possible, but a degree requirement waiver would require approval of the faculty and should not be expected. See the instructions for how to write a senior year waiver petition.

Distribution Requirement: Please ask the Registrar to clarify where you stand with regard to the distribution requirements. These can vary depending on graduation year.

Foreign Language Requirement: Please ask the Registrar to clarify where you stand with regard to the foreign language requirement. For more information, see point number 4 on the catalog Degree Requirements list.

PE requirement: For students who have completed 8 semesters but not yet completed the PE requirement, please read this letter from the PE department which will help you finish any remaining PE requirement you may have.

GPA: The graduation requirement is for a grade point average of 2.0. If a simple average of your grades does not meet this requirement, there is an extraordinary way to fulfill the requirement by transferring in credit beyond the normally required 32 credit graduation requirement. If you brought in 1 extra Swarthmore credit, for a total of 33 credits, we could then not count toward the requirement 1 course taken here that currently hurts your gpa. In this way, by bringing in additional courses, you can meet this requirement. It does not matter what grades the courses elsewhere receive, so long as they are C or better (the basic transfer credit requirement for grades).

Account Zero Balance: In order to graduate, you must have a zero balance with the Student Accounts Office. Inquiries should be directed to that office: 610-328-8394.