Effective Spring 2018, the minimum credit requirement for an undergraduate degree has been reduced from 125 to 120. While this reduction applies to all undergraduate students, it is important to note that some major programs will still require more than 120 credits to complete. With this in mind, all degree audits have been revised to reflect the new requirement. Students who have applied to graduate at the end of this semester as well as those who may soon be applying to graduate have been informed of the change and encouraged to examine their audit to see if the new minimum impacts their academic course planning.

Students may discover that they are currently enrolled in a course they no longer need in order to fulfill their degree requirements. If that’s the case, they may wish to drop the course. Before doing so, however, we have suggested that they may wish to consult with their academic advisor to ensure that the course is not needed for any other reason. Students should also consider the impact that dropping the course may have on their financial aid eligibility and/or their full-time enrollment status.

Those who wish to drop the class and qualify for a 100% refund have been encouraged to do so by the end of the day on Monday, January 22 for normal processing. Due to the late timing of this announcement, however, we extended the deadline to Friday, February 2 for a 100% refund when a course is dropped but for this reason only. Those who missed the January 22 deadline should follow the procedure outlined below prior to the February 2 deadline.

Students should:

1. Submit their request to drop via email to Registrar@missouristate.edu. They should do this versus dropping the course themselves to ensure that the proper refund is made.  This email request should be made from the student’s University email account.
2. The student’s request should indicate that they wish to drop the course due to the change in the undergraduate minimum hour requirement.
3. The student’s request should include the course prefix and number as well as either the section number or CRN number of the course they wish to drop.
4. The Office of the Registrar staff will review the request to ensure that the drop fits the designated criteria. If so, and provided the request has been received prior to the February 2 deadline, the drop will be processed with a 100% refund. If, on the other hand, the request does not fit the criteria, the Office of the Registrar staff will notify the student why the request to drop with a 100% refund cannot be permitted.

This change in the baccalaureate degree requirements was initiated by the Faculty Senate and either endorsed or approved by the Student Government Association, the central administration and the Board of Governors. In addition to bringing MSU in line with the requirements of nearly all the other public institutions in the state, the reduced credit hour requirement should improve the chances that MSU students will be able to graduate in a timely manner with less economic burden. Thank you in advance for helping students adjust their academic plans in light of this change.