Graduation

Degree Works will tell you which institutional and major requirements you have met and which ones you have not met.

If your requirements in Degree Works are marked as complete or in-progress, including your overall total required credits, your “Degree Progress” bar will show 98% complete. This is normal and will change to 100% once you have earned grades for your in-progress courses. Please double-check that all your required credits, courses, and non-course requirements for your major, minor, and integrative concentrations are complete.

If you notice any discrepancies between what you believe to be your total number of completed courses/credits and what you see on your transcript and your degree evaluation, send an email to degreeaudit@oberlin.edu immediately.

The degree auditor will use whatever information is on your record to determine your graduation eligibility. If you don’t keep your information up to date, our office may determine that you are not eligible to graduate. The deadlines to declare, change or drop majors or minors can be found in on the Graduation Timeline.

If you make changes after this date, we cannot guarantee that you will be on track to receive your degree, diplomas and Commencement-related materials in time.

If you have transfer of credit that can count toward your degree, it is imperative that you submit your transcripts to the Office of the Registrar immediately. Students must request an official transcript, in a sealed envelope, from the institution where their work was completed.

In order to apply to graduate online, the application will require that you have a minimum number of credits, therefore it is crucial that your transfer work be applied toward your degree as soon as possible.

Deadlines to submit transfer of credit are applicable. Allow several weeks’ time for the other institution to process official transcript requests and mail the transcript to our office.

Finish Away Status: If a student falls within the guidelines stated above, he or she should contact the Academic Advising Resource Center to make arrangements to complete the degree through Finish Away (FINA) status. Students have one year to complete their requirements under the normal Finish Away guidelines.

Academic Leave of Absence to Finish Away: In special circumstances, a student may be allowed to complete degree requirements through an Academic Leave of Absence (ALOA). This normally involves students who have completed all required course work and wish to spend their last semester on an academic leave either at another U.S. institution or through a study abroad program. The catalog has specific details about the ALOA status.

Students in this category must complete the following steps:

• A completed ALOA application must be submitted by the ALOA deadline (March 15 of the year before the leave). Refer to the Office of Study Away for assistance.
• Students asking for a waiver of the last semester in residence must meet with the associate dean of academic advising to review their degree progress and remaining requirements.
• Students must be approved for academic leave by the Off-Campus Study Committee.

Enrolled Not in Residence (ENR) Status: Permission to complete more than two courses/eight credits away from Oberlin will be granted only after careful consideration of educational or personal reasons by the associate dean for academic advising, provided all other graduation requirements have been met and the total number of courses/credits transferred to Oberlin does not exceed the post-matriculation transfer-of-credit limit.

Students must first contact the associate dean for academic advising to discuss the proposal. The completed proposal requires a description of the course, faculty approval, and departmental approval if appropriate. Final approval must take place before the beginning of the semester in which ENR is to occur.

When a program is approved, the Office of the Registrar is notified and bills the student and enrolls the student in the course(s). This must be completed by the end of the enrollment period for the semester the student wishes to be on ENR.

Important Reminders:

1. You must be eligible to transfer all credits while on Finish Away without exceeding the transfer limit. For more information, refer to the Transfer of Credit section of the catalog.
2. Credits taken at another institution are transfer credits subject to the normal transfer of credit fee; if you elect to do outstanding credits through Oberlin on an Enrolled Not In Residence basis (ENR), then you pay Oberlin’s current tuition rate for each ENR credit. Check the current rate in the catalog.
3. If you want to march at graduation, you must submit to the Academic Advising Resource Center by mid-May an official transcript or letters from your professors verifying that you have passed all courses with at least a 'C-'. Refer to the Marching at Graduation section in the catalog and carefully check to make sure that you will be eligible to participate in Commencement exercises.

A Conservatory of Music student who lacks not more than eight credits and has met the residency requirement may request approval of Finish Away status from the conservatory associate dean for student academic affairs in order to complete these credits at another institution. If any of these credits are requirements for the student’s major, the major department must also approve completion of requirements for Finish Away status. 

Permission to complete more than eight credits away from Oberlin will be granted only after careful consideration of educational or personal reasons by the conservatory associate dean for student academic affairs, provided all other graduation requirements have been met and the total number of credits transferred to Oberlin does not exceed the post-matriculation transfer-of-credit limit.

The double-degree student who is considering completion of the BM degree after completion of the BA degree should consult the finish away policies for the conservatory.

Graduation is the term used when a student is awarded their degree. Students are awarded their degrees when they have met all necessary requirements. Commencement is the formal ceremony normally held after spring term. This is a celebration of your accomplishments.  

Participation in the Commencement ceremony does not necessarily constitute graduation.

• Students must be registered at Oberlin for the final semester in residence. This registration must be for all remaining course requirements for the degree(s) sought, and all non-course requirements must also be completed by the end of classes.
• Students who have permission to finish their work away from Oberlin may participate in Commencement exercises at the end of their final semester in residence at Oberlin.
• Students who have completed their degree requirements away from Oberlin and who have never participated in a previous commencement may also participate.

Yes, you may access your application for graduation at any time after submitting it for review. Go to OberView and click on View My Graduation Application.

The degree auditors within the Office of the Registrar will review your application to ensure that all requirements are complete or in-progress. Due to the volume of applications received and the detail required for each review, a timeframe is difficult to determine. Our goal is to complete your graduation review as quickly as possible following the receipt of your application.

You can view the status of your graduation application through DegreeWorks. DegreeWorks can be accessed through OberView

You will need to refer to your degree audit in DegreeWorks for specific requirements remaining to be met for graduation.

If your degree audit is incorrect, the most likely reason is the Office of the Registrar has not received the appropriate documentation from the department to update your missing requirements. Documentation is required for exceptions, substitutions, waivers, transfer of credit, and final grades. It is the student's responsibility to follow up with the appropriate academic department so as not to delay the awarding of your degree. 

You need to be registered for at least one course in the term you intend to graduate. If you intend to complete your academic requirements while you are on Academic Leave, you will need to notify the Office of the Registrar of your intentions.

You receive this message due to one of the following reasons:

1. A graduation application has already been submitted. Please select the "View Graduation Application" link at the bottom of this page to see if you have already submitted a Graduation Application.
2. Sufficient eligibility requirements (i.e., minimum G.P.A and/or minimum hours) have not been met.

Select "View Holds" link at the bottom of the page for information regarding the hold. The Hold will have an office that is an "Originator"; please contact that office for details regarding the hold. Once the hold has been removed, you will then be able to submit a Graduation Application.

If the information listed is incorrect, please submit a Change of Major Form to the Registrar's Office. After the Change of Major form has been processed, the Registrar's Office will contact you, then you will be able to submit your Graduation Application with the correct curriculum information.

The Office of the Registrar will process your change of major/minor/concentration until the deadline (see Graduation Timeline) and update your application.

RSVPs for commencement are collected through Marching Order. The Marching Order task is available in OberView to students invited to participate in the ceremony.