Graduation Requirements & Honors

Suffolk has several graduation requirements, depending on the type of degree and at which level a student is at in their studies.

Credit Requirement

Depending on the degree sought, a minimum of 124-126 credits is required for bachelor’s programs and a minimum of 62-64 is required for associate’s programs. In all cases, undergraduate students must satisfy the academic requirements identified in the academic catalog from their year of entry.

GPA Requirement

Undergraduate students must achieve a cumulative, major, and minor (if applicable) grade point average of 2.0 or higher to graduate.

Honors

The criteria for undergraduate students to graduate with honors can be found in the academic catalog.

Policy for the Awarding of a Suffolk University Posthumous Degree

Approval Process for Posthumous Degree

Requests for posthumous degrees should be initiated by the leadership of the student’s academic program, and take the form of a petition including all relevant information identified below. If the petition is supported by the Dean, the Dean will forward it to the Provost for review. Petitions approved by the Provost and President will be forwarded to the Board of Trustees for final approval. The positive decision of the Board of Trustees to award a posthumous degree will be forwarded to the Dean of Students of the relevant school, who will communicate with the former student’s family. The Student Affairs Office (or the Office of Academic Services in the case of the Law School) will be responsible for requesting and framing the diploma. Requests must be made within two calendar years of the student’s death.

Criteria

Each case will be considered on its own merits. However, some general guidelines apply:

  • The student must have been enrolled in a degree program and in Good Academic and Disciplinary Standing as defined by the school or college for which the student was enrolled at the time of death.
  • The student must have completed at least 75% of the credits required for graduation.
  • For graduate degrees requiring a research product, the student must have completed all course and other requirements pursuant to the degree and must have been near completion of the dissertation/thesis; the student’s committee must have determined the scholarship to be substantial work and worthy of the degree.
  • For graduate degrees requiring a creative product, the student must have completed all course and other requirements pursuant to the degree and must have been near completion of the creative product; the student’s committee must have determined the product to be substantial work and worthy of the degree.