Graduation

Terms of Graduation for Bachelor’s Degrees

To graduate from Lee University, the applicant must meet graduation conditions listed below on the dates announced in the university calendar.

A minimum of 120 semester hours credit with a minimum GPA of 2.0 (2.75 for teacher education; 2.5 for nursing).
The satisfactory completion of all General Education and Religion Core requirements according to your program of study.
The admission to and satisfactory completion of a departmental major with a minimum GPA of 2.0 (2.75 for teacher education; 2.5 for nursing).
The removal of all incompletes and completion of all correspondence, proficiency credit, or independent study credits (in required areas) in compliance with the published deadlines.
The completion of the required academic assessment tests.
The completion of the required service-learning hours; ten (10) hours per semester enrolled at Lee University (e.g., 80 hours total for four years).
The completion and passing of Praxis II examinations by education students.
The completion of the final 25% of credit hours in residence at Lee University (i.e., 30 hours of a 120-hour program).
The filing of an application for graduation to be approved by the academic dean/executive director in compliance with the published deadlines.

Because of the transitional nature of university curricula, many changes in the graduation requirements may occur during one’s tenure in college. The purpose of such changes is to improve the university programs; consequently, it is expected that students will adapt their course planning to new graduation requirements established during the course of their training. The curriculum changes introduced in the course of the student’s enrollment will be included in the student’s curriculum. This inclusion does not increase the number of hours required for graduation.

Students admitted to Lee University as freshmen or as transfers will be assigned to the catalog year in which they were admitted. Students automatically change to the most recent catalog year when they change majors. With the department chair’s approval, any student may change to the most recent catalog up to their penultimate semester before graduation. Students may not change back to a previous edition of the catalog.

If the university implements campus-wide program changes that impact requirements across many disciplines, students will receive instructions for catalog year changes as a “one-time” update to ensure that every student is on track for graduation.

Graduating with Academic Honors

Undergraduate students who achieve certain academic distinctions through earned grade point averages will be graduate with institutional honors. These averages are computed according to the final cumulative GPA. A GPA will not be rounded up. The following standards apply:

Cum Laude (with honor) - 3.7
Magna Cum Laude (with high honor) - 3.8
Summa Cum Laude (with highest honor) - 3.9

University Awards

The Lee University faculty nominate the recipient of the F.J. Lee Award, which is given to the “senior who, in the estimation of the faculty, has modeled high standards of integrity, leadership, service, broad campus involvement and academic excellence”; the Zeno C. Tharp Award, which is given to the senior “most likely to make the greatest contribution to the Kingdom”; and the Charles Paul Conn Award, which is given to the senior who demonstrates the greatest promise of achievement in graduate/professional studies after graduating from Lee University.

Departmental awards and honors are generally confirmed by the faculty and presented to the students at an annual Honors Chapel.

Awarding Diplomas

Students who complete the requirements of more than one program of study will have verification of each major program on the official transcript; however, only one degree and, therefore, one diploma is awarded upon graduation.

The conferring of degrees by Lee University is conditional upon completion of all requirements in the opinion of the Dean/Executive Director, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and faculty regardless of the students’ participation in Commencement or any other representations by University employees.

Students who have completed all academic requirements and fulfilled all other university requirements, including full payment of all financial obligations, will receive their diplomas at the time of graduation.

Deficiencies that cause a diploma to be held must be corrected within 30 days following the commencement date. Once all academic deficiencies have been cleared and the appropriate dean or executive director has been notified, the diploma will be re-dated, reflecting the next graduation date following the deficiency’s removal. The diploma will not be released to the student until that graduation date.

Diploma Name

The name appearing on the diploma is the student’s legal name. Only the following changes can be made:

The use of an initial in place of a first or middle name.
The use of the maiden name and the legal name is verified by appropriate documentation.

Admission to Second Undergraduate Degree Program

Normally students who graduate from Lee University may receive only one degree and one diploma regardless of how many major programs of study are completed. A special exception may be made for Lee alumni who wish to return to the university to complete a second program of study if the former student satisfies the following minimum requirements:

To be admitted as a second-degree-seeking student, the graduate must have been away from the university for a minimum of three years after having completed the previous degree;
The major of the desired second degree must be in a distinctively different program from the previous program of study. It must be in a different discipline, and the bulk of the required courses for the major must be different from those required by the previous program of study;
To qualify for the second degree, a minimum of 45 additional semester hours of credit must be earned.

Academic Catalog