UnderGraduate catalog: 2023/24

Academic Degree Requirements

All students are responsible for knowing and meeting all degree requirements outlined in the University Catalog at the time they commenced their studies at the University of the People. They may elect instead to complete the requirements in the most recent Catalog.

Associate of Science Degree

To earn an Associate of Science degree from University of the People in both the English programs and the Arabic Division, students pursue a coherent course of study that includes general education courses, all courses listed as prerequisites, and course requirements in the major, and:

 

  • Complete a minimum of 60 approved semester hour credits for Business Administration and Computer Science, or at least 62 approved semester hour credits in Health Science.
  • Earn a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 in all coursework attempted at UoPeople.
  • Earn an overall grade point average of at least 2.00 in all courses taken in the major area of study.
  • Complete all requirements for the Associate’s Degree in no more than 25 terms of active enrollment excluding any periods of separation from the University.
  • Complete the 5 required proctored exams in their chosen program of study.

Bachelor of Science Degree

To earn a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the People, students pursue a coherent course of study that includes general education courses, all courses listed as prerequisites, and course requirements in the major, and:

 

  • Complete a minimum of 120 approved semester hour credits for Business Administration and Computer Science, or at least 122 approved semester hour credits in Health Science.
  • Earn a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 in all coursework attempted at UoPeople.
  • Earn an overall grade point average of at least 2.00 in all courses taken in the major area of study.
  • Complete all requirements for the Bachelor’s Degree in no more than 50 terms of active enrollment excluding any periods of separation from the University.
  • Complete the 11 required proctored exams in their chosen program of study.

Part-Time and Full-Time Options

Full-time Degree students may enroll in up to 2-4 courses per term, and part-time Degree Students may enroll in 1 course per term. The following registration restrictions apply:

 

  • Degree Students who maintain a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of ≥ 3.00 may register for up to four (4) courses per term.
  • Degree Students on Academic Warning, Academic Probation, and Probation Continued and/or have a CGPA below 2.00 may only register and/or be enrolled in one (1) course per term.

 

Students whose CGPA falls at the end of a given term to below the minimum CGPA required to be enrolled in the allowed number of courses for the following term, will be required to cancel courses by the first day of the term. Those who fail to meet this requirement to reduce their course load according to the stated policy will be automatically removed from any excess courses by the Office of Student Services.

 

Students whose CGPA improves at the end of a given term, which would otherwise allow them to register for additional courses for the next term, will not be able to add additional courses during late registration. They will be required to wait until registration opens during the 5th week of the following term to register for the additional number of allowed courses.

 

Course registration regulations for all non-degree students can be found in Chapter 11.

Time to Degree Requirements

University of the People has five terms in its academic year, each ten weeks in length. Students must complete all requirements for the Associate’s Degree in no more than 25 terms of active enrollment, excluding any periods of separation from the University; they must complete all requirements for the Bachelor’s Degree in no more than 50 terms of active enrollment, excluding any periods of separation from the University.  A period of separation includes any time a student is out of residence – that is, not studying at UoPeople/inactive at the University— this includes being either unenrolled from the institution, and/or enrolled at UoPeople without completing any course work in the intervening terms (that is, enrolled but inactive), and/or on a Leave of Absence.

 

Time-to-degree will vary by student and depend in great part on whether students study full-time or part-time and whether the student enrolls for all five terms in every academic year. Students are encouraged to be in contact with their personal Program Advisor to begin developing an academic plan and to begin estimating their time-to-degree based on the factors and limitations listed below:

 

  • Students who enroll full-time for all five terms in the year can complete the A.S. degree in two academic years and the B.S. degree in four years. For example, students who complete two courses a term over the course of five terms in a year would complete ten courses each year; twenty courses are required for completion of the A.S. degree. Forty courses are required for completion of the B.S. degree.
  • Students who enroll full-time but follow the more common pattern of postsecondary study and annually take 1 term out of residence can complete the A.S. degree in two and a half academic years and the B.S degree in five years. For example, students who complete two courses a term over the course of four terms in a year would complete eight courses after one year, sixteen courses after two years, twenty courses after two and a half academic years, etc. Twenty courses are required for completion of the A.S. degree, and forty courses are required for completion of the B.S. degree.
  • Students who pursue their degree on a part-time basis or who take extended leaves will take longer to graduate.

 

Notes on Time to Degree Requirements

 

      1. Students exceeding the permissible number of terms of active enrollment without completing all their degree requirements will be administratively withdrawn from the University.
      2. Extensions to the time to complete a degree will be considered on a case-by-case basis, upon proof of extenuating circumstances, and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis following submission of an appeal for reinstatement within 30 days of the withdrawal notice.
      3. There are no special charges or fees associated with making a request for a special review or for extending enrollment.

Changing Majors

Students may request to change majors by submitting a request in the UoPeople Portal with the following conditions. Students in Certificate programs must pay the Course Assessment Fee prior to the start of the term. 

Changing Degree Levels

Students may request to change degree levels by completing an online form in the UoPeople Portal in accord with the following conditions:

 

  • Students are required to be in good standing with a CGPA of 2.00 or higher to switch degree level from the Associate’s Degree to the Bachelor’s Degree.
  • Students whose CGPA is below a 2.00 may switch degree level from the Bachelor’s Degree to the Associate’s Degree.

Changing Language of Instruction

University of the People offers academic programs in two languages: English and Arabic.  

Additional UoPeople Degrees

Students graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree from UoPeople may not enroll in a second Bachelor’s Degree at the University.

 

Students graduating with an Associate’s Degree from UoPeople may not enroll in a second Associate’s Degree at the University but may, under certain circumstances, apply to complete the Bachelor’s Degree in the major field of study in which they earned the Associate’s Degree. Requests for further information should be sent to the Office of Student Services at student.services@uopeople.edu for the English program and student.services@ar.uopeople.edu for the Arabic programs.

Credit Hours

University of the People employs a system of assigning course credit hours to all courses to track student achievement. The semester hour is used to quantify and represent the time an average student is expected to be actively engaged in the educational process. It represents a reasonable expectation of the time it will take the average student to achieve the stated learning objectives in a given course.

 

All learning takes place online, and UoPeople awards academic credit upon the successful completion of a course. It is university policy that every semester hour is equivalent to a minimum of 45 hours of work for students during the course of the 9-week term, of which at least 15-17 hours must be spent in active academic engagement, with the remaining hours devoted to the additional preparation required to complete all of the academic work both comprising and representing the corresponding credit hours.

 

UoPeople awards academic credit to its students upon the successful completion of a course. The number of credit hours is determined by the amount of time in which the student is academically engaged plus the amount of time that a student is expected to commit to class preparation. Students are generally expected to spend 2-3 hours of preparation for every hour spent in active engagement. Thus, for a 9-week, 3-credit course, students should expect to spend approximately 15-17 hours a week engaged in course work (about 10-11 hours of independent work, 5-6 hours of active engagement) over the course of a term, for a total of 135-150 hours.

 

Students who began their studies at UoPeople prior to Term 1 of the 2012-13 academic year are awarded course credit based on the quarter hour system. Since Term 1 of the 2012-13 academic year, credit for student effort has been awarded based on the semester hour system.

 

Rules governing the assignment of course credit hours are monitored by the Associate Provost of Academic Affairs. Guidance in complying with this policy is provided in the Course Development Guide and the Faculty Handbook.