Steps to Graduation

The Maricopa Community Colleges offer Certificates of Completion as well as Associate Degrees, one of which is conferred on each student who has completed a program of study. These certificates and degrees are:

• Certificate of Completion (Career Program Specified)
• Academic Certificate; General Education Certificate
• Associate in Arts; Associate in Science
• Associate in Business
• Associate in General Studies
• Associate in Transfer Partnership
• Associate in Applied Science (Career Program Specified)
• For more details and additional requirements and limitations please review the Catalog

The Maricopa Community Colleges offers certificates and degrees in a variety of areas. Each certificate and degree has specified program requirements for graduation. See certificate and degree information for specific program requirements. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of these requirements.

Candidates for graduation must satisfy the following requirements:

• Complete the minimum number of credits required for the certificate or degree. For degrees, at  least 15 credits must be completed at the awarding college. For certificates that are 15 or more credits, at least 6 credits must be completed at the awarding college. For certificates that are 14 or  fewer credits, at least half of the credits must be completed at the awarding college. Exceptions to this institutional residency policy must have prior written approval of the program director, department/division chair, or designee and documentation of rationale and approval included as part of application to graduate.
• Meet the general education, program requirements, and electives for the certificate or degree required. Requirements can be satisfied by MCCCD coursework, prior learning assessment, and  transfer credit. No more than 45 credit hours can be accepted and applied to a degree using transfer credit and/or prior learning assessment. Transfer credit and prior learning assessment does not count as  hours in residence for graduation requirements. Exceptions to this institutional policy must have prior written approval of the program director, department/division chair, or designee and documentation of rationale and approval included as part of application to graduate.
• Earn a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 on a four-point grading scale in all letter-graded courses (100-level and above) (completed in residence and accepted in transfer) used to fulfill requirements at the college granting the degree or certificate. Some awards may specify additional GPA requirements.
• Remove all deficiencies (e.g. incomplete grades, missing transcripts, national test results, etc.) on the record to use those courses toward program completion.
• Fulfill any financial obligations with the college.
• The same degree or certificate can only be awarded once within the Maricopa Community College District.

Students maintaining continuous enrollment at any public Arizona community college or university may graduate according to the requirements of the catalog in effect at the time of initial enrollment or according to the requirements of any catalog in effect during subsequent terms of continuous enrollment. Students may maintain continuous enrollment whether attending a public community college and/or public university in the state of Arizona.

The rules for maintaining continuous enrollment are:

• A semester in which a student earns course credit will be counted toward continuous enrollment.
• Noncredit courses, audited courses, or courses from which the student withdraws do not count toward continuous enrollment.
• Failure to enroll in three consecutive regular (fall or spring) semesters breaks continuous enrollment; however, enrollment in the intervening summer terms may be used to maintain continuous enrollment status.
• If continuous enrollment is not maintained, the student must fulfill the requirements for graduation specified in the catalog in effect for the academic year in which they re-enroll or any subsequent catalog of their continuous enrollment.
• Students who initially enrolled or re-enrolled during a summer term must follow the annual catalog of the subsequent academic year or any subsequent catalog of their continuous enrollment.

In areas of study in which the subject matter changes rapidly, material in courses taken long before graduation may become obsolete or irrelevant. Coursework that is more than ten years old is applicable to completion of certificate and degree requirements at the discretion of the designated individuals at the college. The college may accept such coursework, reject it, or request that the student revalidate its substance. The ten-year limit on coursework applies except when program accreditation agencies limit the life of coursework to less than eight years. Departments may also require students to satisfy current major requirements rather than major requirements in earlier catalogs, when completing earlier requirements is no longer possible or educationally sound.