To be eligible for graduation, students must fulfill the following conditions:

• Completion of Cornerstone Core.  Required for all majors unless otherwise specified. 
• Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees require a minimum of 60 credit hours.
• Bachelor of Music degree requires completion of 129 credit hours, including the hours prescribed for general education core and a major.
• Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Social Work degrees require completion of 120 credits, including the hours prescribed for general education core, a major and one minor (if required).
• Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree requires completion of a minimum of 140 credit hours prescribed in general education core and a major.
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree requires completion of a minimum of 120 credit hours prescribed in general education core and major.
• A cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher in all work, 2.5 or higher in the major and 2.0 or higher in the minor. All teacher education students must meet the following minimum cumulative GPA: 2.5 overall, C- in education courses and 2.5 in their majors. 
• A grade of “C-” or better in ENG-212 Writing in Culture, ENG-118 Intro to Writing and Research, ENG-119 Professional Writing and COM-112 Communication In Culture.
• Transfer students must complete at least 25 % of their degree at Cornerstone.  All students are required residency for at least 24 of the last 33 hours, and at least 12 hours of the major must be completed in residence. 
• A graduation application to the Registrar’s Office.
• Social Science majors must attain the 30th percentile on Senior Assessment Exam to graduate.

All graduation requirements for a given degree must be met prior to posting an official graduation date and diploma. It follows that:

• Students in the teacher education program will not receive a graduation date and diploma until they complete their entire program, including student teaching.
• Students who begin the teacher education program and decide to drop it must complete a departmental major and minor to fulfill their graduation requirements. Group majors/minors and planned minors allowed for education students are not allowed for students graduating outside of the education program.
• Students who intend to pursue the teacher education program, but cannot meet the requirements to gain entrance into the program must complete a departmental major and minor to fulfill their graduation requirements.
• Students taking credit at an institution other than Cornerstone University must complete the work within the term of the student’s intended graduation date (spring, summer or fall).  Transfer work completed after that date will necessitate moving the graduation date to the next regularly occurring graduation date.

GRADUATION  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  TWO
BACCALAUREATE DEGREES

If the BA degree the student has chosen is 129 hrs:

Students may receive two Baccalaureate degrees from CU if they have fulfilled all requirements for both degrees and have earned a minimum of 147 semester hours.  Overlap of courses between the two degrees is allowed.

If the BA degree the student has chosen is 120 hrs:

Students may receive two Baccalaureate degrees from CU if they have fulfilled all requirements for both degrees and have earned a minimum of 138 semester hours.  Overlap of courses between the two degrees is allowed.

Graduation Honors

Three groups are recognized at graduation. Those graduating Cum Laude must achieve a GPA of not less than 3.60; Magna Cum Laude, 3.70; and Summa Cum Laude, 3.85. For the purposes of Honors Convocation (awarding of honor cords) and recognition at commencement, the determination of those eligible for honors will be made as of the end of the fall semester. The final transcript and diploma will record graduation honors as of the completion date of the student’s entire program.

To be eligible for graduation honors for the Bachelor’s degree the student must complete 60 semester hours of credit in residence (32 hours for associate degrees). The GPA will be calculated exclusively on work completed at Cornerstone University.

Commencement

• Commencement participation will be limited to those who have completed their degree program.  Students who plan to have no more than two courses outstanding by the end of the spring semester may submit an appeal to the Registrar's Office to participate in commencement exercises.
• Students applying for prior learning must submit all assessment petitions by March 1 if those credits will be used to determine commencement eligibility.