2. Academic Progression and Graduation
Share on:
2-1.Academic Progression
Course length refers to the period of time required to complete a course’s curriculum. At APU, this is four years for undergraduate courses. The maximum term of enrollment refers to the maximum period of time a student can remain enrolled at APU, which is eight years for undergraduate courses.
At APU, the academic year is split into the Spring Semester (April 1 – September 20) and the Fall Semester (September 21 – March 31 following year). In addition, students can enroll at APU from April or September each year.
APU uses two methods to express a student’s academic year: year level and semester level. Year level is counted by how many years a student has been enrolled at APU, whereas semester level is based on how many semesters a student has been enrolled for.
Students become first-year students upon enrollment and progress to the next year and semester level based on how long they have been enrolled at APU, regardless of how many credits they have completed.
Students who have not completed their graduation requirements by the end of their 4th year (8th semester) will become 5th-year students, then 6th-year students, and so on. However, students cannot remain enrolled at APU for longer than eight years (sixteen semesters). It is not possible to repeat a year either.
The following tables demonstrate the relationship between year level and semester level.
Students who Enroll in Spring
| Semester | Spring | Fall | Spring | Fall | Spring | Fall | Spring | Fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Level | 1st Year | 2nd Year | 3rd Year | 4th Year | ||||
| Semester Level. | 1st Semester Student |
2nd Semester Student |
3rd Semester Student |
4th Semester Student |
5th Semester Student |
6th Semester Student |
7th Semester Student |
8th Semester Student |
Students who Enroll in Fall
| Semester | Fall | Spring | Fall | Spring | Fall | Spring | Fall | Spring |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Level | 1st Year | 2nd Year | 3rd Year | 4th Year | ||||
| Semester Level. | 1st Semester Student |
2nd Semester Student |
3rd Semester Student |
4th Semester Student |
5th Semester Student |
6th Semester Student |
7th Semester Student |
8th Semester Student |
2-2.Graduation
Students must fulfill all of the following requirements to graduate from APU’s undergraduate colleges. Students who have already fulfilled these requirements cannot remain enrolled at APU.
-
Requirement 1: Be enrolled at APU for at least four years
-
However, this requirement is different for the following students:
- Accelerated Graduation Program Students: Be enrolled for at least three years
- 2nd-Year Transfer Students: Be enrolled for at least three years
- 3rd-Year Transfer Students: Be enrolled for at least two years
-
Requirement 2: Complete all the credits required to graduate
-
Students must complete a total of at least 124 credits and fulfil all the credit requirements specified by their respective curriculum to graduate. For more details, please check the pages for your college and curriculum.
