General Requirements for a Baccalaureate Degree
Dominican University of California operates on a semester-unit system. To graduate, the student must complete a minimum of 124 semester units in college courses. At least 48 of the 124 units (133 for Liberal Studies/Teacher Education - Blended majors) must be in upper division courses. Students must complete at least 30 in-class units at Dominican to fulfill the residency requirement. Up to 12 credits for unsponsored prior learning may be used toward satisfying the residency requirement. All students are required to take 30 out of the last 36 units at Dominican and a minimum of one-half of the upper division units in the major must be at Dominican.
In the Day Program one semester-unit generally represents a "50-minute-hour" which a student will spend in class each week during a 15-week semester. For each 3-unit course, the student should expect to be assigned six to nine hours of homework per week.
Dominican also offers alternative formats:
- Studio and laboratory courses require that students dedicate additional time each week to fulfill the course requirements;
- Summer sessions offer courses (1-3 units) in an accelerated format and convene in a session shorter than the usual 16-week term;
- The Pathways evening/weekend degree program offers 1-3-unit courses in an accelerated format that requires students to be in class for two hours per week and also requires additional homework (see the Pathways section for further information);
- Tutorials;
- Online courses.
A full-time undergraduate student's program is normally 16 to 17 units with no fewer than 12 units in each of the fall and spring semesters. Students may take additional units during the University's Summer Sessions Program.
A transfer student who is a candidate for a degree must complete a minimum of 30 units of coursework at Dominican. A minimum of one-half of the upper division units in the major (and minor, if the student chooses to declare one) must be taken at Dominican.
The student must earn a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 ('C') in each of the following areas:
- All courses taken at Dominican;
- All college level work completed (including transfer coursework);
- All courses in the major; and
- All courses in the minor, if the student elects a minor.
Classification of Students
Students who are candidates for a bachelor's degree are classified as follows:
Freshmen: completion of less than 30 semester units
Sophomores: upon completion of 30 semester units
Juniors: upon completion of 60 semester units
Seniors: upon completion of 90 semester units
Exception: Class levels for Nursing and Health Sciences majors are determined by the academic department, according to the students’ readiness for clinical fieldwork, not by cumulative units earned.
Non-Degree Seeking Student
A student who has not been admitted as a degree candidate may enroll for a maximum of three courses, not to exceed nine units total. Upon his/her enrollment in a degree program, such units will be evaluated in terms of the requirements for the particular degree.
Auditors
A student may become an auditor in a course by registering for it, subject to the permission of the instructor of the course, and by paying the auditorÂ’'s fee and the registration fee. The student should indicate on the Registration Form any courses he /she plans to audit. Auditing a course means that the student attends the classes, but is not required to do the coursework, does not take examinations, may not ask for work to be evaluated, and does not receive credit for the course. Full-time students are charged for all audited courses in excess of 17 units of combined audit/credit coursework. Audited courses will appear on transcripts.
Auditors are not admitted to nursing courses or courses that require personal instruction and/or individual participation, such as performance, studio, laboratory, and writing.
