Graduation and Degree Audit (DARS)

Students should check their degree completion status well before their final semester, but especially before registering for their last semester on campus. Students will be held to all degree requirements, including courses and grade point averages, regardless of plans for graduate work, professional school, or employment. Students can check their degree status via DARS on their own or in consultation with an advisor. Students in programs for which a DARS report is not available will receive a summary of completed requirements from the Registrar’s Office.

The Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS) provides students with an automated summary of their academic progress toward a degree. DARS reports show which requirements have already been completed and which remain unsatisfied. The report can also offer suggestions about appropriate courses that may be taken to meet specific requirements.

The “what if” function allows students to explore options in other schools/colleges or other majors within a school/college. “What if” DARS reports show how completed or in-progress courses may be used in different degree programs.

Students may request a DARS report on the web through My UW–Madison—Student Center—My Academics. DARS reports for declared majors and “what if” options can both be requested. Please report problems encountered in requesting a DARS report by calling 608/262-5926 or email dars@doit.wisc.edu.

Students should run a DARS report before enrolling in classes each semester to check remaining degree requirements, and then run a DARS report again after enrolling to ensure that the courses chosen will indeed fulfill the anticipated requirements. Questions about your DARS report can be directed to Barbara Gerloff, EAS Assistant Dean, gerloff@education.wisc.edu, 262-4544.

Students for whom DARS reports are not available should be in touch with their EAS advisor and, in some cases, with their faculty or program advisor. When planning their registration for their last semester on campus, these students should contact the Degree Audit and Diploma Services office at 262-3782 and request a degree summary (also referred to as a “degree audit”). A degree summary is a manually produced degree audit. Students should check their degree summary immediately upon receipt and contact their EAS advisor if it indicates any unexpected graduation deficiencies.

Students will sometimes find that their DARS report or degree summary will indicate a requirement not fulfilled even though their advisor has agreed that the requirement has been met. This means that either a DARS exception or an academic action has not been taken to reflect the completed requirement. Since many exceptions and actions are taken during a student’s last semester on campus, it would not be unusual for students to find requirements indicated as unmet on their DARS report or degree summary. In these cases, contact your EAS advisor immediately (by email is fine) and ask about the status of the requirement exception or action.

School of Education undergraduates are recognized as Graduating with Honors and are invited to wear an honors stole at graduation if they have indicated they expect to graduate at the conclusion of the current semester, have earned at least 60 credits in residence at UW–Madison, and have earned a cumulative GPA that places them in the top 20% of students expecting to graduate in the School of Education. (Credits in progress in the current semester count towards the 60 credit requirement) Students may also qualify for a Graduating with Distinction designation on their transcript if they have received their degree, have earned at least 60 credits in residence at UW–Madison, and have earned a cumulative GPA that places them in the top 20% of degree recipients in the School. Because the Graduating with Distinction calculations include the last semester’s grades, unlike the Graduating with Honors calculations, students may be recognized for one academic achievement but not the other. Historically the cut-off GPA for these awards has been 3.7-3.8 for the School of Education.

Degrees are granted in May, August, and December. Commencement ceremonies are held in May and December. August graduates may attend the commencement ceremony of their choice. By campus policy, all degree requirements must be satisfied before the degree can be granted. If an undergraduate student completes all degree requirements, does not apply for graduation, and this is discovered in an audit of records, the student will be graduated retroactively to the appropriate graduation date. This is necessary to maintain class priorities and to meet deadlines for financial aid and other state and federal benefits.