Degree Works Help and FAQs

A Degree Works Audit is a display of past and current coursework that provides information on completed and outstanding requirements necessary to complete a degree in a given major. The audit is divided into blocks for each type of requirement. Each block consist of a checklist with boxes that are automatically checked when a requirement is met.

The information in Degree Works is refreshed each night. Any changes made today (e.g., grade changes or classes added/dropped) will be seen in Degree Works tomorrow. If you are working with an advisor, the advisor can refresh your information so that it is current.

If a course has a prerequisite you will see a blue clipboard with a checkmark next to the course number. To see what the prerequisite is for the course, click on it and a course description including the prerequisite will appear in a pop up box.

Your Audit is a tool to provide you with academic information related to your degree progress. It displays courses required and completed in your degree program. Your transcript is your official University record and provides a chronological list of courses you completed in semester order and other academic information. Your official transcript must be requested from the Office of the Registrar.

This is a wild card in Degree Works. It allows you many choices in a given subject area. For example, if the @ sign appears after a subject i.e., HUM @, it means that you can take any Humanities course.

Several times a semester. You should always review your Audit:

• Before you meet with your academic advisor to discuss registration for an upcoming semester.
• After you register--to ensure that the courses you selected applied to your requirements like you thought they would, and that all of your scheduled courses apply to your major.
• After your grades for each semester are posted.
• Any time you make a change to your schedule, or have questions about what you need to complete your degree, and
• Whenever you are considering changing your major. You will want to check your current Audit to see where you stand, and then use the “What if?” tool to check out other majors. 

The audit is intended as a guide. It is important that the student work with an academic advisor on a regular basis to make certain all information is up to date. Students  must apply for graduation.  It is strongly advised that students apply at the time they register for their last semester. An official graduation audit will then be completed and any missing requirements will be communicated by their academic unit to the student.

This often occurs with students who have transferred to UM-Dearborn. The “Academic Transcript” in the Student Information System reflects only the overall hours potentially transferrable to UM-Dearborn. The Degree Works Audit reflects the hours that will be used toward a degree program and caps the allowable transfer credits that can be used toward a degree. Please see the Undergraduate Catalog for information regarding maximum transferable credits.

This often will be the case if you have changed your major or you have transferred in courses that do not meet any degree requirements here at UM-Dearborn. You will still need to meet all the course requirements and are degree criteria as indicated on your audit. If you have any questions you should see your academic advisor.

Degree Works looks at your program holistically, and places each course using a “best fit” scenario. The “best fit” process will not always be perfect, particularly when multiple possibilities exist. Classes may apply to different areas as you take more courses. If you have a course that does not appear in the area in which you expected, please contact your advisor for assistance.

In most cases, yes. Degree Works is programmed to recognize that some courses can fulfill more than one requirement. If you have any questions, contact your advisor.

Look at the degree information next to your name at the top of the screen. You will notice that the degree box has a drop down arrow. Use this to select your second degree. Once you select on this, an audit with the additional major will display.  Dual degree students must complete a minimum of 150 credits in addition to fulfilling all requirements for both degrees.

You are allowed a total of three attempts for a course. If you successfully repeat a course, only the last attempt counts toward degree requirements. The earlier attempt(s) will be placed in the “Insufficient” block at the bottom of the audit. The courses in this area do not count toward your total hours and cannot be used to fulfill requirements.  If you are repeating a course for which you previously received a passing grade, the audit may reflect both the in-progress repeat course and the completed course on the worksheet.  Once a grade has been submitted, the worksheet will reflect the last attempt in the audit and the former attempt(s) in the “Insufficient” block.

Yes. Select the print icon near the top right corner of the worksheet to print and/or save a PDF version of the audit.

Yes. Next to the ‘Save as PDF’ button, click on the Class History link for a list of courses taken at UM-Dearborn as well as transfer courses.

The “What If” function allows you to hypothetically change your major, minor, or concentration. The What If audit will show you what coursework is required for the new major, minor or concentration; what courses you have taken that satisfy requirements, and what courses are still left for you to take. What If audits do not guarantee that you will be able to major in the area you select. See your academic advisor for information.

• Click on the “What If” button.
• Select the degree you are considering (required field)
• Select the catalog year that matches the year you will select that major.
• Select the college of the major you are selecting (required field).
• Select additional or new majors, minors and/or concentrations (at least the major field is required).
• Click ‘Process What If Audit’.
• Review how your courses would count in the major.
• Discuss the new major with your advisor.
• Decide if you want to change or add majors or minors
• Follow the procedure to change your major or declare a minor.

Your first point of contact should be your academic advisor.

In most instances, Degree Works will only show courses that are transferable and were completed with a grade of C (2.0) or better. To see whether or not your course is transferable, please check the Course Transfer System. If the course is transferable and you earned the minimum grade required,  but the course is not visible in Degree Works, please contact us at [email protected] with the subject line “Degree Works question.”

Dearborn Discovery Core (DDC) is a university-wide general education program and requires the completion of 46 credit hours spread across 9 categories. However, it’s not uncommon for some of the classes required for your major to also fulfill DDC requirements. In other words, it’s possible that you may incidentally complete DDC requirements as you complete your major requirements. This does take some planning, though, so be sure to take the advice of your academic advisor when you meet with them at Orientation!

If you have completed the MTA and provided a transcript that verifies that, you will see that indicated in the Dearborn Discovery Core block of Degree Works. If you have not yet completed the MTA or have not submitted a transcript showing "MTA Satisfied", the MTA will not be incorporated into your degree audit. We will, however, be sure to update your degree audit when/if we receive a transcript showing MTA completion. If you’re unsure of how to get the MTA endorsement on your transcript, please contact your community college.

Many articulation agreements require the completion of an associate’s degree. Some require the completion of an associate’s degree and the Michigan Transfer Agreement. If your articulation agreement requires one or both of these, we will not apply the benefits of the agreement until we have received an official transcript that verifies these credentials. If you are in the process of earning your degree (and/or the MTA), please be sure to send an official transcript once those credentials are earned and posted on your transcript! If you have already done that and you still think there is a mistake, please contact us at [email protected] with the subject line “Degree Works question.”

Yes, that’s true. Generally speaking, you can apply up to 62 credits from a community college, up to 75 credits from another 4-year university, and up to 90 from other UM campuses. You may be able to apply more than 62 credits from a community college if you are following an articulation agreement. If you’ve exceeded the maximum, we’ll still list your transfer coursework in Degree Works, but they will be included in the “Not Counted” block and will not be applied to your degree.

This is common, and it’s because one or more of your classes is counting towards more than one requirement. For example, General Chemistry is a pre-major requirement for Behavioral & Biological Sciences. General Chemistry also meets the Natural Science requirement in the Dearborn Discovery Core (DDC). Thus, you would see the credit applied to both the DDC block and the Pre-Major requirements block.

No. If one course fulfills two requirements, you will only receive credit for the class once. It’s like watering two plants with one hose!

Until you establish an academic record here at UM-Dearborn, your GPA will remain 0.00. Your GPA from your previous school(s) may be used for admission and scholarship purposes, but it does not carry over to UM-Dearborn.

First and foremost, it’s okay if you don’t quite understand Degree Works. You will have the opportunity to meet with an academic advisor during Orientation and they will explain your degree requirements and how to use Degree Works to keep track of those requirements. However, if you’d like to learn more about Degree Works now or you have specific questions that weren’t mentioned here, you don’t have to wait until Orientation. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions would be glad to help you now. Please contact us at [email protected] with the subject line “Degree Works question.”