Conferral and Commencement

Awarding Posthumous Certificates and Degrees 

American College of Education may grant certificates or degrees posthumously. If the college determines that a deceased student or student who has received a terminal illness diagnosis has completed sufficient coursework (80% of program requirements) to be awarded a certificate or degree, the Department Chair, or designated academic official, has the authority to grant the degree posthumously.  

• Upon receipt of the Record Release for Deceased/Terminally Ill Student form, the college registrar will alert the appropriate academic officials of the student’s passing and/or diagnosis conduct a degree progress audit and inform the percentage of program completion.

• In recognition that this is an academic matter, final approval and review to award a posthumous/post diagnosis degree must come from the student’s Program Director, Department Chair, or designated academic official.

• If the student is in a doctoral program, in addition to 80% of program completion, RES6541 must be in progress or completed for the degree to be awarded.

Commencement

Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Educational Specialist students who intend to participate in a commencement ceremony at American College of Education must be in “Graduate Status” within two terms of the commencement date.  For example, if commencement is held in July, students with expected graduation dates in August and September may participate.

Doctorate (Ed.D.) students who intend to participate in a commencement ceremony must be in “Graduate Status” by the date of the commencement. Furthermore, the academic team must confirm anticipated dissertation completion for all Ed.D. students prior to the student being allowed to participate in commencement.

Degree, Certificate, or Micro-Credential Conferral

Degrees, Certificates, and Micro-Credentials will be conferred or awarded when the following requirements have been met:

• A grade of “C” or better in all required program courses has been achieved.
• All course and credit hour requirements and/or any field experiences are successfully completed.

Additionally, the following requirements must be met:

Grade Point Average (GPA):

• Degrees
  • Undergraduate students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0.
  • Graduate students and Nursing students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0. 
  • Note: RN to MSN students are required, per the RN to MSN Matriculation Policy, to have a 3.0 GPA for the BSN degree to be conferred.  
• Certificate and Micro-Credential
  • Undergraduate students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0.
  • Graduate-level students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5.
  • Students enrolled in Certificate programs designed for licensure must have a GPA of 3.0.

General Education Competencies (GECs):

• For a bachelor’s degree, the student must have demonstrated proficiency in all GECs.

Degree Conferral Fee

All students must submit the degree conferral fee.

• The fee is waived for the following groups of students:
  • U.S. Veterans, active military members, members of the National Guard and Reserves and current spouses of each as verified through submission of a valid military ID or copy of DD214.
  • First responders defined as EMT/EMS, Firefighters, or Law Enforcement Officers.

Graduation Requirements

Students must be in good standing to graduate. Good standing is defined as achieving the required College academic standards and program requirements as outlined in the catalog.

The following requirements must be met before a student can graduate from American College of Education:

• Satisfactory completion of all coursework.
• Satisfactory completion of the Capstone Experience.
• Satisfactory completion of the Dissertation Oral Defense for Ed.D. candidates.
• Satisfactory completion of internship, practicum or student teaching, when applicable.
• Minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 for Bachelor’s students and 3.0 GPA for Master’s, RN to MSN, Specialist and Doctoral students with no D’s or F’s.

Graduation with Honors

ACE recognizes exemplary academic performance for graduates. ACE graduates of post-baccalaureate degree programs will be awarded the honor of “Distinguished Graduate” if all degree requirements have been met, a cumulative GPA of a 4.0 has been achieved in program enrollment, and no academic or conduct violations occurred during the enrollment in the completed degree program.

Verification of Graduation for Professional License, Endorsement, or Certification

American College of Education has a dedicated staff member in the Registration Office who is responsible for processing requests from graduates to verify completion of a state-approved program. This verification is required by a number of state licensing boards.

Once students have received an email from the Registration Office that the degree has been conferred, they may request verification of program completion through the MyACE Portal (Request forms). It may take up to five (5) business days for ACE to complete and mail the state certification forms.

Verification of graduation will not be completed if a balance due is on the student’s account.