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Undergraduate Degree Candidacy

Degree Candidacy

What is Degree Candidacy?

Degree Candidacy is an application process required for business majors. To declare a business major, students must meet the 2.75 OU and Combined Retention GPA minimums. Once students become business majors, they must earn Degree Candidacy status and complete prerequisite courses before enrolling in upper-division business courses.

Degree Candidacy requires students to meet minimum GPA requirements within certain courses and maintain overall GPAs

Important Degree Candidacy Dates for Fall 2024

  • September1,2024 – Degree Candidacy application opens
  • October 18, 2024 – Deadline for Early Approval consideration
  • October 28, 2024 – students meeting Early Approval requirements will be notified of status
  • December 13, 2024 – Degree Candidacy application closes
  • January 8, 2025 – all Degree Candidacy courses taken outside of OU must be posted to transcript
  • January 10, 2025 – students will be notified of Degree Candidacy status through OU email

For more information, please email Price Academic Advising Services


What are the Minimum GPAs Required?

Students must maintain at least a 2.50 GPA in both their overall retention and combined degree candidacy courses, with a cumulative GPA of 3.00. Please note that all attempts are counted in the cumulative GPA calculation.

Additionally, students are required to repeat any courses in which they received a grade of D or F within the degree candidacy courses. However, students are not permitted to repeat a course in which they earned an A or B.

Degree Candidacy Courses

  • ACCT 2113 – Fundamental Financial Accounting
  • B C 2813 – Strategic Communication for Business Professionals
  • ECON 1113 – Principles of Economics-Macro
  • ECON 1123 – Principles of Economics-Micro
  • ECON 2843 – Elements of Statistics
  • MIS 2113 – Computer-Based Info Systems

What are the Required Prerequisite Courses?

The following courses must be completed before a student can begin upper-division business courses.

  • ENGL 1113 – English Composition I
  • ENGL 1213 – English Composition II or EXPO 1213 – Expository Writing
  • MATH 1743 – Calculus I for Business, Life, and Social Sciences
  • B AD 1001 – Personal Computing Productivity Tools

What do I have to do to Receive Degree Candidacy?

When you are in the semester of completing your degree candidacy courses, you will need to submit an application. It is important not to wait until you have finished your DC courses to apply. To do so, please complete the online form located at the bottom of this page.

Please be aware that you will only be eligible to enroll in upper-division business courses once you have successfully completed all the prerequisite courses listed above.

What is Early Approval for Degree Candidacy?

Early Approval enables students who have demonstrated a high level of success in business courses to enroll in upper-division business courses before final Degree Candidacy course grades are posted. However, failure to meet the aforementioned standards may result in the revocation of Degree Candidacy, leading to the un-enrollment of the student from all upper-division business courses.

Do I qualify for Early Approval process?

To be eligible, you must currently be a business major and meet the following requirements:

  • Apply for Degree Candidacy by the deadline.
  • Maintain OU and combined GPAs of 3.00 or higher.
  • Achieve a GPA of 3.00 or higher in three or more Degree Candidacy courses listed on your OU transcript.
  • Complete all Degree Candidacy courses and prerequisites for upper-division business by the last day of the current term.

What if I still want to earn degree candidacy, but do not currently meet listed criteria?

If you meet the following standards, you can still apply for Degree Candidacy:

  • Be a declared business major in Price College of Business.
  • Complete all Degree Candidacy courses with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.70 (all attempts are used).
  • Maintain OU and combined GPAs of 2.50 or higher.

Your application will be reviewed by a committee as an appeal for Degree Candidacy. Each application is viewed holistically, with a focus on the following:

  • A thoughtful essay explaining your specific situation. We recommend including the changes you've made to earn higher grades in the future.
  • Repeated Cs and lower grades. The committee will note if they were taken at an AACSB-accredited business school. For more information, visit https://www.aacsb.edu/.