About degrees (degree detail)

Your students will pursue various academic programs at your institution such as majors, minors, concentrations, etc. Each of your programs leads to a credential such as a certificate, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, etc.

In Campus Cafe, each student is assigned at least one internal degree that contains their academic programs. For example, a student’s undergraduate bachelor’s degree may include a math major, a political science major and a journalism minor. Campus Cafe supports at most three simultaneous majors and three simultaneous minors.

Students have only one current (active) degree at a time and this degree controls functions from billing to course registration pre-requisites.

Separately, you can optionally use Campus Cafe to record external degrees, or degrees students earned at other institutions. For example, you may wish to record external degrees to track the academic history of transfer students or students joining your graduate program after completing an undergraduate program elsewhere.

Prerequisites

• Create majors (academic programs)

Required permissions

Internal degrees

Internal degrees are degrees awarded by your institution and students have one current (active) degree at a time. “Degree” may include any credential from certificate to doctorate degree or something else. You can define degrees types.

Open

This individual has two degree records (rows). The bachelor of science with the math major is current (active). This is the degree Campus Cafe will use when evaluating billing, financial aid, course pre-reqs, etc.

Auto-create degrees for students

You can control at what stage of the admissions process individuals receive a degree record (row). Once individuals receive a degree row other functions become available such as being able to award financial aid and course registration.

What stage you create the degree row will depend on your institution’s business processes. The typical admissions flow is Inquired > Applied > Accepted > Deposited. Many schools create the degree when a student applies so the degree record is visible at this stage for financial aid, etc. The disadvantage of creating the record at this stage is that the data might change (e.g. change of major) and the degree will need to be manually updated. Also, you will have more rows in the Student Finder for individuals who might not actually enroll.

1. Go to Admin > Custom Control.

2. In Search enter AD100.

3. Next to Seq 1, Parm 3 click the pencil.

4. In Parameter 3 enter the admissions progress code that will create the degree row.

   • Enter a Y to create the degree when an individual applies.

   • Enter an A to create the degree when an individual is accepted for admission.

   • Enter a P to create the degree when an individual places an admissions deposit.

   • Enter NO to never automatically create a degree.

5. Click Save.

Degrees for individual who reapply

An individual may apply, have a degree record (row) created, but never attend your institution. The same individual may apply again in the future.

Regardless of how you configure the auto-creation of degrees, Campus Cafe will never automatically mark any subsequent degrees automatically created as current (active). An administrator must set the new degree as current after confirming the previous degree record has been fully closed. For example, all financial aid packages cleared, and charges and payments properly accounted.

View or change internal degree

If a student withdraws from your institution, takes a leave or changes academic programs, you’ll need to update their degree.

1. Go to the student’s profile.

2. Go to Person Selected > Degrees/Majors.

3. To view additional detail click the magnifying glass meaning you can only view data or under the Edit column the pencil meaning you can change data.

4. Campus Cafe displays the following information about the degree record.

Current Degree: Selected (checked) indicates this degree is the active degree. The major and entering semester from the current degree record is used in registration programs such as degree audits, transcripts and report programs.

Type: The credential the student earns when completing this record. For example, an associate’s, bachelor’s, etc. If you’ve set Campus Cafe to auto create a degree record at point of application, Campus Cafe completes this based on the degree configured on the major.

Level:. The degree level of study corresponding to the major. For example, undergraduate or graduate. This controls the level added to the student’s class registration record and, by extension, controls how the class (enrollment) is shown on the transcript. For example, on the transcript all level 1 enrollments (e.g. bachelor’s) will be grouped with the level 1 degree. If the student has a second degree row for level 5 (e.g. master’s), then all level 5 enrollments would be grouped with that degree on the transcript. The degree audit is also separated by level. Class registrations (enrollments) associated with degree level 4 won’t ever appear on the transcript.

Degree Start Date (May Override): If Custom Control DEGREE_OVR 1-1 is set to Y, then Campus Cafe automatically completes this date with the first day of the student’s entering semester. The semester start date is set in semester configuration. This date is important for reporting. Campus Cafe doesn’t automatically update this date if the entering semester is changed.

Degree End Date (May Override): If Custom Control DEGREE_OVR 1-1 is set to Y, then Campus Cafe automatically completes this date with the last day of the student’s expected graduation semester. The semester end date is set in semester configuration. This date is important for reporting. Campus Cafe doesn’t automatically update this date if the expected graduation semester is changed.

Status: Indicates the current status of the student. (This is separate from the student’s Status History record.)

Status Date: Specifies the start date for the current status. Campus Cafe automatically enters the date if it changes the status or defaults to today upon a change of status. Otherwise, the date would typically be changed by an administrator when a status is changed.

While your institution’s business practices will determine the date to use, commonly:

• When a student graduates, the status date is set to the last day the student attended or the last day of the student’s last semester. This may or may not align with the conferral, commencement or ceremonial date when the diploma is presented. Enter that date in Date Granted.

• When a student withdraws from the institution, the status date is the date the student last attended (withdrawal date). In some Campus Cafe reports, Campus Cafe uses instead a calculated last day of attendance based on attendance records in the system. For consistency, we recommend that institutions check the attendance system and ensure the last day of recorded attendance matches the withdrawal status date.

• When a status is changed automatically (Student withdraws from last enrolled course, last enrolled course is graded, student drops last enrolled course, student enrolls in a course while not currently enrolled), which whould change the degree status (like from Blank or A to E, or E to A), the Degree Status Date can be changed to match the date of the action (for Enrollments, drops, and grading, the date the course was marked as graded, dropped, or added, and for Withdrawals, the date the course was withdrawn, which can be back-dated.) This is controlled by MSPARM DEGSTATDATE Sequence 1, Parameter 1

Majors 1, 2, 3: The academic majors associated with the degree. If this is the current record, this major is used in registration programs such as degree audits, plans of study, transcripts, and reports. Campus Cafe completes the major(s) based on the admissions majors during the auto degree creation process. If the degree row is added at the applied stage, then the admissions applied for majors are used. If the degree row is added at the accepted stage, then the admissions accepted majors are used. If the degree row is auto added at the applied stage and then the student is accepted into a different program, the major(s) must be manually updated in the degree row.

Major 1 Declared : This user-defined field is used to indicate how the student selected the major listed in Major 1. Values are set through STParm RZMJDX.

Minor 1, 2, 3: The academic minors associated with the degree. Campus Cafe completes this field based on the admissions majors during the auto degree creation process using the same logic as when it automatically completes majors.

Begin Semester: The academic period when the student started the degree. If this is the current record, this is the entering semester used in degree audits, transcripts, and reports. The begin semester is initially populated based on the student’s admitted semester.

Degree Audit Semester: The semester corresponding to the curriculum the student is following. This is often known as a student’s catalog semester. During the degree row creation process, the degree audit semester will default to the entering semester. Campus Cafe uses this semester for the degree audit. (If degree audit semester is blank then then the degree audit uses the student’s entering semester.) The degree audit semester doesn’t need to be the same as the student’s entering semester. Hence, you have flexibility to assign a catalog semester that aligns with your institution's business processes.

Expected Grad Sem: The academic period in which the student is expected to complete their academic program. This is important for NSLDS (Clearinghouse) reporting where the expected graduation semester is required. During automatic creation of the degree row, the expected grad semester will automatically be derived and entered.  

The expected graduation date is initially filled in by Campus Cafe by checking the admitted semester and then computing the time to completion based on the program length (years to complete) set in the major setup and whether the student is set as expected to be full time or part time.

For example, a student is starting in Fall 2018 (201910) and enrolling in a program that takes 4 years to complete. The admissions part time code is blank which means the student is full time. In the semester dates record for the entering semester, The Expected Grad Sem For Year 4 is 202220 (Spring 2022). The value 202220 will be placed in the expected grad semester field.

Date Granted: This is the date the degree was actually granted and appears on the transcript.

Class Of: An information field to associate the student with a graduating class, e.g. Class of 2024. This is utilized by the alumni module to associate graduates with a class year.

Transcript Footnote Code: Specifies a pre-built footnote that will appear on the student’s transcript.

Program Accept Date: The date the student was accepted into the degree.

Use in Alumni: Not in use.

Student Degree Site: Associates the student with a physical campus location or a programmatic location, for example in-person vs online student. The degree site can be used to control class registration and used a a filter in reporting and finders. Please note that there are other “sites” in the system (example course site, billing site). 

Part Time Code: Enrollment load used by the financial aid module to determine eligibility for federal financial aid.

Enrollment Verification Date Override: This field is used for mid-point date. If Custom Control DEGREE_OVR 1-1 is set to Y, then this field will be automatically filled in from the value the semester configuration. The field is generally intended for clock-hour programs and may be searched using the student finder. The field does not affect other areas of the Campus Cafe.

Last Licensure Exam Date: Used for Gainful Employment and Financial Value Transparency reporting.

Licensure Exam Passed: Used for Gainful Employment and Financial Value Transparency reporting.

Searching for students in certain programs

The Student Finder supports searching for students in specific majors or minors utilizing the Degree Major 1, Degree Majors, Degree Minor 1, and Degree Minors fields on the student finder. Like all text fields, it may be searched for programs that are, are not, contain, start, or end with a specific string of letters.

• Degree Major 1 and Degree Minor 1 specifically search the Major 1 or Minor 1 field, respectively. A person with the criteria concentration in Major or Minor 2 or 3 will not populate in a search on Major 1 or Minor 1.

• Degree Majors and Degree Minors search all major and minor fields, respectively, including Major 1 and Minor 1.

• To find a student with a concentration in either Major/Minor 2/3, search by Degree Major 1 NOT ANY OF and Degree Majors IS ONE OF (Degree Minor 1/Degree Minors works the same way). This will search for anyone who does NOT have the concentration in the Major/Minor 1 field, but does in either of the Major or Minor 2 or 3 fields.

Change degree status for a group of students

You can use the Student Finder to change the degree status for a group of students at once. For example, you can confer a group of students. The changes will apply to the individual's current degree row.

1. Go to Filters > Students.

2. Use the filters to return the desired population.

3. Select the students for which to change degree status.

4. Click +Create Alumni > For All.

5. In Degree Status select the new degree status.

6. In Degree Status Date enter the date the status became effective.

7. In Degree Granted Date optionally enter the date the degree was granted. This is typically the ceremonial date.

8. In Class of optionally enter the class year the students associate with. For example, 2024 for students who graduated in spring 2024.

9. In Constit Codes optionally select how to classify the students in the alumni module.

10. Click Submit.

Adding/changing degree example scenarios 

A student may have multiple internal degree rows. It’s important not to delete rows because they are required for keeping a historical record of the student’s academic record and used for government reporting such as changes of program to NSLDS.

Example 1: Student stops one major and starts another

A student stops pursuing one major - Math - and changes to a new major: Journalism.

1. The Math degree row should be marked inactive with a status date equal to the last date of attendance as it relates to the Math major.

2. A new degree row should be created with the new major of Journalism. This should be marked as the current degree.

Example 2: Student graduates

A student completes the requirements for a Math degree that is ready for conferral.

On the Math Degree row:

• Set the Status to Y - Conferred (The C - Completed Status is an optional step before conferral to note the student has completed the requirements but the degree is not yet ready to be officially conferred and placed on the transcript. Both C and Y statuses are included in the NSC Grads Only report.)

• For the Status Date enter the student's last day of attendance as your institution defines it for Title IV purposes or enter the enter the conferral date. The NSC report may be configured to use this date as the graduation (G) status date.

• For the Date Granted enter the conferral date; this date will appear on the transcript. The NSC report may be configured to use this date as the graduation (G) status date.

• In Class Of optionally enter the year the graduation year for which the student identifies. This field is utilized by the alumni module to segregate graduation classes.

• For the End Date Override enter the student's last day of attendance. The NSC report may be configured to use this date as the graduation (G) status date.

Example 3: Current undergraduate applies for a master’s degree

A current undergraduate student yet to graduate applies for a master’s program. An application will not change the student’s degree or add a new degree row for the master's.

1. Add a second degree row manually containing the master’s degree information. Do not mark the degree as current.

2. When the student completes the undergraduate degree, edit the undergraduate degree to set as conferred. Then edit the graduate degree as the current degree.

External degrees

External degrees are degrees the student earned at another institution. You may optionally record them for reporting and tracking purposes.

External degrees must be defined in Campus Cafe to be selected. To differentiate external and internal degrees, Campus Cafe recommends starting all external majors with a standard letter code, e.g. X.

Add external degree

1. Go to the person’s profile.

2. Go to Person Selected > Degrees/Majors.

3. Uncheck the box next to Add Internal or uncheck for External Deg

4. Click Add.

5. At a minimum, select:

   • Type of degree

   • Level of the degree

   • Major

   • Begin Semester

   • Expected Grad Sem (which would normally be the semester the student graduated)

   • Date Granted

6. Click Save.