Undergraduate School Policy for Application and Admissions

Applications for both on-and off-campus programming are considered in the same manner. Students are initially admitted to the University, and they are later considered for admission to the chosen degree program.

For admission to the University:

The applicant must have a 2.0 cumulative gpa on all transferable coursework attempted within the last three years (Three-year Forgiveness Policy).

If the applicant is less than 24 years of age they must meet the Minimum Admissions Requirements by:

1. Having a high school transcript reflecting appropriate units credit to meet MARS or

2. Completing at least 6 semester hours of transferable credit in English, math, science and social science or

3. Attaining the AA or AS degree. If the applicant is a previous Appalachian student s/he must have a sufficient previous grade point average to return to Appalachian or must meet the One-Year or Three-year Forgiveness Policies for re-entry. (The forgiveness policies enable former Appalachian students to return under a 0.00 cumulative grade point average so that their cumulative gpa's begin anew upon re-entry.)

The application form and transcripts for off-campus program applicants are sent to the Office of Extension and Distance Education so that an initial “working file” may be prepared.  Applications and transcripts are then routed through the Office of Admissions.  Typical admission notification response time following receipt of all transcripts and the application form is one month.

Appropriate courses and credit hours are transferred, but no grades are entered upon entry.  A grade of “D” in most transfer courses will automatically serve to meet a requirement but the hours will not count toward graduation.  English and mathematics courses are exceptions to this rule in that a proficiency test must be passed for a transfer grade of “D” to be allowed to waive a requirement.

University admission is the first step in entering an off-campus program.  A student must, also, be admitted to the college in which s/he is majoring.  Because a student must achieve a certain cumulative gpa on Appalachian coursework as a part of the admission to the major college the student must be enrolled in Appalachian courses for, typically, 15 semester hours prior to the consideration for admission to the major college.

Programs Requirements for Admittance to the Major College for [Current] Off-Campus Undergraduate Degree
 
     An off-campus student generally has the first year of off-campus coursework within which to meet the requirements necessary for being admitted to the degree program.  This time allows the student to accumulate the necessary 15 semester hours of Appalachian coursework.  If a student does not meet the degree program requirements by the appropriate term, s/he will be unable to advance into the remaining upper-level courses to be offered.  The following outlines the college requirements for the various off-campus undergraduate majors.

Elementary Education, Middle Grades Education , and Special Education (Reich College of Education);Child Development: Birth through Kindergarten (College of Fine and Applied Arts)

Admission to teacher education includes:

Social Work (College of Arts and Sciences)

(It is important that students pursuing the BSW degree complete the cognate courses, sometimes termed “sociology lower-level core,” early in the program in order to satisfy pre-requisites for certain social work courses.)