Frequently Asked Questions

The Commencement Ceremony is open to students who meet the following criteria: 

1.  The student has applied for graduation

2.  The student is enrolled in all of the remaining classes required for their degree. 

3.  The classes in which the student is enrolled all end prior to the date of the Commencement Ceremony. 

The only exception allowed is for students who are enrolled at Harding during Intersession for a single course that completes their degree requirements.  These students may walk in the May Commencement Ceremony, but their degree conferral will occur in the Summer following the ceremony.  

Students who complete their degrees during the Summer will have their degrees conferred during the Summer, and they are welcome to return to campus for participation in the December Commencement Ceremony. 

Go to the Student area of Pipeline, and inside the Registrar Forms section, click on the Major/Minor Change link.  A new window will open and you will complete each box, clicking "next" to continue until the form is complete.  Hit submit. 

Students should apply for graduation by October 1 in the Fall semester prior to a Spring graduation, and by March 1 for a Summer or Fall semester graduation.  Students who apply after the deadline will be charged a $50 late fee.  While the deadline requires students to apply one semester before graduation, the Graduation Application Form is available to students two semesters prior to graduation, and there is no penalty for applying early. 

The Graduation Application form is located in the Student Records area of Pipeline. 

When the Graduation Application is received, the Registrar's Office does a thorough review of the student's transcript and degree evaluation, and sends an email to the student and his or her advisor, informing them if the student is on track for graduation or not.  If there are courses necessary for graduation that the student has not taken or is not currently taking, they are informed about the lacking requirements. 

The advantage of applying on time or early for graduation is that if the student lacks requirements for graduation, they are informed at least one semester prior to graduation, which gives the student at least one semester to take the missing course or courses and remain on track for their intended graduation date.  Students who apply for graduation during the semester in which they plan to graduate lose this benefit, and usually find out about missing requirements after the deadline to add courses during the semester they planned to graduate.  Students who apply after the deadline often do not graduate by their target date, so on-time application for graduation is strongly encouraged. 

Harding students can take courses at other schools, but they are limited to 18 hours of transfer credit after they become a Harding student. 

Concurrent enrollment is when a Harding student is taking one or more courses at another college during the same semester in which they are enrolled at Harding.  All courses at the other college must be pre-approved by submitting the Transfer Course Pre-approval form on Pipeline.  Concurrent enrollment can affect a student's financial aid status, so it is always wise to consult with the Financial Aid Office to see if doing concurrent enrollment will affect you in a negative way. 

Students who have courses pre-approved for transfer can do concurrent enrollment starting with their second semester of enrollment at Harding and up until the semester before graduation.  Students are not approved for concurrent enrollment during their first semester or during the semester of graduation.  During a student's first and last semesters at Harding, all courses must be Harding courses. 

The transfer course pre-approval form is located in the Registrar Forms section of Pipeline.  This must be submitted before the student enrolls in the course at the other school.  Once the form is received, we research the accreditation of the school, and the content of the course.  We determine if the course is equivalent to a Harding course, and if the transfer course will satisfy a requirement within the student's chosen degree plan.  In some cases, we are able to find a different course at the school under consideration that would be a better fit for the student's educational plans, and advise the student to take that course instead.  We also check to be sure that the student is not repeating a course by mistake. 

During the first five days of a full semester, a course can be dropped within the Schedule Planner on Pipeline, by the student.  Starting with the second week of the term, the student must submit the Drop Form on Pipeline.  The form is in the Registrar Forms section of Pipeline.  If the course withdrawal is approved, the student is dropped from the course, and the Business Office will charge the student account for the $10 drop fee.  

It is always wise to consult with the teacher of the course to see if there is anything you can do to succeed in the course before withdrawing.  In many cases, teachers have additional assistance they can recommend that may salvage your grade in the course.  You should also consult with your faculty advisor to see how dropping the course will affect your strategy for graduation, and to make a plan for how and when you will take the course again.  If you receive Financial Aid, it is a good idea to check with the Financial Aid Office to know how dropping a course will affect your Financial Aid eligibility.  College Athletes should always inform the Athletic Office in the Ganus Activities Center if they are dropping a course, as the reduced hours can affect athletic eligibility for competition. 

If you took college courses during High School as part of a dual-enrollment arrangement with a local Community College, you must order an official transcript from that Community College, and request they send it to the Harding University Admissions Office.  The privacy law regulating college records requires that only you can order your college transcript;  your High School or parents cannot do this for you.  Most colleges have a place on their website where you can place an order for an official transcript. 

AP and CLEP credit earned before a student enrolls at Harding must be received by Harding and posted on the transcript before the end of a student's first semester at Harding.  AP or CLEP credit transcripts must be ordered from AP and/or CLEP, and those documents should be sent from AP & CLEP directly to the Testing Office at Harding University.  This is another one of those things that you, the student, must initiate.  Your High School or parents cannot do this for you.  The Testing Office will review your official score reports, determine which classes, if any, you will receive credit for at Harding, and will inform the Registrar about the courses to post to your Harding transcript. 

If you are a transfer student with AP or CLEP credit awarded to you at your previous school, you must order new AP or CLEP score reports and have them sent to Harding for review.  Passing scores on AP or CLEP exams vary from college to college, so Harding needs to see your original score reports to make a determination for how to award credit here. 

The Maximum Credit Load Request Form is available in the Registrar Forms section of Pipeline.  Before submitting the form, please be aware of the following policies surrounding Maximum Credit: 

Eligibility for Maximum Credit Load requires a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA, or a 3.0 or higher term GPA in the preceding semester. 

Freshmen (26 or fewer hours) are limited to a maximum of 18 hours.  

Sophomores (27 to 59 hours) may take up to 19 hours with approval. 

Juniors (60 to 89 hours) may take up to 20 hours with approval. 

Seniors (90 or more hours) may take up to 21 hours if they have applied for graduation and are in the final two semesters prior to graduation.  Seniors with less than 3.0 GPA will be decided on an individual basis. 

Max Credit Load includes any courses taken at another college during the semester under consideration.  Under no circumstances may any student, regardless of GPA or classification, enroll in more than 21 hours (including any concurrent enrollment hours). 

A variety of offices on campus place holds on student accounts.  Some holds prevent registration for new classes or changing your schedule.  Some holds prevent you from viewing or ordering a transcript.  Some can prevent you from receiving your diploma.  

All holds should be seen as a request from an administrative office for the student to do something.  When the student completes the requested task, the hold is removed. 

To learn more about a hold, go to Pipeline, and open the Student Records section.  Inside that section, you will find a link with the title "View Holds".  Click on that link. 

When you open that link, you will see several column headings with information below the heading.  This will tell you when the hold began, when it's set to end, what type of hold it is, and the reason for the hold.  The key column heading to focus on here is the "Originator" column heading.  That column identifies which office put the hold on your account.  You must contact that office to discuss what you need to do to have the hold removed.  The Registrar's Office cannot remove a hold that has been set up by another office.  Do not contact the Registrar's Office about a hold unless you see the word "Registrar" in the Originator Column.  The best we can do is refer you to the office that placed the hold on your account; we cannot remove the hold. 

These are the offices on campus where most holds originate: 

Registrar           501-279-4057         registrar@harding.edu

Business Office   501-279-4336        businessoffice@harding.edu

Student Life        501-279-4331       studentlife@harding.edu

Financial Aid       501-279-4257        finaid@harding.edu

Every college has a catalog that covers all of the degrees offered by the institution, and the academic policies that regulate the process for students and faculty.  The Harding University catalog is available online from the icon in the upper right corner of your Pipeline screen (it’s an open book with an “HU” logo on it).  https://catalog.harding.edu/

Harding provides many tools to assist faculty and students in navigating the path to graduation.  We have degree evaluations, departmental handouts, faculty advisors, the University College, and Pipeline.  However, the Catalog is the official document for degree requirements and academic policies.  If there is disagreement between the content of a degree evaluation (or other resource, including your faculty advisor or the Registrar) and the Catalog, the Catalog wins.  Students are responsible for knowing the policies and degree requirements as stated in the catalog.  Please note the following statement from the catalog: 

“Lack of knowledge, incorrect interpretation of University policies and regulations, or advice which differs from the catalog does not remove the student from the obligation to satisfy all requirements for a degree. The student bears the ultimate responsibility for knowing the requirements of and completing a degree program.”

It is wise to review your degree plan and major in the catalog, and familiarize yourself with the Academic Policies (https://catalog.harding.edu/content.php?catoid=42&navoid=3039) as well. 

Some important things to know about the catalog: 

1. The default catalog for you is the one in effect when you initially enrolled at Harding. If you joined the Harding community in 2019, you cannot use a catalog prior to that year for your degree requirements.  You also have 8 years to use a catalog.  Once your catalog is 8 years old, you’ll need to switch to a newer catalog to graduate. 
2. If you change your major, or leave Harding for more than two years, you must switch to the current catalog. To ensure all students are graduating under up-to-date curriculum standards, students who change majors or leave school for more than two years are automatically moved to the catalog in effect as of the date of their major change or return to school. Your major, minor, and all concentrations must be from the same catalog.

If you are transferring to Harding from a Community College, or if you took dual-enrollment courses during High School, the concept of "upper-level" credit may be new to you. 

Harding requires 45 hours of upper-level credit to graduate.  Courses numbered 3000 or higher are considered upper-level credit.  Upper-level courses are junior/senior level courses, often have prerequisites, and typically involve more in-depth subject content, a higher degree of rigor, and require more advanced writing and critical thinking skills. 

Courses from Community Colleges and Junior Colleges (2-year schools) do not count as upper-level credit, even if the title of the course is the same as an upper-level course at Harding.  Most international colleges do not designate courses as upper or lower-level credit.  A transfer course must be upper-level at the college where the credit was earned for it to be considered upper-level credit at Harding.  

The Enrollment Verification Request form is in the Registrar Forms section of Pipeline.  When you click on that link, a form will open up that you will complete.  Once you submit that form through Pipeline, we receive it, and then we send a letter on your behalf to the recipient you designated in the form. 

Unofficial transcripts are available to enrolled Harding students through Pipeline.  To view your transcript, go to the Student Records section of Pipeline.  Once you open that section, you will see a series of links on the left side of the screen.  The "Display Transcript" link is the one you want.  Once you open your transcript, you will see a printer icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.  Click on that icon and you can print your unofficial transcript or convert it to PDF.  Please note that the unofficial transcript is very unofficial.  It will not have the words "Harding University" on it.  If you need an official transcript, that can be ordered by going to the Registrar Forms section of Pipeline and clicking on the "Transcript Request" link. 

Once a student ceases to be enrolled at Harding or graduates, access to the unofficial transcript ends as the student stops using Pipeline and the account goes inactive.  We recommend that all departing students order one official transcript and have it sent to themselves for safekeeping with their other important life documents.  Over the course of your life, you will encounter many questions about your college record.  Having your own copy of the official transcript will enable you to answer those questions easily without having to order (and pay for) a new transcript every time someone has an inquiry. 

If you took Honors Symposium classes during a summer before coming to Harding, or if you've been on one of our International Program campuses, you have classes on your transcript that require you to designate how you want them used in your degree.  Classes such as HNRS 100, HUM 201, and HUM 273 will appear as elective credit in your degree evaluation until you designate how you want those credits to be used.  Go to the Registrar Forms section of Pipeline, and you'll find links for Humanities courses and Honors courses.  Click on the link appropriate to your situation, and submit the form you find there.