Advising Frequently Asked Questions

The academic catalog contains the set of rules, regulations, policies, programs, requirements, and courses for a given academic year. Students are normally bound by the requirements of the catalog in effect the academic year they were admitted to their degree college. However, if students have since declared a major or minor that had not been offered when they were admitted to their degree college, their catalog year may differ. 

The Undergraduate Catalog webpage features the most current academic year's catalog. Older catalog years can be found by hovering over the Academic Policies tab on that webpage and selecting Archived Catalogs.

Degree requirements can be found in your Degree Audit. Degree Audit is a tool in MyRED that outlines requirements needed to complete your degree. The Degree Audit shows your progress, including completed (both UNL and transfer credit), in progress/registered, and remaining requirements. Degree Audit can be found in MyRED > Degree Audit > See Progress.

Yes. The College of Business has developed Sample Four-Year Plans for each of our majors. The plans can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog and in your Degree Audit. These plans were developed as guides. Be sure to double check your specific course sequencing and consult with an advisor.

Not all courses are available every semester. Plan ahead in scheduling the last three semesters of coursework to ensure a timely graduation. You may use the typical Business Course Offerings webpage as a reference to assist in planning along with consulting an advisor.

Achievement Centered Education (ACE) can be considered UNL’s general education requirements. The courses are outcome-based and designed to enhance the undergraduate experience by providing broad exposure to multiple disciplines, complementing the major, and helping students develop important reasoning, inquiry, and civic capacities. There are 10 ACE categories and all UNL students complete each of these. For College of Business students, 6 of the 10 ACE categories are already built into specific degree requirements (ex. ECON 211/212 satisfies ACE 6). CoB students only need to choose ACE 4, 5, 7, and 9. 

Yes, depending on the requirements. If a course is certified within two ACE categories, it can only be used to satisfy one ACE category. 

For students on catalog years prior to 2025-2026: ACE courses can be double counted with the 300/400 level requirement. Some ACE 9 courses can also be used to satisfy the International Business Course Requirement (IBCR). See the online Undergraduate Catalog or visit with an advisor for full details.

An elective course can be any course that does not already fulfill a degree requirement in the College of Business and is used to meet the 120-credit hour requirement. These courses can also be used to pursue a second major or minor in or out of the College.

All majors within the College of Business require some amount of elective coursework for the degree. Some students may satisfy electives with transfer credit. Talk to your advisor to verify how many electives you have remaining.

It depends. Students on the 2025-2026 catalog and after do not need an International Business course (IBCR). All students on catalogs prior to 2025-2026 are required to take an International Business Course except for Accounting majors. Students who plan carefully can double count their International Business course (IBCR) in their Business Core-Major, Business Elective, second major, minor, or possibly ACE 9. A list of courses that satisfy the IBCR requirement can be found in your Degree Audit.

A University of Nebraska cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher at the time of declaration is required in order to declare a major in the College of Business. If a student does not have a University of Nebraska GPA yet, then the UNL Admission requirements are enforced.

Schedule an appointment with a College of Business advisor to discuss declaring or changing a major within the College, or to discuss adding a minor as a College of Business student. An advisor will submit the declaration/change requests for majors/minors. If interested in declaring a major within a different UNL college, contact that college’s advising office for scheduling assistance. 

No. The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at UNL does not require the completion of a minor.

Adding a minor, either in business or in another field, allows you to explore other areas in depth.  A minor may also help you to stand out from other job candidates, making you more marketable. Many minors (not all) range between 12-18 credit hours and may fit within your elective degree requirements if planned carefully.

A co-requisite refers to a course component (ex. recitation, quiz and/or laboratory class) that is required to be taken at the same time as the course lecture. (Both must be included at the time of registration.) A prerequisite is a course or requirement that must be completed before enrolling in a course. If a course is allowed concurrently with a given course, then the concurrent course may either be completed prior to or at the same time as the course.

UNL offers some courses that overlap in content, therefore, students may not earn credit for both courses. These courses are called antirequisites. Visit the Academic Policies & Procedures webpage for more information and a listing of antirequisites.

Pass/No Pass stipulations are listed in the Undergraduate Catalog. P/NP courses may only count toward the general elective requirement. ALL courses for the Non-Business (ACE courses) and Business Coursework requirements (Business Core, Major, and Business Elective (if applicable)) must be taken for a grade unless the course is only offered as P/NP (ex. BSAD 111, 222, etc.). For students on catalogs prior to 2025-2026, the International Business Course Requirement and the 300/400 Upper-Level Requirement must also be taken for a grade. Business students are allowed to count a maximum of 6 credit hours P/NP toward the degree (excluding BSAD 395 (and cross-listings) Internship credit), depending on their catalog year. Courses taken for a minor may also need to be taken for a grade, depending on the minor. We recommend you talk to an advisor prior to taking a course P/NP to make sure the course will fulfill a graduation requirement. Note: A Pass is equivalent to earning a C or higher.

Talk to an advisor. You will change your course status through MyRED, but it is in your best interest to talk to an advisor beforehand to make sure it will count for your degree. A tutorial explaining how to change a course’s grade option can be found on the Registration Tutorials webpage.

Maybe. If you’re currently in the course and the Pass/No Pass deadline has not occurred yet, you can change your “grade option” in MyRED. If the deadline has occurred or the course was in a prior semester, meet with an advisor to discuss the potential for submitting a Grade Option Appeal pending eligibility.

It depends. You may need to talk to an advisor. If the course is a prerequisite to another course that requires you to earn a C or higher in the prerequisite, you will need to retake it. For example, you must earn a C or higher in ACCT 201 to be eligible for ACCT 202. If you earn an F in a required course, you must also retake it.

If the course is not a prerequisite with minimum grade requirement for another course, you do not have to retake it as long as you earned credit for the course (a D- or higher). If the course is not required for your degree, talk with your advisor about whether retaking it is the best option. Note: Some minors require a C or higher in minor courses. 

A D- grade will count toward the business degree. However, if a specific grade is required to advance to a next level course or to count toward a minor/certificate requirement, the D- may not be sufficient. Additionally, business students must maintain a 2.5 cumulative GPA to continue in many upper-level business courses as well as to apply for graduation.

Dropping a course occurs earlier in the semester and results in the course being removed from your transcript. Withdrawing from a course occurs later in the semester and results in a W appearing on your transcript. 

If you drop/withdraw from a course that is required for your degree, you will have to retake it. When thinking about dropping/withdrawing from a course, it is important to consider how the drop/withdraw will affect your total credit hours, financial aid eligibility, full-time status, GPA, and timeline for graduation. If applicable, it may also be beneficial to consult with Husker Hub (financial aid/scholarships), Military & Veteran Success Center (military/veteran benefits), or International Student & Scholar Office (immigration/student visa).

Talk to an advisor. You drop/withdraw from courses through MyRED but it is in your best interest to talk to an advisor beforehand to make sure it is okay to drop/withdraw. A tutorial explaining how to drop/withdraw from a course in MyRED can be found on the Registration Tutorials webpage.

A W means that you withdrew from a course after the drop deadline. It does not state why you withdrew (grade, interest, changed major, etc). It will be noted on the transcript, is not replaceable, and will not affect your GPA. Meet with an advisor if you have additional questions. 

The Academic Calendar is where important academic dates and deadlines can be found. Examples of the types of dates/deadlines are: student holidays/breaks and UNL holiday closures; course registration dates; semester start date, finals week and graduation; last day to drop a course, withdraw or change a course to/from Pass/No Pass; refund deadlines; graduation application submission deadline.

Yes. A student can transfer in a maximum of 60 credit hours from a 2-year institution and international institutions and 90 credit hours from a 4-year institution. However, there are various rules concerning transfer courses and the way they count toward your degree. It is highly recommended that you meet with an advisor before taking transfer courses. Please note that business courses from a 2-year institution will only transfer to UNL at the 100/200 level. 

To replace a grade in a course you took at UNL, you must retake it within the NU system, consisting of these institutions: Lincoln, Omaha, and Kearney. Once the new grade is earned and transferred to UNL, additional steps will need to be taken to complete the recalculation. Talk with your advisor to learn more. 

Grades do not transfer from any other institutions, so it is not possible to complete a grade repeat outside of the University of Nebraska system.

For students on the 2025-2026 catalog and forward, a maximum of 18 hours of required business coursework (Business Core, Business Major, and Business Elective) may transfer toward the business degree. Further restrictions include:

• Maximum of 1 300/400 level transfer course (3 hours) in the Business Core
• Maximum of 1 transfer course (3 hours) in the Business Major 
• A maximum of 3 hours may transfer toward each subsequent business major and/or minor. These 3 hours do not contribute toward the 18-hour limit noted above. 

Variations of the above rules may only occur through an appeal made through an advisor in BASE.

Check the Nebraska Course Equivalency List to determine how a course will transfer back to UNL Nebraska. If you are unable to find a particular transfer course from another institution, visit with an advisor about the possibility of having the course evaluated. An evaluation will require you to obtain the syllabus from the other institution to submit to UNL for review. Consult an advisor to verify if the transfer coursework will apply toward your degree. 

It depends. A student can transfer up to 60 credits from an international institution. Business courses from an international institution may only transfer at the 100/200 level unless the institution is AACSB accredited. Students will need to work with an advisor to discuss the process of having courses evaluated to determine if they will count toward degree requirements. (Note: International credit earned through study abroad has different policies.)

Institutions typically have a page on their website with information on how to request a transcript. Try searching “official transcript” or “request transcript” on that institution’s website. Another option is to call the institution’s Registrar’s Office for assistance. It is recommended to send electronically, if available, as it tends to be the quickest.

Current students can request an official transcript through MyRED by hovering over the Academics tab and choosing Order Official Transcript. Additional information can be found on the Ordering Transcripts webpage. 

There are several steps in the process to being cleared for graduation. The main two are 1) Applying for graduation in MyRED at the beginning of your final semester (to indicate intent to graduate pending completed requirements), and 2) verifying all degree requirements  are showing as in progress or complete on the official tab of your Degree Audit. Verify all intended majors and minors are also appearing on the Degree Audit. If any requirement appears unaccounted for, please connect with an advisor as soon as possible to identify the issue. 

A student applies for graduation at the beginning of their last semester at UNL. The application is available in MyRED > Academics tab. Business students must have a 2.5 cumulative GPA in order to apply. For more information on graduation, visit the Graduation Application webpage.=

The Dean’s List is an academic honor awarded by the College to recognize students who demonstrated academic excellence in a given semester. 

You will be notified by email. Students must complete 12 or more graded credit hours for that semester (P/NP hours do not apply) and earn a minimum of 3.6 GPA for the semester. Dean's List recipients are published on the College of Business Undergraduate Dean's List webpage.   

If you've verified that you made the Dean's List and your name doesn't appear, you likely selected to restrict your information to outside sources, so no information about you can be disclosed. This includes honors you receive while attending UNL.

To be eligible for distinction, a student must complete 42 graded credit hours (excluding P/NP) at UNL prior to the semester they graduate and must have completed 57 such credit hours at the time they graduate. Highest Distinction is assigned to candidates with a 3.9 cumulative GPA or above, High Distinction is assigned to candidates with a 3.8 cumulative GPA or above, and Distinction is assigned to candidates with a 3.7 cumulative GPA or above. Distinction is determined based on the cumulative GPA prior to the semester of graduation. Students who are awarded the honor of distinction are notified in the final semester of their studies. This information is also available on the CoB Degrees with Distinction webpage.

College of Business scholarships are available for current students and are awarded based on scholarship and donor specifications, including student financial need, academic performance, major, and class standing, among other factors. To be considered for financial need criteria, students need to have completed a current FAFSA. The Current Student Scholarship application opens in early October in MyRED > Financial Aid. They are due by February 1^st. Contact Husker Hub for assistance exploring other scholarship opportunities. Visit our Current Student Scholarships webpage for more information.