Note: Degree Planner is NOT used by students in the following programs:
Accounting
Addiction Studies
Business Administration
Criminal Justice
General Studies
Human Resource Management
Management
Psychology
Security Studies
If you are in one of the the programs listed above: Visit Degree Works to learn more about your degree plan.
If you made it to this page, you have chosen a program that is not available in Degree Works. You will take a specific educational planning course (explained below) to outline your degree using Degree Planner.
Access your degree plan: Degree Planner
It will take a few semesters to get this completed. Until that point, you won’t have a specific list of courses to take, but you can see your transfer credits.
You will follow the guidelines below to pick your courses.
You will register for over 12 credits if you wish to be considered a full-time student. The maximum credits allowed is 16 per term.
Course to Take before you have a Formalized Plan
1. Take courses to meet General Education requirements.
I realize that I have told you that you won’t use Degree Works for degree planning, BUT you can use Degree Works as an effective tool to guide you through all requirements (except those of your major).
Access your Degree Works audit: Degree Works
You will not see courses need for your major listed here, but you will see other useful information. For example, whether or not you need to fulfill general education requirements is indicated here.
Go to the section of Degree Works titled General Education. General Education categories with green checks indicate you have met this gen ed. Open red circles indicate that you need to meet this area. Degree Works offers a nice feature where if you click on the “attribute” link associated with that gen ed (blue circle), you will see a list of sections of courses offered that term.
In the example above, this student met the Social Science Gen Ed, but still needs to meet Foreign Language. When attribute is clicked, the student can see there are 2 sections offered next term (example below). *You can’t register directly from Degree Works (continue on in this site for more on how to register).
2. Take courses in your major.
You may register for courses listed in your degree course map. Only register for one course in each foundation/requirement.
Some popular Bachelor’s degree course maps are listed below. If you are planning to earn an Associate degree, or you don’t see your Bachelor’s degree listed here, you will receive your course map your personalized plan (Step 3). Feel free to send me an email requesting it sooner.
Educational Studies – Early Childhood
3. Meet your education planning requirement in your 2nd or 3rd Term
Education Planning is a required 4-credit course which you will take with me, most likely in your 2nd or 3rd semester. Ed Planning will teach you how to pick your courses in your major and plan your degree using our degree planner tool. You will write a rationale essay for the purpose of explaining how your course selections meet the requirements of the degree.
Your plan and essay will be sent to a committee for approval. Your degree plan is a draft until officially approved by this committee. There is no guarantee of approval, so it is best to send your degree for approval as possible during your ed planning course. After your degree is formally approved, you have a specific list of courses to take.
As part of Step #3 of this website, I let you know in which semester you can expect to take Ed Planning. Reach out to me when registering for that term so that I can give you the CRN (course registration number).
Things to Consider when Selecting Courses
Consider which level courses you are taking.
Most often, students bring lower-level transcript credit to SUNY Empire. Lower-level course numbers starting with a 1 or 2. ex: BUSN 256 or PSYC 1500.
You will need at least 45 advanced-level credits to earn a bachelor’s degree. 24 of those will be in your concentration. Advanced-level course numbers starting with a 3 or 4. ex: BUSN 3560 or PSYC 4500.
Be aware how many lower-level credits you have already earned. If you have 79 lower-level credits, the remaining credits (even gen ed) should be taken at the advanced-level in order to have 45 credits before you graduate (79 lower level + 45 advance level = 124 total credits to graduate).
Be sure you haven’t taken the course already.
When picking courses, stay away from a course that may be similar to one you took at another school. Even if you took something at a lower-level and it is advanced-level here, delay taking it. When we have a chance to build your plan, we will look at these situations more closely.
Note: Degree Works lists all your transfer courses and the Empire equivalent.
Consider future goals.
It is important to consider your future plans when deciding which courses to take as part of your degree. You are responsible for understanding requirements for graduate school admission, career certifications, etc.
Understand the Requirements of all SUNY Empire Degrees
This may be too much information when you are just getting started, but I encourage you to come back to the page linked below to fully understand the requirements your degree.