Posthumous Degree

A deceased student may be considered a candidate for a posthumous degree if they are in good academic standing with Greenville University at the time of death. Good standing is defined as having a cumulative GPA above 3.0.   Additionally, the student must have been enrolled at the time of death or their continuous enrollment was interrupted by their injury, illness, deployment, etc.  Grades of W will be issued for each course in which the student was currently enrolled.  No record of future courses for which the student may have already been registered but which have not yet begun will appear on the student’s transcript.

Types of Posthumous Degrees and Criteria

• Earned Degree (The degree will be posted to the student’s record.)
  • A graduate student must have completed all but the final capstone/thesis (BUSN 582, BUSN 583, or EDUC 583) or professional semester (EDUC 582) to be awarded an earned degree.
• Honorary Degree (The degree will not be posted to the student’s record.)
  • A graduate student must have completed 75% of their degree requirements to be awarded an honorary degree.
• Presidential Degree (The degree will not be posted to the student’s record.)
  • A graduate student must have completed 25% of their degree requirements to be awarded a presidential degree.

Approval for posthumous degrees will follow the same process as all other degrees.  First, the degree must be approved by the Records Office, then the faculty, and finally by the President and trustees.

Students being awarded a posthumous degree will have their name included in the commencement program.  The Records Office will post the posthumous degree effective the May following death.  All three posthumous degrees will be marked as awarded posthumously on the academic transcript.