University adopts 30-course minimum graduation requirement

By Sophia Oppedisano 

Editor-in-Chief

By Dylan Pichnarcik 

Associate Editor

The minimum number of course requirements has been reduced from 32 to 30 credits for all enrolled undergraduate students effective immediately, according to an email sent to faculty and staff by Provost Kristen Porter-Utley on Oct. 1. 

An additional email was sent notifying students about the change by University Registrar Mark Powers on Oct. 8. 

President Nancy Niemi approved the change, which Porter-Utley wrote in her email “reflects our commitment to supporting every student’s path to timely degree completion.”

The new minimum requirement will be automatically applied to students’ academic records, and they will be advised accordingly for the Spring 2026 semester, Porter-Utley wrote. 

“We're trying to think about time to degree and time to graduation. What are the things that we should be thinking about in terms of our academic program to ensure that we're offering a quality program that we need to offer? Are there ways in which we can assist with time to degree? That's basically where we started in the conversation,” Porter-Utley said in an interview with The Gatepost. 

Niemi said in addition to helping students complete their degrees, “[We were] thinking about how we serve our students well - particularly in the context of the state university system.”

According to Niemi, every other institution in the Massachusetts state university system already follows a 30-credit minimum model. 

Both Niemi and Porter-Utley said they want to ensure students know 30 credits is now the minimum number of credits that must be taken to qualify for graduation. Some majors will require students to take more than 30 credits to complete a degree. 

The 30-credit minimum and standing major requirements continue to be in accordance with requirements set by the New England Commission for Higher Education, which requires a minimum of 120 course credit hours.

The log to change the minimum number of credits required to graduate was submitted by Susan Dargan, former dean of the College of Education and Social & Behavioral Science, and Patricia Thomas, dean of the College of Business, to the All-University Committee (AUC) on January 24, according to AUC Chair Sarah Mabrouk.

According to Academic Policies Committee (APC) Chair Stefan Papaioannou, “AUC really decides which committee it goes to based on what the scope of that committee is and what the proposal is. So they forwarded it to the APC. That's usually a pretty routine process.” 

APC is defined by the Massachusetts State College Association (MSCA) contract as a committee which, “after receiving from the All-University Committee any recommendation submitted by any member of the university community, the Academic Policies Committee shall from time to time prepare and transmit to the Vice President reports and recommendations” which would revise academic standards. 

According to Papaioannou, this log fell under “academic standards,” which is why APC was tasked with making a recommendation on it.

APC voted 5-6-1 against the log on March 28, he said. 

After the log was discussed and voted on by APC, it was sent back to AUC to be voted on for final approval or disapproval, according to Papaioannou. In this case, APC and AUC disagreed on the log, he said.

AUC voted 8-1-0 in favor of the log on April 11, according to the committee's approved meeting minutes.

This log was “particularly contentious” because “it affects the entire course of study for all students. … It seems higher stakes,” Papaioannou said. 

In an effort to reconcile the dispute between the committees, Papaioannou said he and Mabrouk had conversations with MSCA Framingham’s President Benjamin Alberti, as well as the head of the MSCA.

Following those conversations, APC voted to create a document that allowed any voting member of AUC and APC to contribute their perspectives on the log, according to Papaioannou.

Mabrouk wrote in an email to The Gatepost that “Sharing ideas and information is always important when conflicts arise, and the [document] provided a helpful venue via which to do so.”

All arguments included in the document are anonymous.

Arguments in favor of the log include points that the change will serve as a “potential solution” for the “retention and graduation crisis.” 

Currently, FSU’s graduation rate is approximately 47%, according to Lorretta Holloway, vice president of Student Success and a member of the All University Committee (AUC).

Another argument in favor of the log cited the financial decisions students have to make if only one or two credits must be completed before they qualify for graduation. Additionally, the flexibility of the 30-credit system is desirable for students who are faced with those decisions, as well as transfer students.

“We know from experience that many, not all of our students, but many of our students, finish their degree requirements and get toward the end of their degree, and they have one or two more courses left. … That's certainly not all of our students, but when you get to that point, we worry about the meaning of trying to take two more courses,” Niemi said.

She said faculty are often put in a position where they need to tell students to “take any two classes” or they must take College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams to test out of certain requirements in order to graduate. 

Opposition to the log included arguments about how the change may “squeeze out” elective courses and dissuade students from pursuing minors. As a result, students’ time at the University would be solely focused on major requirements and a “limited menu” of general education courses. 

Holloway said there was concern within AUC regarding a decrease in academic standards if the log to approve the change was passed. 

She said she did not share this concern because it’s not forcing people to cut classes from their schedules because many majors on campus will still require 32 or more credits for degree completion. This is based on outside requirements and certifications that go along with a specific major area of study, she added. 

Students are also not limited to 30 credits and can elect to take more courses for credit, according to Holloway. 

The document was sent to Niemi for consideration along with the recommendations on the log from APC and AUC. 

“I took those arguments, pro and con, very seriously. I read every one of them, and I can see exactly how the decision could have gone either way,” Niemi said. 

Porter-Utley said, “We had a split vote of two governing bodies composed of the same proportions of faculty and staff who came to different decisions, and then it was up to the president to consider those votes and then also the document they sent forward for her consideration.” 

Porter-Utley, who is also a member of AUC, said she was in favor of the log because it offers “reduced time to graduation for students,” and it will help transfer students “complete their degree programs in a much more timely way, depending upon how much they're bringing to the institution.

“Results of studies published by Gallup and other organizations have also shown that reducing these kinds of barriers for students can potentially really advantage certain populations of minoritized students,” she added.

Niemi said, “The truly compelling arguments for me were the potential for equity, particularly among minoritized populations, but also the flexibility for all of our students to be able to have a little more bandwidth. … It also means that you have a degree that you can use to do the things that you want and need to do.”

Alberti wrote in an email to The Gatepost that faculty response to this change has been “mixed.

“Some see the change as a slippery slope to reducing the ‘seriousness’ of a degree from FSU. Others see it as in line with other universities and helps students to graduate sooner,” he wrote. 

Alberti said he is concerned “30 credits means about 7% fewer classes needed overall to graduate, which might have an impact on the number of classes we get to offer or class enrollment.” 

Porter-Utley said this is “possible,” but it is not clear if it will become an issue. “I'm not sure - it depends upon how the departments now respond,” she added. 

Niemi said, “I'd be careful about any of us making that causal link that because of this change, we're just going to have fewer courses. We could have increases in specific kinds of courses. We could have increases in specific kinds of internships or work experiences and so on, because of the flexibility. So, it's the flexibility that's the key, and because the departments are the ones that make their majors and make the requirements for them, then the keys are really in their hands, which is where they should be.” 

Lawrence McKenna, chair of Environment, Society, & Sustainability, said, “This is a really complex issue, and a simple yes or no answer to the idea of 30 versus 32 credits is impossible because this issue intersects the way that education is changing in the United States. … Anyone who tells you, ‘Oh, I'm for it,’ or ‘Oh, I'm against it,’ doesn't understand the subtleties.”

McKenna said reducing the minimum requirement to 30 credits means students have to take 6.25% fewer classes to graduate. “That means eventually we'll need 6.25% fewer professors to teach those classes. … It's one of the many complex aspects of this issue.

“What makes us unique is that we have faculty here who want to teach. What makes us unique is we have faculty here who love being in the classroom and find a thrill in it every morning,” McKenna said. “I've never been at a place where the faculty are so friendly and collegial and supportive. It's not like that in most places. The question comes back again to how do we build change, keep the core of who we are, but allow us to change into the future?”

Niemi said there will not be a reduction in the number of faculty as a result of this change. “That is an erroneous slope. We have 120-credit-hour degree programs at a minimum that we have to have. We need faculty to teach all of those. There is no link between fewer credits that you need to graduate and the number of faculty that I saw at all - that was not part of my consideration.”

Lynn Parker, an English professor and member of APC, said the new 30-credit system “might be fine if it was done in a thoughtful and careful manner. It feels like less bang for your buck, because students can still take 32 [credits], which is lovely, but most people won't.”

Parker said she is concerned students will be less inclined to take courses outside of their majors or hesitant to pick up minors since they do not have to exceed 30 credits. 

“I don't understand why we would be in a hurry to foster that system without doing more research. I'm not unaware of the benefits as far as enrollment goes, but I'm not convinced we did enough research on the educational downside,” she added. 

As advising for the Spring 2026 semester approaches, Parker said the overwhelming reaction she’s gotten from her advisees is “confusion and a double edge,” where some of her students are excited they do not have to take an extra intercession class to graduate on time, but some have found out the extra classes they may have taken were unnecessary. 

Parker said APC and AUC did not settle the matter of when students should take a shorter semester throughout their four years and how that issue will be settled in advising. 

“You take three semesters, presumably, of four credits, and then two semesters of three credits somewhere along the line. So when do you choose to do that? Do you wait and then still have four credits in the graduating year? Because so many programs have requirements in that final year. If that's the case, and you've opted to take three credits earlier, you're in the same bind,” she said. 

David Restrick, director of the Advising Center, said the change will only affect the language used by advisors in regard to speaking with new students about meeting graduation requirements. 

He added the 30-credit minimum requirement will provide students with flexibility in their schedules. 

“It gives students some wiggle room if there's a semester where there's a particularly rough class that they don't think they're going to pass. If they withdraw from that, depending on their major, it may not necessarily set them back,” Restrick said. 

He said the change is “really a service to students,” particularly students whose degree completion would be delayed if they did not reach the 32-credit requirement by their anticipated graduation date.  

Senior David Abe walked at the May 2025 commencement ceremony. However, he returned to FSU for the Fall 2025 semester to earn two additional credits for the completion of his degree. 

Holloway handles the appeals for Commencement participation. She reviews each case and determines if a student can participate in Commencement if they have outstanding degree requirements. 

Currently, students can be eligible to participate in Commencement even if they have 2.75 credits left to complete their degree, according to Holloway. 

If a student chooses to submit an appeal so they can participate in Commencement, they must hold a certain GPA, be registered for the required courses at FSU or an outside institution, or be registered for the respective CLEP exam, according to Holloway. 

Abe said he found out approximately four weeks from the end of the Spring 2025 semester that he had outstanding course requirements through his DegreeWorks audit.

After working with Holloway to submit an appeal, he was able to participate in Commencement and return to FSU to complete his degree requirements. 

“To be honest, it kind of blindsided me because I thought that I was walking inside of graduation and that everything was all set - all of my courses lined up properly for me to graduate. But I did notice a 0.75 credit that just felt like it randomly appeared at the end,” he said. 

Abe said he was pleased to walk at Commencement.“I'm happy that they're implementing this, and hopefully the things that happened to me won't happen to anybody else. But I do kind of feel blindsided by this as well. You're telling me that I could have been finished? But I'm happy to be here - the Framingham community is amazing.”

Junior Jeremy Gonzalez said he is “a little behind right now, so I look at it as something that helps us.”

Gonzalez said there are times when every college student might be having a difficult time applying themselves to their courses. “I feel like bringing it down to 30 helps the people like me and the people in my shoes. It just gives you more of a light at the end of the tunnel,” he added.

Freshman Destiny Perkins said, “I don’t mind it. … I feel like it gives me a stress reliever that I don’t have to get that extra two [credits].”

Sophomore Diana Lemus said she “doesn’t have any negative feelings” about the new minimum number of credits. 

“I do think it will make me graduate earlier, as I already had previous credits, but I was just short slightly to graduate a year early,” she said. 

Freshman Xaviar Witherspoon said he “thinks it’s way better. It gives students an easier opportunity to excel faster and not have to worry about doing more work as opposed to the requirements.”

[ Editor’s Note: David Abe is a staff illustrator for The Gatepost. ]