Degree Works

No. Degree Works is an unofficial advising tool. An official transcript is the official university record of completed coursework and grades.

The system generally refreshes nightly, but any changes made to a student's record (like a change of major, grade update, or registration) usually sync immediately or within 24 hours. You can also click the "Process New" button to manually pull the most recent data.

No. Degree Works is designed to assist the advising process, not replace it. Students should still meet with their advisors regularly to verify their requirements, plan future semesters, and ensure they are on track.

No. Degree Works is a planning and tracking tool. You must still use your school’s official registration portal to enroll in courses.

Your academic advisor is your first point of contact. They can help interpret the audit or contact the Registrar if there is a technical error or if a course substitution needs to be manually applied.

Degree Works displays the official information on your student record. If it is wrong, you need to reach out to your advisor, who will help you identify if you need to submit an official Change of Major/Minor form through the Registrar's Office. Once processed, Degree Works will update automatically.

The What-If tab is your personal academic sandbox. It allows you to explore different paths and see how your credits would apply to different scenarios without making any permanent changes to your official student record.
 

You can use the What-If tab to:

• Explore a new Major, Minor, or Concentration: Select a different program from the drop-down menus to instantly see how the classes you’ve already taken would count toward that new degree.
• Test drive future classes: Thinking about taking a specific class next semester? Type the course subject and number into the "Future Classes" box and run the audit to see exactly which requirement it will check off before you register for it.
• View different Catalog Years: If your major requirements changed recently, you can select a newer Catalog Year to see if switching to those new rules would help you graduate faster.

Important Note: Running a What-If audit does not officially change your major, update your catalog year, or register you for classes. It is strictly a planning tool! If you decide you want to make the change official, you will still need to contact your advisor and the Registrar's Office.

There are a few reasons this happens:

• The course may not meet the specific minimum grade required for that block.
• You may have maxed out the number of shared credits allowed between a major and a minor.
• The course might be sitting in the "Fallthrough" or "Electives" block. If you believe a course should count toward a specific requirement, contact your academic advisor to see if a course substitution or exception is needed.

Courses usually end up here if:

• They don’t fit into a specific major/minor requirement.
• You have exceeded the maximum number of allowable credits for a certain category.
• The course was a repeat of one you already passed.
• The grade received was below the minimum required for your program.

No. Degree Works shows you what you need to take, but you must still go through your official registration portal to enroll in those classes.

Your classification on Degree Works is based on your earned credits from Banner, which may not always be the same as your applied credits on Degree Works. Degree Works includes any transfer credits and your current in-progress credits, which often boosts the credit count.

Degree Works provides only your overall GPA and does not include your major GPA. Additionally, NJIT does not present a major GPA in any of its systems. 

The requirement calculator offers an assessment of a student's advancement in meeting all requisite criteria for their degree.   

Your registration time and date are not on Degree Works; they're in your Highlander Pipeline. To find your registration details, you can click our new Links menu in the top navigation bar, then click Registration Portal, and finally click Prepare for Registration. 

NOTE: Applied credits in Degree Works do not affect your time.

Use the "Notes" tab to document advising appointments, recommended courses, or specific advice. 

Important: Notes are permanent, part of the student's official educational record (subject to FERPA), and are visible to the student and any other staff member with access to Degree Works. Always keep notes professional and objective.

In Degree Works, exceptions are handled one at a time for each student directly on their audit. They override the Scribe code for that student without breaking the rules for everyone else.

You will use three main types of exceptions every day. Here is a list of what they do and when to use them:

1. Substitution (The "Swap")
This is the most common exception. You use this when a student took a different class than what the Scribe code requires, but the department chair approved it to count anyway.

• How it works: It physically removes the required course from the audit and replaces it with the course the student actually took.
• Example: The audit requires CS 113. The student took INFO 113. You process a substitution, replacing CS with INFO. The audit will now show INFO 113 as satisfying that specific line.

2. Also Allow (The "Addition")
This is similar to a substitution, but gentler. Instead of replacing the original rule, it just adds a new option to it for that specific student.

• How it works: It essentially adds a temporary OR statement to your Scribe code.
• Example: The rule says 1 Class in ENG 101. The student hasn't registered yet, but the advisor tells them they can take ENG 105 Honors instead. You add an "Also Allow" for ENG 105. The audit will now read: 1 Class in ENG 101 or 105.

3. Apply Here (The "Force")
Sometimes a student takes a perfectly valid course, but Degree Works accidentally drops it into the "Fallthrough" or "Electives" block at the bottom of the audit because of how the Scribe logic caught it.

• How it works: "Apply Here" lets you grab a specific course from the bottom of the audit and forcibly pin it to a specific requirement block, telling DW, "Stop evaluating this class and just put it exactly where I tell you." 
• Important Note: Apply Here will work for most cases. However, you will need to reach out to the Degree Works team in cases where the exception would conflict with global rules like the ten-year rule.

If you have the appropriate system permissions, you can use the "Exceptions" tab to apply a substitution or force a course to count in a specific block.

1. The "Description" Templates (Student-Facing)

Golden Rule: Keep it short, professional, and clear. This text prints directly on the student's audit right next to the requirement. If it is too long, it makes the audit look cluttered and confusing.

Substitution:

• Sub [Course Taken] for [Required Course] (e.g., Sub INFO 113 for CS 113)
• Dept Approved Sub: [Course Taken] (e.g., Dept Approved Sub: INFO 113)

Also Allow / Apply Here:

• Allowed by [Chair Name]: [Course] (e.g., Allowed by Sam Lieber : CS 499)
• Applied by [Dept Name] (Simple and clean)

2. The "Details" Templates (Internal Audit Trail)

Golden Rule: This box is your legal safety net. System admins can run reports on this information. It needs to answer the "Who, What, Why, and When" so that if the student's advisor leaves the university tomorrow, the next person knows exactly why this exception exists.

Copy and paste this exact template into the Details box and fill in the brackets:

Approved By: [Name and Title of Approver]

Date Approved: [MM/DD/YYYY]

Reason: [Brief explanation of why this was allowed]

Processed By: [Your Initials]

What a perfect Details note looks like in practice:

Approved By: Dr. Jane Doe, CS Dept Chair Date Approved: 10/24/2025 Reason: Student transferred in with a 3-credit older version of CS 113. Chair approved waving the final 1-credit lab requirement so the student can graduate on time. Processed By: J.S.

Why this structure saves you
If a graduation auditor looks at a student's record two years from now and sees a required CS class was skipped, they don't have to go hunting through old emails or paper files. The Description tells the student it's handled, and the Details gives the auditor the exact paper trail they need to clear the degree.

First, ensure you clicked "Process New" after entering the exception. If it still doesn't appear, check that the exception was applied to the correct requirement block and that the student hasn't changed their catalog year or major, which can sometimes detach previously applied exceptions. If you still need assistance, send an email to degreeworks@njit.edu with the student’s name and ID number.