Note to Parents and Family

Advisors assist students with understanding degree requirements and with degree planning.  We ultimately point students to their Degree Audit and to the Undergraduate Catalog since it is the student's responsibility to know their program's degree and graduation requirements.

After a student's initial Academic Advising appointment as a part of New Student Orientation, Academic Advising is not mandatory as long as a student maintains the minimum 2.0 Texas State GPA required by the University for good academic standing.   We recommend, however, that students schedule an appointment each semester prior to the start of registration.

With the wide range of degree programs offered in the College of Education, our Advisors are specialized within academic departments so that they can stay informed of updates in those programs and provide expert guidance to their students.

In addition to meeting with students in appointments, the Advising Center staff sends regular emails throughout the semester to students with majors in the College of Education.  These emails are sent to students' Texas State email accounts and often include timely reminders about upcoming deadlines and dates on the Academic Calendar, as well as information specific to certain degree programs.

Academic Policies are fully outlined in the Undergraduate Catalog, but a few of those policies that are especially relevant to many transfer students include the following:

Students who have attempted numerous courses outside of their degree program requirements may be affected by Tuition for Excessive Undergraduate Hours.

Students whose Texas State GPA falls below 2.0 are placed on Academic Probation and must raise it to a 2.0 within two long semesters to avoid being placed on Academic Suspension. 

'Graduation' refers to the actual awarding of a student's degree to their transcript upon successful completion of all degree requirements. 

'Commencement' refers to the ceremony conducted at the conclusion of each academic semester in celebration of those students who will be graduating.

Participation in commencement is not necessarily indicative of a student's graduation status.

Posting of final grades occur after the approval process for commencement participation and therefore does not account for a student's final academic standing, which will of course be used to determine whether a degree is actually awarded.

The worksheet below is something our advisors use frequently during appointments to help students visualize the prerequisite sequencing of their remaining coursework and understand how far out they are from graduating. If your student doesn't already have a clear idea of when they will be graduating and what their semesters will look like between now and then, encourage them to schedule an advising appointment for the purpose of long-range planning.

If you haven't already connected with them, the Parent and Family Relations office is dedicated to providing you with timely communication to help your student navigate college.  They also offer a variety of programs, activities, and resources for you and your student.

The Texas State Family Association is a support organization dedicated to helping Bobcat families feel connected to their students' university experience, providing information to families as well as opportunities for involvement with the university with the understanding that students blossom when family and friends take an active interest in their education.