Cornerstone Course Requirement

Cornerstone Course Requirement

Statement of Policy

In order to provide students with the foundational skills and resources for academic and career success, and assure a “smart start” to the Excelsior academic experience, Excelsior University is implementing a Cornerstone course requirement.

All students who enroll in an undergraduate degree program on or after November 1, 2019 will be required to complete a Cornerstone course in their first term of credit-bearing activity after admission to Excelsior University.

Students must achieve a minimum grade of C to meet this requirement.

Procedure

  1. The Cornerstone course must be taken at Excelsior University and cannot be transferred in.
  2. Students with fewer than 60 prior transfer credits on their initial evaluation will be approved to take IND101 Cornerstone A: Foundations. Students with more than 60 prior transfer credits will be approved for IND301 Cornerstone B: Pathways.
  3. Students will take either IND101 or IND301 and may not receive credit for both.
  4. Students are required to take the Cornerstone course in their first term of credit-bearing activity after admission to Excelsior University. Exception: students who are admitted after late registration may still register for INL102 or a UExcel or Excelsior University exam while they wait to take the Cornerstone course in the next term.
  5. Students are permitted to take other courses or exams simultaneously with the Cornerstone course, with the exception of the Capstone course.
  6. Students must successfully complete the Cornerstone course to graduate.
  7. Students who are unsuccessful in their first attempt are required to re-register for the course in their next term of credit-bearing activity.
  8. Students are allowed 3 attempts of the Cornerstone course if they received an F or D grade. Grades of I, W, AW, and MW are excluded from this policy. See the policies Grades Awarded and Accepted and Repeating Excelsior University Source of Credit.
  9. Students who have graduated from Excelsior with a bachelor’s degree entering a subsequent degree will have the Cornerstone waived if the bachelor’s degree was issued within 10 years of the ADM date for the new degree.
  10. Students who have graduated with an associate’s degree from Excelsior and are returning for a subsequent degree will have the Cornerstone waived if the associate’s was issued within 5 years of the ADM date for the new degree and the student completed at least 9 course credits at Excelsior and had an EC GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Implementation Schedule

This policy applies to students who enroll in an undergraduate degree program on or after November 1, 2019.

The Cornerstone courses will be offered in every 8-week term beginning in the Spring 1 term of 2020.