Four-Year Graduation Guarantee

For entering freshman pursuing a four-year bachelor degree in a Forest Grove Campus program, we guarantee that Pacific will provide all the courses you will need to graduate within four years. If you will not graduate on time because we failed to offer a required course, Pacific will authorize a substitute, waive the requirement, or cover the tuition costs for you to take the required course(s) at Pacific the next semester that it is offered.

Here’s How It Works

Students will be invited to sign up for this guarantee in their first semester as part of the Pacific Priority program. The Advising Center distributes the four-year guarantee forms to students via the Academic Interest Survey to new students the summer prior to the start of classes. The purpose of asking students to sign an agreement is to ensure that students fully understand what they need to do on their end to stay on track for timely graduation and remain eligible for the guarantee. To be eligible for the four-year graduation guarantee, students must:

1. Submit this signed agreement by the end of the fourth week of their freshman year
2. Maintain continuous, full-time enrollment for eight semesters
3. Declare their major by the end of the sophomore year
4. Declare a single major with no minors
5. Remain in Satisfactory Academic Standing in all semesters of attendance
6. Maintain satisfactory progress toward completion of the degree such that all requirements can be completed within the four-year time frame
7. Not fail and need to repeat any coursework required for the degree
8. Participate in graduation check and degree audit in the junior year
9. Have no registration holds or restrictions that would prevent them from registering for their classes during their assigned registration periods

Other Considerations

Some majors have complex progressions and sequences or required courses that must be taken and passed in the first or second year to complete the program in four years. Students should carefully consult the Academic Advising Handbook, Advising Center, and their faculty academic advisor to plan their course of study.

There are a few undergraduate degree programs at Pacific that are specifically designed to be completed in more than four years, such as the bachelor of music therapy, bachelor of music education, kinesiology/athletic training 3:2 program, and engineering science 3:2 program. These programs of study do not qualify for the four-year guarantee.

Pacific encourages study abroad opportunities, but study abroad programs cannot be guaranteed to work with all majors in a four-year time frame. If you are interested in a study abroad program, consult with your faculty academic advisor to see if it is feasible within your program’s four-year plan.

Students may change their minds along the way, such that they may change their majors after their sophomore year, or they may at some point experience a registration hold. With good planning, most students will still graduate in four years, but the university would not be in a position to guarantee it. In the same way, students may intentionally choose to extend their time to graduation beyond the four-year time frame, such as by taking advantage of a 5th year athletic eligibility, or studying abroad knowing it will add a semester to their plan. Again this may be the right choice for some students, but students who do choose to extend their time to graduation thereby remove themselves from the tuition coverage guarantee.