A degree completion plan is simply a list of the courses you need to take to graduate, organized into a schedule. It helps you answer two important questions: What requirements do I still need to meet, and when will I take the courses that meet them?
That second question matters. A student may discover that only one required course remains, but it will not be offered for several terms. A clear plan helps you identify that problem early rather than letting it delay graduation.
City Vision’s degree completion plan spreadsheet brings your course schedule and graduation requirements together. If you are new, start by planning at least one year. If you are close to graduation, work toward a complete plan showing how you will meet every remaining requirement.
What You’ll Learn
- Create your own spreadsheet copy and schedule at least one year of courses.
- Use your degree audit to identify completed requirements and remaining coursework.
- Check course availability before assigning required courses to future terms.
- Verify total credits and City Vision resident credits separately from major requirements.
Table of Contents
- 1. Make Your Own Copy of the Template
- 2. Start With One Year and a Realistic Course Load
- 3. Gather Your Program Requirements and Course Options
- 4. Add Courses to Your Proposed Schedule
- 5. Use Your Degree Audit to Establish Where You Are
- 6. Fill In the Degree Requirements Checklist
- 7. Double-Check Total Credits and Resident Credits
- 8. Review the Plan and Ask for Help
1. Make Your Own Copy of the Template
Open the degree completion plan template in Google Sheets. Before entering information, create a copy that you can edit.
- Open the File menu.
- Select Make a copy.
- Rename the copy to include your name, such as “Degree Completion Plan: Your Name.”
- Use your personal copy for the rest of the planning process.
This gives you a working document where you can add courses, enter credits, and organize your proposed schedule without changing the original template. If you need help with the copying process, Google’s instructions explain how to create a copy of a file.
The spreadsheet has two related purposes. The Proposed Course Schedule tab organizes courses by term. The degree completion tabs help you check whether your completed and planned coursework meets the requirements for your degree. You will use both as you build your plan.
2. Start With One Year and a Realistic Course Load
Open the Proposed Course Schedule tab. You will find space to list courses for Fall 1, Fall 2, Spring 1, Spring 2, and Summer, with room to plan multiple years.
You do not have to fill in four years immediately. For a new student, that can feel overwhelming. Focus first on one year of courses. You can extend the schedule as you become more familiar with your program and your remaining requirements.
Understand the pace of City Vision’s terms
City Vision has five terms, and the shorter-term format affects how you should think about your workload. A course has a more concentrated pace than a course spread across a traditional semester. Taking two courses at once is comparable in workload to taking four semester-length courses at once.
- Two courses per term: the full-time course load described in this planning approach.
- One course per term: the half-time course load described in this planning approach.
This comparison concerns workload, not a doubling of the credits each course earns. When entering credits in your plan, use the actual credit value of the course.
Choose your pace before filling every available space. Your proposed schedule should show the courses you intend to take at a manageable load, not simply a list of everything you still need.
3. Gather Your Program Requirements and Course Options
To build a useful schedule, you need to know both what your degree requires and when the relevant courses are offered. Start at the City Vision University website and open your degree program page.
The program information separates several kinds of details that serve different planning purposes.
- Core courses: required coursework for your major.
- Core electives or concentrations: options that fulfill a defined part of your major.
- Course schedule: the terms in which courses are offered.
- Sample degree completion plan: an example of how courses can fit together.
- Degree outcomes: the knowledge and abilities the program is designed to develop.
A sample degree completion plan is a helpful starting point, but it is not necessarily the exact schedule you must follow. Your transfer credits, completed coursework, and remaining requirements may lead to a different plan.
Check the university-wide course schedule
The overall course schedule lists offerings by term. It is especially useful if you have open electives and want to see options beyond the courses listed for your major.
Before placing a course in Fall 1 or Spring 2, check that it appears in the schedule for that term. Knowing that a course meets a requirement is only half of the scheduling decision. You also need to know when you can take it.
Review general education separately
General education requirements differ by degree level. Associate and bachelor’s students need to review the undergraduate general education requirements. Master’s programs do not have general education requirements.
The general education information identifies courses that can meet the different categories. In the bachelor’s planning example, those categories include:
- Communications.
- Christian Life, Thought, and Social Responsibility.
- Broad Knowledge and Intellectual Skills.
Keep these requirements in view while choosing courses. Completing the major does not, by itself, mean that every graduation requirement has been satisfied.
4. Add Courses to Your Proposed Schedule
Once you have reviewed your requirements and the course schedule, begin copying course names into the appropriate terms in the Proposed Course Schedule tab.
For example, the sample Fall 1 plan pairs Case Management with Vocation, Calling, and Purpose of Work. That illustrates how a two-course term can be entered. It is an example, not a required pairing for every student.
Continue term by term until you have at least one year mapped out. As you choose each course, check three things:
- Purpose: Which remaining requirement will this course help meet?
- Availability: Is it offered in the term where you have placed it?
- Workload: Does it fit the course load you intend to carry?
At this stage, you are building the schedule. Next, you need to test whether that schedule adds up to a workable path to graduation. A filled-in calendar is useful, but it is not yet proof that all requirements are covered.
5. Use Your Degree Audit to Establish Where You Are
Your degree audit is the main tool for checking your current progress in the program. In Populi, follow this path:
My Profile → Student → Degree Audit
The audit shows your degree requirements and how your existing academic record applies to them. Review the general education categories, major requirements, total credits, and resident credits.
Where a requirement is marked Not completed, expand it to see the courses associated with that requirement. This helps you identify what belongs in your plan rather than guessing from course titles alone.
The sample student used in the planning demonstration has 90 transfer credits and no credits yet earned at City Vision. That is a useful reminder: a large transfer-credit total does not tell the whole story. You still need to check how those credits apply and what requirements remain.
The audit and spreadsheet do different jobs
Think of the degree audit as your current position and the spreadsheet as your proposed route forward.
If you are about to graduate, the audit is especially useful for checking your status. If you have a year or two remaining, the spreadsheet lets you organize future courses and check whether your proposed schedule addresses the gaps.
Use the audit to understand what has been satisfied, then use the spreadsheet to plan what comes next.
6. Fill In the Degree Requirements Checklist
Open the degree completion tab that matches your program. The bachelor’s example uses Addiction Counseling. The tab functions as a checklist, with red cells drawing attention to requirements that have not yet been accounted for.
Your goal is to account for the required courses and credits in each section. As you enter information, the spreadsheet helps you see which areas still need attention.
Enter information without overwriting formulas
Some cells are intended for manual entry. Others contain formulas. Enter your GPA where indicated, but do not replace a calculated cell simply because it displays a number or remains red.
The example uses a GPA of 3.0 to demonstrate entering a value. That example should not be treated as a statement of the minimum GPA required for every program.
Similarly, enter the required number of core and elective credits for your degree. In the sample bachelor’s plan, the major includes 21 core credits and nine major elective or concentration credits. Those figures illustrate how the checklist is configured for that example.
Copy course information, then clean up the layout
Course information copied from Populi or a website may not paste neatly. Extra columns or status information can land beside the course names.
If that happens, remove the unwanted cells carefully. The demonstrated cleanup uses Delete cells followed by Shift left to bring the needed information into place. Be careful not to remove nearby formulas or required entries.
Then enter the credit value for each course. The example uses three-credit courses, so entering three beside each of ten courses produces a 30-credit total.
Place courses in the correct requirement sections
A combined list of major courses may need to be divided between core requirements and major electives or concentrations. Move the appropriate courses into their corresponding sections rather than leaving all of them under core requirements.
Repeat the process for general education: identify the courses that satisfy each category and enter their credits.
If a red indicator does not clear as expected, check the requirement amount, course placement, credit entries, and formulas. The sample includes an indicator that does not update as expected, so do not rely on color alone. Compare the information with your degree audit and ask for help when something does not make sense.
7. Double-Check Total Credits and Resident Credits
Two requirements can prevent graduation even when the major and general education sections appear complete: total credits and resident credits.
Total degree credits
The planning guidance identifies these degree totals:
- Bachelor’s degree: 120 total credits.
- Associate degree: 60 total credits.
- MBA: 36 total credits.
Check the total for your specific program. For a bachelor’s student, meeting the major and general education requirements is not enough if the overall credit total is still below 120. Additional electives may be needed to reach the degree total.
Resident credits are credits taken at City Vision
At the undergraduate level, at least 25% of the degree must be completed at City Vision. These are called resident credits. The term refers to where the credits are earned, not where you live.
For a 120-credit bachelor’s degree, that means at least 30 credits at City Vision. For a 60-credit associate degree, 25% equals 15 credits.
Add your City Vision credits manually in the spreadsheet as directed, and compare that amount with the resident-credit section of your degree audit. The sample transfer student’s audit shows zero of the required 30 resident credits completed, despite having 90 transfer credits.
Total credits and resident credits are separate checks. Make sure your plan meets both.
8. Review the Plan and Ask for Help
Before considering your plan ready, review it as a whole:
- Do you have at least one year of courses listed?
- Are the courses offered in the terms you selected?
- Does the workload fit your intended pace?
- Have you accounted for core, elective, and general education requirements?
- Will the plan meet total-credit and resident-credit requirements?
- If graduation is close, have you mapped every remaining requirement?
If you are several years from finishing, it is fine if the entire degree checklist is not complete yet. You should still understand how it works and what remains on your path to graduation.
If you are currently completing this planning work in a City Vision course, ask your instructor for help. Otherwise, contact City Vision support for assistance working through your overall plan.
The spreadsheet may take some effort, but the goal is straightforward: know what you need, know when you will take it, and identify problems early. Start with one year, check it against your requirements, and build from there.