UCD MyDegree: The Complete Guide to the UC Davis Degree Audit System

UC Davis MyDegree is the official, web-based degree audit and academic advisement tool used by undergraduate students and academic advisors at the University of California, Davis. Powered by Ellucian DegreeWorks, the platform evaluates completed, in-progress, and transfer coursework against university, college, general education, and major requirements to determine exact progress toward graduation.

What Is UC Davis MyDegree?

MyDegree serves as the definitive degree audit reporting system for undergraduate students at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). While search queries for "UCD" occasionally refer to University College Dublin in Ireland—which utilizes the SISWeb portal—in the context of degree auditing, academic tracking, and "MyDegree," the system refers exclusively to the UC Davis platform.

The software operates as an automated checklist that maps student academic history directly against the published degree requirements established in the UC Davis General Catalog. Prior to the adoption of automated degree audit software, students and departmental advisors relied on manual paper checks and static transcripts to determine if all academic requirements were met. MyDegree provides a real-time, interactive environment where students can see precisely which general education literacies, college breadth criteria, and upper-division major electives are fulfilled, which are currently in progress, and which remain unmet.

MyDegree is bound to a student's specific catalog year. At UC Davis, degree requirements can change between academic catalog editions. The system anchors an audit to the catalog year in effect when a student matriculated, or to a subsequent year if an approved catalog change petition has been processed. This guarantees that academic progress is measured against the specific curricular contract established upon enrollment.

Accessing the Portal and System Prerequisites

Access to MyDegree is restricted to currently enrolled undergraduate students, newly admitted students with active computing accounts, and authorized university staff, including departmental major advisors, college dean's office counselors, and the Office of the University Registrar.

Authentication and Access Steps

1. Active Computing Account: Users must have an established UC Davis computing account (Kerberos username and passphrase).
2. Multi-Factor Authentication: UC Davis mandates Duo Multi-Factor Authentication (Duo MFA) for all central authentication logins. Users must confirm their identity through a push notification, hardware token, or passcode.
3. Direct URL Navigation: The portal can be accessed directly through the UC Davis MyDegree Portal or through the student services dashboard in the UC Davis OASIS (Online Advising Student Information System) environment.

Because MyDegree draws nightly data syncs from the campus student information database (Banner), registration actions completed during the day—such as adding a course through Schedule Builder or dropping a lab section—typically populate on an official audit within 24 hours. However, students can generate a refreshed audit at any point by selecting the "Process New" button within their dashboard.

Decoding the MyDegree Audit Interface

The MyDegree dashboard organizes large volumes of academic data into visual modules, known as "blocks." Correctly interpreting these blocks prevents registration errors, avoids redundant coursework, and ensures steady progression toward the minimum unit thresholds required for graduation.

• STUDENT HEADER: Name, ID, Degree, Major, College, Class Level, GPA
• PROGRESS BARS: Requirements Completion (%) | Total Units Applied
• UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS (Units, Senior Residence, Minimum GPA)
• GENERAL EDUCATION (Core Literacies & Topical Breadth)
• [~] COLLEGE BREADTH (English Composition, Foreign Language)
• MAJOR REQUIREMENTS (Lower-Division Prep & Upper-Division Depth)
• FALLTHROUGH / ELECTIVES APPLIED
• INSUFFICIENT / REPEATED / WITHDRAWN COURSES
• [~] IN-PROGRESS COURSEWORK

The Student Header Information

The top of the audit displays critical administrative metadata. Students should review this header at the beginning of each quarter:

• Student ID and Level: Confirms student identification and class standing (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior), determined strictly by completed quarter units.
• Degree and Major: Identifies the primary degree objective (e.g., Bachelor of Science in Managerial Economics, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology). For students pursuing double majors, both majors appear here.
• College: Lists the academic division administering the degree (e.g., College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Biological Sciences, College of Engineering, or College of Letters and Science).
• Catalog Year: Specifies the academic catalog rules applied to this audit.
• Cumulative GPA: Displays the official UC grade point average calculated exclusively from UC-transferable and UC-administered coursework.

Visual Status Indicators

MyDegree relies on a universal set of visual status symbols to denote the completion state of individual requirements:

• Complete (Green Checkmark): All conditions for this specific requirement have been satisfied by completed, graded coursework or accepted transfer credit.
• In-Progress (Blue Half-Filled Circle or Tilde): The requirement is currently being fulfilled by courses in which the student is actively enrolled for the present or upcoming term.
• Unmet (Red Open Circle): The requirement remains incomplete, with no active enrollment assigned to satisfy it.
• Any Course Number Symbol (@): Represents a wildcard within the system. For instance, ECN 1@ indicates that any upper-division Economics course numbered between 100 and 199 can satisfy the condition.

Breakdown of Major Audit Blocks

A standard UC Davis undergraduate audit contains multiple blocks stacked vertically. Every block operates under specific academic policies, and a student cannot graduate until every single block achieves complete status.

1. The University Requirements Block

This foundational block enforces University of California and UC Davis campus-wide criteria:

• Total Units: Every UC Davis undergraduate degree requires a minimum of 180 quarter units. Professional programs or specialized engineering degrees may require more, but 180 is the absolute institutional baseline.
• Upper-Division Units: A minimum of 54 quarter units must be completed at the upper-division level (courses numbered 100–199).
• Senior Residence Requirement: Academic policy mandates that 35 of the final 45 quarter units completed by a student must be taken in residence at UC Davis. This prevents students from transferring large blocks of coursework at the very end of their academic career without institutional oversight.
• Minimum Cumulative GPA: A student must maintain an overall UC grade point average of at least 2.000 to remain in good academic standing and qualify for degree conferral.
• Entry Level Writing Requirement (ELWR) and American History & Institutions: Confirms baseline state and university writing and civics competencies, often satisfied before enrollment via standardized exams, community college articulation, or designated preparatory courses.

2. General Education (GE3) Block

The UC Davis General Education component (GE3) applies to all matriculating undergraduates and comprises two major areas:

Topical Breadth (52 Units Total)

Students complete coursework distributed across three broad academic domains:

• Arts and Humanities (AH): 12 to 20 units
• Science and Engineering (SE): 12 to 20 units
• Social Sciences (SS): 12 to 20 units

Core Literacies

These literacies emphasize critical operational skills and intellectual methodologies:

• Literacy with Words and Images: Includes 8 units of College English Composition and coursework emphasizing Writing Experience (WE).
• Civic and Cultural Literacy: Encompasses American Cultures, Governance, and History (ACGH) and World Cultures (WC).
• Quantitative Literacy (QL): Focuses on mathematical, statistical, or computational reasoning.
• Scientific Literacy (SL): Emphasizes empirical scientific methods and analysis.

A single course can fulfill both a Topical Breadth requirement and up to two Core Literacies, making thoughtful scheduling essential to avoid excess units.

3. College-Level Requirements Block

Each of the four undergraduate colleges at UC Davis maintains unique structural expectations that sit between campus-wide rules and departmental major requirements:

• College of Letters and Science: Requires specific distributions of foreign language proficiency (for certain B.A. majors), natural science/mathematics sequences for B.S. programs, and specific restrictions on non-Letters-and-Science units.
• College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: Frequently mandates distinct English composition sequences and upper-division elective distributions within agricultural and human sciences.
• College of Engineering: Mandates rigid, highly sequenced math, chemistry, and physics foundational sequences, alongside strict limits on non-technical electives.
• College of Biological Sciences: Enforces standardized foundational curricula across quantitative biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and calculus before depth courses can be taken.

4. Major and Minor Requirements Blocks

The major block delineates preparatory subject matter (lower-division courses numbered 1–99) and depth subject matter (upper-division courses numbered 100–199).

If a student has formally declared a minor, a separate minor block appears directly below the major requirements. Minors typically demand between 18 and 24 units of focused upper-division study. UC Davis policy strictly regulates course overlap: generally, no more than one course (maximum 4–5 units) may be counted simultaneously toward both a major and a minor, or between two declared majors. MyDegree automatically isolates duplicate courses and places them in fallthrough blocks if an overlap violation occurs.

5. Fallthrough, Insufficient, and In-Progress Blocks

• Fallthrough Courses: Courses that carry academic credit but do not directly fulfill a specific general education, college, or major requirement. These units still count toward the total 180-unit graduation baseline.
• Insufficient Units: Courses in which a student received a non-passing grade (e.g., F, NP, D- in courses requiring a C- minimum), courses repeated beyond allowable credit limits, or courses with incomplete marks.
• In-Progress Courses: Lists every course the student is currently attending or registered for in an upcoming term for which final grades have not yet been submitted.

Interactive Planning Tools: What-If, Look Ahead, and GPA Calculators

Beyond passive status tracking, MyDegree integrates predictive tools that help students plan subsequent quarters, test prospective major changes, and project academic standing.

MYDEGREE UTILITY SUITE

Running a What-If Audit

The "What-If" function is designed for students contemplating a change of major, adding a second major, or declaring a minor. It simulates how all completed and in-progress coursework would populate in a different degree program without altering the student's official academic record.

To run a What-If audit:

1. Select the What-If tab on the left-hand navigation pane.
2. Select the target Degree (e.g., Bachelor of Science).
3. Choose the appropriate Catalog Year (typically the current catalog year).
4. Select the prospective Major, and if applicable, a concentration or track.
5. Optionally add a prospective Minor or second major.
6. Click Process What-If.

The resulting screen displays an audit detailing how past coursework applies to the new curriculum, instantly highlighting unmet prerequisites and remaining depth requirements.

Using the Look Ahead Feature

The "Look Ahead" utility allows students to audit theoretical schedules prior to registration. If a student is planning three quarters in advance and wants to verify that a planned class will satisfy the General Education "Writing Experience" literacy or a specific major elective category, they can input the course subject and number (e.g., POL 110) into the Look Ahead queue and run a simulated audit.

Embedded GPA Calculators

MyDegree includes three algorithmic GPA calculation modules:

1. Graduation Calculator: The student inputs their desired target cumulative GPA upon graduation and the total remaining units required. The system calculates the average GPA the student must maintain across all remaining coursework to achieve that target.
2. Term Calculator: Allows a student to enter their current term enrollment, assign projected letter grades to each class, and review the resulting change to their cumulative UC GPA.
3. Advice Calculator: Identifies how many additional units of specific grades (such as straight 'A's) are mathematically necessary to elevate a current GPA to a specified target. This tool is particularly useful for students working to exit academic probation or meet minimum GPA thresholds for graduate school applications.

Managing Course Substitutions, Transfer Work, and Advising Petitions

An automated audit operates on programmatic rules, but undergraduate academic careers frequently involve non-standard course trajectories, study abroad programs, and transfer work.

Transfer Credit Processing and Articulation

For community college transfer students entering UC Davis from California institutions, transfer articulation is governed by formal agreements indexed on ASSIST.org. When official transcripts are processed by the Undergraduate Admissions Office:

• Courses with direct articulation agreements map cleanly into major and general education blocks.
• Courses that transfer for general UC credit, but lack direct departmental equivalents, often populate in the Fallthrough block with generic numbering (e.g., MAT 000T or ENL 000TR).
• General Education certifications (such as California State University General Education Breadth or Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum - IGETC) must be formally recorded by the college dean's office. Once verified, a system override satisfies the entire General Education block simultaneously.

The Role of Exceptions and Advising Petitions

When a student completes an upper-division course at another four-year institution, through the UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP), or takes an alternative course inside UC Davis that they wish to substitute for an established major requirement, the course will not automatically attach to the major block.

To resolve this, the student must file a course substitution petition through the campus OASIS portal. Once approved by the faculty undergraduate advisor and the college dean's office, an academic counselor enters a manual Exception directly into MyDegree.

Common exception types recorded in MyDegree include:

• Substitute: Replaces a required course with an approved alternative.
• Apply Here: Pulls a course out of the Fallthrough block and assigns it to an unmet requirement.
• Unit Modification: Adjusts the unit value demanded by a specific requirement block.
• Waiver: Formally exempts a student from a curricular requirement based on verified prior competency.

Once an exception is coded, it displays on the student's audit with an official annotation indicating which advisor authorized the change and on what date.

Comparing MyDegree with OASIS and Schedule Builder

Undergraduates at UC Davis frequently interact with three core academic platforms. Because their functionality overlaps slightly, it is vital to recognize which system performs each task.

While Schedule Builder is utilized during registration pass times to construct class schedules, and OASIS is used to communicate with academic advisors and submit legal petitions, MyDegree remains the sole campus system that determines whether those accumulated courses satisfy the legal criteria for degree conferral.

Troubleshooting Common Discrepancies and Inaccuracies

Audits are complex computational configurations. Discrepancies occasionally arise, causing unnecessary alarm for students reviewing their records. The following issues are the most frequent causes of audit errors:

1. Missing Transfer Courses or Articulation Gaps

If a student completed coursework at a California Community College or another university, but the units fail to appear in their audit:

• The transcript has not arrived: The Admissions office has not physically or electronically logged the final transcript.
• Incomplete articulation coding: The units transferred, but appear in the Fallthrough block because no direct automated rule links that course to a specific major requirement.
• Action: Contact the major department advisor with the course syllabus to request an official evaluation and an "Apply Here" exception.

2. A Repeated Course Appears Twice

Under UC Davis academic regulations, students may repeat courses in which they received a grade of D+, D, D-, F, or NP for unit and grade point credit, up to a cumulative maximum of 16 quarter units. When a course is repeated beyond the allowable limitations, the subsequent enrollment generates units that cannot be applied toward the 180-unit minimum.

• Action: Check the "Insufficient" block at the bottom of the audit. If a course appears there unexpectedly, verify whether a repeat rule was triggered or if the original course carried an illegal overlap with another completed class.

3. Senior Residence Warning Triggers

If a student participates in cross-enrollment programs, takes non-UC online extension courses, or attends community college during their final senior year, the Senior Residence indicator may flag red.

• Policy Note: UC Davis requires 35 of the final 45 units to be taken on campus. While UCEAP programs provide an exception to this rule under specific conditions, taking external units during the final two quarters of study can delay graduation clearance unless a formal petition for waiver of senior residence is approved by the college dean's office.

4. Overlap Restrictions in Double Majors or Minors

Students pursuing double majors or a combination of a major and minor frequently observe courses that they intended for their minor appearing in the primary major block, or vice versa. MyDegree uses automated logic to fulfill the first available block chronologically.

• Action: Contact the academic advisor of the department administering the minor. The advisor can insert an exception that manually designates which course applies to the major and which satisfies the minor, ensuring that both programs comply with campus overlap restrictions.

Step-by-Step: Conducting a Pre-Graduation Audit Review

To prevent graduation delays, every student should execute a rigorous four-step audit self-check at the transition to junior standing (90 units) and again three quarters before planned degree completion.

1. Step 1: Check Total & Upper-Division Units (180 Total / 54 Upper-Div)
2. Step 2: Clear General Education & College Breadth Checkboxes
3. Step 3: Resolve All Fallthrough / Unarticulated Transfer Units
4. Step 4: Confirm Major Block Completion & Advisor Exception Entries

Step 1: Verify Core Unit Counts

Examine the University Requirements block. Confirm that current units, combined with planned enrollment, will reach at least 180 units. Ensure that the upper-division tally will meet or exceed 54 units. Completing all major courses does not guarantee reaching these figures; students in majors with short upper-division sequences often need additional upper-division electives.

Step 2: Audit General Education Completion

Check the Core Literacies and Topical Breadth sections. Look specifically for unmet writing requirements. The Writing Experience (WE) requirement necessitates focused course selection, as not all department depth courses satisfy this literacy.

Step 3: Clear the Fallthrough Block

Examine every course listed under the Fallthrough section. If a course appears here that was taken to fulfill a major requirement—especially transfer work or study abroad credits—it must be relocated. Schedule an appointment with the major advisor to process an exception.

Step 4: Confirm In-Progress Status for Final Degree Certification

During the final quarter of enrollment, every single block on the MyDegree audit must show either a green checkmark or a blue in-progress indicator. If any red circles remain during your final quarter of registration, the Registrar will not confer your degree.

Once final grades post at the conclusion of the term, all blue in-progress indicators convert to green checkmarks. When every block is green, the audit automatically signals the College Dean's Office and Office of the University Registrar for final degree checkout and diploma issuance.

Frequently Asked Questions About UCD MyDegree

Does a green checkmark in MyDegree mean I have officially graduated?

No. A fully completed audit with green checkmarks indicates that all curricular rules programmed into the system have been satisfied by coursework. However, official graduation requires degree conferral. You must submit an official Graduation Application via the Registrar's portal during the published filing period for your intended graduation term. The college dean's office and university registrar conduct a final administrative review before conferring the degree and ordering your diploma.

Why is a course I took at a California Community College showing in the Fallthrough block?

Courses appear in Fallthrough if they are transferable to the University of California for general credit, but do not have an automated rule linking them to a specific UC Davis requirement. If the course was intended to satisfy a major prerequisite, your departmental advisor must review the articulation agreement and enter an exception in the system to route those units to the correct block.

Can my academic advisor see the "What-If" audits I generate?

No. What-If audits are temporary simulations generated on demand in your browser session. They do not alter your permanent record, nor are they saved to your advising history. If you wish to discuss a prospective major change, run the What-If audit, save or print it as a PDF, and attach it to an appointment note or email to your prospective department advisor in OASIS.

How often is the information in MyDegree updated?

The system updates its database via an automated nightly batch sync with Banner, the core student information system at UC Davis. Any registration adjustments, drop requests, grade postings, or formal major declarations completed during regular business hours appear in MyDegree the following morning. You can also trigger an immediate audit rebuild by clicking the "Process New" button on your main dashboard screen.

What should I do if a course is fulfilling the wrong requirement?

MyDegree allocates courses using preset algorithmic prioritization. If you are completing a double major or a minor and need a class moved from one area to another to satisfy overlap rules, you cannot move it yourself. You must schedule an advising appointment with your academic advisor. The advisor has administrative privileges to apply coding overrides (exceptions) that manually direct where the course units apply.

Final Recommendation

To ensure you stay on track for graduation, log in to UC Davis MyDegree at least twice every term: immediately before your assigned registration pass time to check your remaining requirements, and 48 hours after final grades post to verify that your completed courses registered correctly across all audit blocks. If any discrepancies or unassigned transfer courses appear, schedule an advising appointment through OASIS with your major or college dean's office advisor to clear them well before your senior year.