Your degree audit

1. Login to Dal Online and, under Web for Students, click on Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS).
2. Your current program(s) will be displayed on the Request a Degree Audit page.
3. If you wish to run a Degree Audit on your current program(s), click the Run Declared Programs button at the bottom. 
   Please Note: If you wish to include Planned Course(s), please click the Advanced Settings link to display a checkbox to tick to includes these courses before clicking the Run Declared Programs button at the bottom.
4. When the degree audit has been submitted, you will see a message that audit is being run.
5. When a Declared Program Audit is completed: Double check the date and time to ensure you're opening the audit you just ran then click either the Program or View Audit link to open the degree audit report.
6. Take time to read through your entire degree audit.  Yes, it's a lot of text but all of the requirements should be included.

(You can also find step-by-step instructions and videos in Dal Online HELP.)

* To change your program within the same degree or to add a certificate, Declare your Major/Minor/Certificate under Student Records in Dal Online.  To change degrees, Start or Complete an Application under Admissions in Dal Online.  For more information see Declaring/Changing Your Major.

What if Degree Audits – A new “Select a Different Program” section allows you to run WHATIF degree audits to see your remaining program(s)'s requirements towards a different program. This is a great new feature that allows you explore program(s)'s requirements for other program(s) and your progress towards it!

To begin a What-if degree audit

1. Login to Dal Online and, under Web for Students, click on Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS).

2. Click the Select a Different Program link to open this section. Next, choose the criteria you wish to search the program requirements for. Tip: for a BA degree with a Science Major, select Science for the Faculty/College.  If you cannot find the program you’re looking for, it might not be setup yet in the system; please email degreeaudit@dal.ca to inquire.
For Academic Calendar Year, typically select the year the same degree was started, unless it’s beneficial to switch to requirements listed in a more recent Academic Calendar. For a different degree, select an upcoming year.

3. When all dropdown menu items have been chosen, you will be returned to a summary allowing you to add Minors, if applicable for the program. Finally, click the Run Different Programs button at the bottom

Please Note: If you wish to include Planned Courses, please click the Advanced Settings link to display a checkbox to tick to includes these courses before clicking the Run Different Program button at the bottom.

4. When the degree audit has been submitted, you will see a message that audit is being run.

5. When a Different Program Audit is run: The What If Audit Report will appear when completed. Click the Program or View Audit link to open it.

6. Take time to read through your entire degree audit.  Yes, it's a lot of text but all the requirements should be included.

(You can also find step-by-step instructions and videos in Dal Online HELP.) 

* To change your program within the same degree or to add a certificate, Declare your Major/Minor/Certificate under Student Records in Dal Online. To change degrees, Start or Complete an Application under Admissions in Dal Online.  For more information see Declaring/Changing Your Major.

Please connect with an Advisor if you have any questions about switching programs.

See the Guide to Interpreting DARS Report, which includes a legend on p.1, on the Degree Audit Reporting System page in Dal Online.

Your goal is to change the summary line, at the top of the text part of the degree audit,
from "AT LEAST ONE REQUIREMENT IS NOT SATISFIED"
to "ALL REQUIREMENTS WOULD BE SATISFIED - PLANNED COURSES USED" using planned courses
then "ALL REQUIREMENTS SATISFIED-IP COURSES USED" with the correct registration
and finally ">> ALL REQUIREMENTS SATISFIED" once everything is completed.

One thing DARS doesn't check is your final GPA and Academic Standing; both will be reproduced from your Academic Record at the bottom of your Degree Audit. Both are manually reviewed during the final checks of your application to graduate (usually right before the degrees are awarded by Senate).

For help interpreting your degree audit report, contact an Academic Advisor.

For a higher contrast colour scheme, click the black circle in the top-right.
To change the font size, use your browser's zoom option (or typically Ctrl+mouse scroll up for bigger text).

The graphs display a general status of the requirements.  The most important line on the degree audit is found below the pie chart, which indicates if all the requirements are being satisfied or not; see 'Reading your degree audit', above, for more information.

The pie chart is not a percentage complete. It is a graphical display of the Earned Credit Hours section, if applicable, which can be found near the bottom of the degree audit.

The Categories are general groupings of courses. The associated GPAs are not official; they just give an idea of the grades in those courses. Click the category bar to see which courses are being included. Navigate back to the full audit by clicking the You are here > Audit link above the pie chart.

Will this course meet a particular degree requirement?  Is it ok to take that course? Try them out before registering.

Add courses by using the Add Planned Course button in the Courses > Planned section. When the button is clicked, it allows you the ability choose the term and course you wish to add. Be sure to add them with no spaces in the format AAAA9999, where AAAA = the department code and 9999 = the course number; e.g. INDG2050.

You may also add planned courses by clicking them in the Select from lines within a degree audit, after reviewing the course description.

Edit courses by clicking the Edit button on the right; you might update the term, course code, grade or credit hours.

Remove courses by first choosing the course you wish to remove and place a tick in the Delete column tick box and then click the Delete button.

You will then need to run a new degree audit, with the Include Planned Courses box ticked under Advanced Settings, to have the planned courses pulled into the requirements on the degree audit. You must also leave the Include In-Progress Courses box ticked to include planned courses. To see if you’re registered for too many courses, see Exclude future registration below &/or connect with an Advisor.

Tip: not sure specific courses you're going to take, put at least the department code and level of the course (first number) so the degree audit picks it up appropriately.  E.g., I want to take a 3000-level History course but not sure which one yet; add as HIST3999.  If you're adding a bunch of these, make sure they're each unique number, e.g., HIST3999, HIST3998, HIST3997.

Planned courses are removed by term after the add/drop deadline for that term. This will not affect the courses you are registered for that term. If the course doesn't end up being offered that term (see the timetable) or you decide to take it in a different term, edit its term by clicking the course's edit button.

Most often you will use the default COM option under Advanced Settings, ONL-Include future registration.

If you are graduating at the next convocation, however, you may want to switch COM to DGR-No future registration and current year for age of courses check.  This sets the graduation year to the current year, for the duration of studies check on your degree audit and excludes registration beyond the upcoming Convocation/Graduation.

If you think you've registered for too many courses, you can also use COM = DGR, even if you're not graduating at the next Convocation, to exclude future registration.  With that and planned courses, see section above, you can refine your course selection before making registration changes. If you’re unsure, best to connect with an Advisor.

DARS will put a course in the first place it comes to.  For Majors/Minors where a course could apply to one or the other (not both), a course will apply to the first major/minor requirement it comes to.  To have a course moved to a second major or minor, or back, email degreeaudit@dal.ca.

Your degree audit will pull the requirements from the academic calendar of the year you started that degree (not when you declare your major/minor/honours, and it resets if you change degrees).  If the requirements for your program in a more recent academic calendar are easier to complete, email degreeaudit@dal.ca  to have that section of your degree audit updated to the newer requirements. 

See Academic Calendars for the current and previous versions (under PDF Versions); you can also confirm this by running a degree audit under Select a Different Program (see above) using the different Academic Calendar Year. You cannot switch to an academic calendar from before you started your degree.

For exceptions to requirements, see Faculty waiver via DalOnline or Departmental waiver via the Department's Advisor/Coordinator.  Find more information at www.dal.ca/appeals.

Course credit hours reduced to zero

You're either signed up to repeat the course (one course will have 'RP' next to the grade and the other(s) will have '>D', which means it's the one not earning additional credit), or there is an exclusion (two courses are similar enough that you can't get credit for both but they're not completely equivalent).  For the latter, check the course description for the Exclusion information. If a requirement is not satisfied because DARS has picked the wrong course to remove credit from, send an email message to degreeaudit@dal.ca. This does not change the fact that both are still included in your cumulative GPA on your academic record.

If a pending (PT) transfer credit is taking credit away from a completed Dal course, e.g., you decided not to take credit for AP or IB work, send an email message to transfercredits@dal.ca to have the transfer credit removed.

If you've planned course has not been offered yet, it needs the start term or later to have the credit hours added correctly.

Exchange courses with 2.5/3.8/5/etc. credit hours

Courses that aren't 3 or 6 credit hours sometimes don't get placed or fulfill requirements correctly.  Please contact degreeaudit@dal.ca to have your degree audit manually adjusted.

Counting a course for more than one requirement

This is not typically allowed, unless specified on the degree audit.  Particularly, major/minor/core courses at the 2000-level and above cannot count toward another major/minor.

For BA/BSc, the writing course can also count toward one of the Subject Groups.  Each department can only count toward one Subject Group.  Courses can count toward one Subject Group and one major/minor.

Same course required in both major(s) and/or minor

You still need the minimum number of credit hours at the 2000-level or above in each major/minor.  The course will count in one of the majors/minors and you'll select another course at the same level to substitute in the other major/minor. Send an email message to degreeaudit@dal.ca to have your degree audit manually updated.

Double Majors

Some degree audits are not able to check that you have more/equal credit hours at the 2000-level or above in your first major.  This is required to be able to graduate. Sometimes we can just switch the majors around to make it ok, except where the major has different requirements when it's the first subject.

If the degree audit appears blank after running it, an error has occurred.

This might be because the program combination has not yet been setup in the system. Please send an email message to degreeaudit@dal.ca to investigate the issue for you.

Some graduate programs are not yet setup in DARS; either way, best to double check the program approval section of the Grad Studies tab in Dal Online to ensure you're meeting the requirements.

Grades of Transfer Credits on Admission, and Covid Pass

Though the Academic Record lists all finalized transfer credits with a grade of TR and covid passes as Pass, if you look at the degree audit, you'll get an indication of what the grade was.  These grade-codes are only used by the registration system to ensure the minimum grade for any prerequisites is met; they have no effect on the GPA - transfer credits on admission and covid passes have a neutral GPA affect.

TR = grade of C or C+, TB- = B-, TB = B, TB+ = grade of B+ or higher.

PD was a D, PC- was C-, etc.

In contrast, a letter of permission course (taken at another institution while a Dal/King's student) will have NGR (no grade) until the student has the other institution send the Dal Registrar's Office an official transcript.

GPA information at the bottom of the Degree Audit

This is calculated on and pulled from the Academic Record (in Dal Online).

If using the GPA calculator to work through different GPA scenarios, use the LEVEL GPA and GPA HOURS for CGPA and GPA hours.