EXCEL Overview

Three professional majors are available through the EXCEL Adult Degree Completion Program at Grace University.  They are:

• Business Leadership
• Psychology
• Christian Ministry

This program enables students to attend classes year round to complete the EXCEL requirements.  Completion time depends upon the number of credits transferred but many students complete their degree within 16 months. Forty-two hours are met through a succession of upper level (300-400 level) courses which meet for 5-6 weeks each, one night per week, 6-10pm.  Some EXCEL courses are offered in an online format, also covering either 5 or 6 weeks.  Remaining credits can be achieved by transfer credits or by taking additional classes.  The compressed nature of these courses is consistent with standards of good practice for adult degree completion programs. Each semester a combination of Bible courses and professional courses related to the student’s major are offered.

Prerequisites to EXCEL

To enter the EXCEL Program, 60 credit hours of previous college work (from accredited institutions of higher education) are required.  An associates degree may meet this requirement.  These 60 hours are then used to meet a portion of the general education credits required for a degree in the program (see breakdown below).

Applicants with less than 60 credit hours will also be considered for admission but may need to take additional hours before beginning EXCEL classes.  Grace University does offer elective and general education courses in an accelerated format that can help students meet the 60 credit hour pre-requisite.  

Credit Hours Required

A total of 124 credit hours are needed to obtain a degree through the EXCEL Program.

EXCEL Major Requirements (45 hours or 48 hours)      

The EXCEL Program is made up of a combination of upper-division Bible/Theology courses and major-specific courses.  Included in the EXCEL Major is a business elective course for Business Leadership majors, an introductory or an upper level psychology elective for Psychology majors and a ministry internship for Christian Ministry majors.

General Education Requirements (79 hours or 76 hours)

The following general education courses are required as part of the general education requirements:
             Science, Math, or Computer Science
             Humanities
             English Composition
             History
             Speech or Oral Communication

Seven of the general education credits must be upper division courses (300-400 level). To meet the general education requirements, students may transfer credit from other accredited higher education institutions, obtain credit through EXCEL elective courses or EXCEL courses which are not in the student’s own major.  The student may also acquire credit from life experience (max: 36 hours) through the Documented Experiential Learning Analysis (DELA) or properly documented professional and/or military training. See the EXCEL Advisor for more information regarding these options.