Degree Works

Degree Works, developed by higher education software giant Ellucian, is the absolute industry standard for degree auditing and academic planning. While platforms like Navigate360 or Starfish focus heavily on behavioral analytics and communication workflows, Degree Works serves a highly specific, deeply technical, and absolutely critical function: tracking exactly which courses a student has taken, and mathematically calculating exactly which courses they still need to take in order to graduate with their specific major. It is the definitive source of truth for graduation requirements at thousands of universities worldwide. The core of Degree Works is the "Degree Audit." The software is deeply integrated with the university's Student Information System (SIS), typically Ellucian Banner or Colleague. It ingests the incredibly complex, often archaic university course catalogs—including all prerequisite chains, core requirements, major electives, and credit limits. When an advisor or a student opens Degree Works, they see a highly structured, visual checklist. It clearly displays which requirements are "Met" (in green), which are "In Progress" (in blue), and which are "Not Met" (in red), removing all ambiguity from the graduation process and preventing catastrophic advising errors. Beyond the standard audit, Degree Works features a highly powerful "What-If" simulator. If a sophomore majoring in Biology is considering switching to English, they can run a What-If audit. The system instantly recalculates their entire academic history against the English degree requirements, clearly showing how many extra semesters the switch might add to their graduation timeline. Furthermore, the "Student Educational Planner" (SEP) allows advisors and students to map out their exact course schedule semester-by-semester for their entire four-year journey, ensuring they stay on track and allowing the university to accurately predict future course demand.