How do we manage degree auditing? What software allows students to run "what-if" scenarios if they change their major?
Data as of Sep 21, 2026 · Based on 310 AI responses from ChatGPT Search and Google AI Mode · See how Parse measures this
Data as of Sep 21, 2026 · Based on 310 AI responses from ChatGPT Search and Google AI Mode · See how Parse measures this
If you need automated "what‑if" scenarios that also produce a tailored course plan to meet new major requirements, choose 
Brands AI recommends here
Named in 76% of answers
Named in 61% of answers
Good fit when you need real‑time "what‑if" analysis that shows how switching majors affects degree completion and graduation timelines; tradeoff: focused on timeline visualization rather than auto-generating a full course plan.
Named in 59% of answers
Good choice when you want portal-integrated degree auditing that shows how current credits apply to potential new programs and supports advisor/student planning; similar in purpose to DegreeWorks.
Named in 30% of answers
Source | Citation share |
|---|---|
 What-If Scenarios | University of Montanahttps://www.umt.edu/registrar/degree-works/what-if.php | 6% |
Stellic Progress | Degree Planner and Degree Audit Softwarehttps://www.stellic.com/progress | 5% |
 uAchieve® Degree Audit – Fully hosted degree audit – CollegeSourcehttps://collegesource.com/degree-planning-tools/uachieve-degree-audit/ | 4% |
 DegreeWorks 'What-If' Audit | The City College of New Yorkhttps://www.ccny.cuny.edu/registrar/degreeworks-what-if-audit | 4% |
DegreeWorks Refeence Guidehttps://excellence.truman.edu/files/2018/09/DegreeWorks-Reference.pdf | 4% |
 "What If" Scenarios | Eastern Florida State Collegehttps://www.easternflorida.edu/academics/academic-support/mygps/scenarios.php | 3% |
 Kuali Advisorhttps://www.kuali.co/products/kuali-advisor | 2% |
 Degree Audits - Fashion Institute of Technologyhttps://www.fitnyc.edu/academics/courses-and-registration/registrar/degree-audits/index.php | 2% |
 Degree Audit Software | CoreCampushttps://corecampus.com/degree-audit-software/ | 2% |
 What Is Degree Audit Software & How It Keeps Students On Trackhttps://empowersis.com/what-is-degree-audit-software/ | 2% |
If you’re managing degree auditing at a college or university, the key capability to look for is usually called a **“What-If” audit**: the student keeps their actual academic record but can simulate a different major, minor, concentration, degree, or catalog year and see which completed/in-progress courses would…
If you’re managing degree auditing at a college or university, the key capability to look for is usually called a “What-If” audit: the student keeps their actual academic record but can simulate a different major, minor, concentration, degree, or catalog year and see which completed/in-progress courses would apply.
| System | What-if major changes | Degree audit | Planning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stellic | Yes | Yes | Strong | Modern, student-facing planning + audit platform |
| Ellucian Degree Works | Yes | Yes | Yes | Widely used; strong integration with institutional student systems |
| uAchieve | Yes | Yes | Some | Established degree-audit platform; used at institutions including UMD |
| DARS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Common in universities using DARS/DARS-GPS implementations |
For example, the University of Maryland's uAchieve explicitly lets students run “what-if” audits to see how their courses would apply to other programs.
Degree Works has a similar What-If function: students can select a hypothetical major/minor/concentration and see how their existing coursework would satisfy the alternative requirements.
Stellic goes a step further by combining the audit with multi-term planning. Its What-If functionality lets students explore changing majors/minors, while its Planner can turn the resulting requirements into a semester-by-semester plan.
A good degree-audit operation generally has four layers:
The important distinction is that a What-If should be a simulation, not a program change. Degree Works implementations, for example, explicitly distinguish the hypothetical audit from the student's actual academic program.
I'd pay particular attention to these capabilities:
If you're choosing between Stellic, Degree Works, and uAchieve, I can also give you a side-by-side comparison of architecture, What-If capabilities, SIS integrations, implementation effort, and approximate institutional cost considerations.
Stellic goes a step further by combining the audit with multi-term planning. Its What-If functionality lets students explore changing majors/minors, while its Planner can turn the resulting requirements into a semester-by-semester plan.
A good degree-audit operation generally has four layers:
Managing degree auditing in higher education typically involves implementing a specialized **Degree Audit and Academic Planning System** . These enterprise software solutions map a student’s completed, in-progress, and planned coursework against institutional graduation requirements. Virtually all modern degree audit…
Managing degree auditing in higher education typically involves implementing a specialized Degree Audit and Academic Planning System . These enterprise software solutions map a student’s completed, in-progress, and planned coursework against institutional graduation requirements.
Virtually all modern degree audit platforms include a dedicated "What-If" scenario feature. This tool lets students and advisors simulate a change in major, minor, or concentration to see how existing credits transfer over and what additional courses would be required.
If you are looking to implement one of these systems or evaluating them for your institution , would you like to compare them based on:
Degree auditing is usually managed as a combination of **automated degree-progress checking + curriculum rules + advising/exception workflows**. A typical setup works like this: 1. **Load academic data from the SIS** — completed courses, grades, transfer credit, current enrollment, catalog year, program/major, etc.
Degree auditing is usually managed as a combination of automated degree-progress checking + curriculum rules + advising/exception workflows.
A typical setup works like this:
| System | What-if major changes | Degree audit | Planning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellucian Degree Works | Yes | Yes | Yes, with related planning tools | Established degree-audit platform; students can simulate majors, minors, concentrations, etc. JSM Atlassian Seton Hall University |
| Stellic Progress | Yes | Yes | Strong | Combines audit, multi-term planning, and exploration; students can see how changing majors/minors affects their progress. Stellic Stellic |
| uAchieve (CollegeSource) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Students can run audits and "what if" analyses for different programs, second majors, and minors. Enrollment Management Kansas State University |
| Ellucian Smart Plan | Yes | Uses Degree Works ecosystem | Strong | Goes beyond a hypothetical audit by generating a potential course plan and estimating completion time/cost for the alternative goal. Ellucian |
A degree audit answers:
"Where am I right now, and what requirements remain?" A What-If audit answers:
"If I changed from Biology to Economics, which of my existing courses would count, and what would I still need?" A degree planner goes one step further:
"Given that hypothetical Economics program, what courses should I take in each future term to finish?" That's why platforms such as Stellic and the Ellucian Degree Works + Smart Plan ecosystem are increasingly positioned as more than simple auditing systems. Stellic, for example, explicitly combines real-time degree audits with program exploration and multi-term planning.
One operational consideration is that the What-If result should not itself change the student's official major. For example, Seton Hall's Degree Works documentation explicitly distinguishes the hypothetical audit from the formal change-of-major process.
If you're evaluating this for a college/university implementation, I can also lay out the functional requirements and a side-by-side comparison of Degree Works vs. Stellic vs. uAchieve, including SIS integration, curriculum encoding, transfer credit, exceptions, advising, student self-service, and implementation effort.
Managing degree auditing in higher education relies on specialized **Degree Audit and Planning Systems** that integrate directly with a campus's Student Information System (SIS). These platforms track student coursework, apply institutional rules, and map completed credits against official graduation…
Managing degree auditing in higher education relies on specialized Degree Audit and Planning Systems that integrate directly with a campus's Student Information System (SIS). These platforms track student coursework, apply institutional rules, and map completed credits against official graduation requirements.
The standard software tools that empower students to independently run "what-if" scenarios for changing majors, adding minors, or choosing different catalog years include:
Are you looking to implement a new degree audit system at your institution, or are you a student trying to run a scenario in your school's current portal ? I can give you specific guidance depending on your role.
Managing degree auditing involves matching a student's completed and in-progress coursework against institutional, major, minor, and general education requirements. Higher education institutions typically rely on specialized **Degree Audit and Planning Software** integrated with their central Student Information…
Managing degree auditing involves matching a student's completed and in-progress coursework against institutional, major, minor, and general education requirements. Higher education institutions typically rely on specialized Degree Audit and Planning Software integrated with their central Student Information System (SIS/ERP) like Banner, PeopleSoft, or Workday.
Are you looking at implementing a degree audit system for a specific institution size , or trying to understand how to use the "what-if" feature in a particular software like Degree Works?
Degree auditing is usually managed as a combination of **curriculum rules + student academic data + an audit/planning engine**. The system evaluates courses completed, transfer work, exceptions, catalog year, major/minor requirements, GPA rules, etc., and produces a student-specific progress report. For students who…
Degree auditing is usually managed as a combination of curriculum rules + student academic data + an audit/planning engine. The system evaluates courses completed, transfer work, exceptions, catalog year, major/minor requirements, GPA rules, etc., and produces a student-specific progress report.
For students who want to ask, “What happens if I change from Biology to Computer Science?”, you specifically want a “What-If” audit capability.
If you're evaluating systems today, I'd separate the requirements into four layers:
| Capability | What you want |
|---|---|
| Degree audit | Automatically determine completed, remaining, and in-progress requirements |
| What-If | Student selects another major/minor and immediately sees the consequences |
| Academic planning | Student builds a semester-by-semester path under the hypothetical program |
| Advising workflow | Advisor can review the student's scenario/plan and intervene where necessary |
Stellic is particularly compelling if the goal is a modern, student-friendly experience where auditing, What-If exploration, and planning are tightly connected. uAchieve is particularly compelling if the institution has very complex curriculum rules, transfer articulation, exceptions, or legacy audit requirements and wants a highly configurable audit engine.
One important distinction: a What-If scenario should not actually change the student's declared major. For example, universities using Stellic explicitly treat the hypothetical program as informational/planning data; the official program change still goes through the institution's normal process.
If you're asking because you're designing or selecting a degree-audit solution for a university, I can also give you a Stellic vs. uAchieve vs. DegreeWorks comparison, including implementation effort, SIS integration, What-If capabilities, curriculum-rule complexity, advising features, and approximate cost considerations.
Managing degree auditing in higher education involves tracking student progress, evaluating transfer credits, applying institutional policy exceptions, and forecasting graduation paths. Institutions typically manage this through specialized **Degree Audit and Academic Planning (DAAP) software** integrated directly…
Managing degree auditing in higher education involves tracking student progress, evaluating transfer credits, applying institutional policy exceptions, and forecasting graduation paths. Institutions typically manage this through specialized Degree Audit and Academic Planning (DAAP) software integrated directly with their campus Student Information System (SIS)—such as Ellucian Banner, PeopleSoft, or Workday.
The industry standard software tools that allow students and advisors to run hypothetical "What-If" scenarios (changing majors, adding minors, or switching catalog years) include:
If you're looking into implementing or choosing a system, would you like to discuss integration with specific SIS platforms (like Banner or Workday) or do you need a comparison focused on student usability and advising workflows?
Degree auditing is usually managed as a **rules-based degree-progress system** connected to the SIS/student-record system. The audit maps each student’s completed, in-progress, and sometimes planned courses against the requirements for their specific degree, catalog year, major/minor, concentrations, GPA rules,…
Degree auditing is usually managed as a rules-based degree-progress system connected to the SIS/student-record system. The audit maps each student’s completed, in-progress, and sometimes planned courses against the requirements for their specific degree, catalog year, major/minor, concentrations, GPA rules, residency requirements, etc.
For students, the especially useful feature is “What-If” analysis: they can select a different major and see which of their existing credits would apply, what requirements would remain, and potentially how their graduation path changes—without actually changing their official program.
A good implementation separates official auditing from student exploration:
For example, the University of Missouri describes Stellic as having both an official audit and a planned audit, while explicitly treating What-If/planning changes as non-official until the student's record is actually changed.
If your priority is specifically “students should be able to see what happens if I change my major,” I'd put Stellic and Degree Works at the top of the shortlist. Stellic is particularly attractive if you want degree audit + What-If + visual academic planning in one student experience; Degree Works is a strong choice if you primarily need established degree-audit functionality with What-If analysis.
If you tell me whether you're evaluating this for a college/university implementation, I can also give you a side-by-side comparison of Stellic vs. Degree Works vs. uAchieve, including integrations, curriculum-rule complexity, advisor workflows, and approximate implementation considerations.
Degree auditing is typically managed as a **rules-based degree-progress system** connected to the SIS/student record. The system takes the catalog requirements for a student's program and matches them against completed, in-progress, transfer, and planned coursework. The best systems also give advisors tools to handle…
Degree auditing is typically managed as a rules-based degree-progress system connected to the SIS/student record. The system takes the catalog requirements for a student's program and matches them against completed, in-progress, transfer, and planned coursework. The best systems also give advisors tools to handle exceptions and give students a planning layer on top of the audit.
A good degree-audit environment should have three layers:
That distinction matters. A traditional audit can tell a student what remains; a modern planning system should also help them determine the best path to finish.
If you're evaluating systems for an institution, I'd put Degree Works, uAchieve, and Stellic at the top of the initial comparison. uAchieve is especially worth looking at if the core requirement is a sophisticated rules-based audit plus What-If; Stellic is compelling if you want a more student-facing planning experience; Degree Works is the mature, widely deployed option.
If you tell me what SIS you use (Banner, PeopleSoft, Workday, Colleague, etc.) and roughly how many students/programs you have, I can narrow this down and give you a Degree Works vs. uAchieve vs. Stellic comparison, including integrations, What-If capabilities, advising workflows, and likely implementation considerations.
Degree auditing is managed through specialized **degreeworks and academic planning software** that compares a student's completed coursework against institutional graduation requirements. Popular Degree Auditing Software - **Ellucian DegreeWorks** : The most widely used platform in higher education, it provides…
Degree auditing is managed through specialized degreeworks and academic planning software that compares a student's completed coursework against institutional graduation requirements.
Popular Degree Auditing Software
How "What-If" Scenarios Work
The What-If feature allows students and advisors to simulate changing a major, minor, or concentration without altering official records.
If you're looking to implement or evaluate a tool, would you like to discuss migration strategies from a legacy system or compare pricing and deployment models?
