Know Where Every Student Stands
Maestro SIS provides advisors and students a real-time, visual blueprint of their degree program progress — clearly showing completed milestones, transfer courses, current courses, and the remaining graduation requirements.
See Degree Audit in ActionBuilt-in — no add-on required
Updates as grades post
Configurable parameters
Advisors at small and mid-size institutions often manage degree requirements manually — relying on spreadsheets, sticky notes, and institutional memory, or they rely on additional 3rd party degree audit software that does not communicate with course and student data managed by student services in the SIS. This approach introduces significant risks.
No single source of truth
Degree requirements exist in catalogs, spreadsheets, or advisor notes. When requirements change, there is no reliable way to update every student's plan.
Advising becomes reactive
Students may not discover missing requirements until late in the term, near graduation, or after financial aid eligibility has already been affected.
Transfer credit is tracked manually
Transfer coursework has to be mapped manually to institutional equivalents, increasing the risk of delays or missed credits. Errors go undetected until degree clearance.
Financial aid eligibility is disconnected
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) calculations happen separately from degree tracking. Students can fall out of eligibility without warning.
Staff time is eaten by status checks
Simple questions like "Am I on track to graduate?" can require staff to pull transcripts, compare requirements, review exceptions, and manually build a complete picture.
Built to replace the spreadsheet — and the add-on
Automated Degree Audit
The system continuously updates each student's completed, in-progress, requested/suggested, and outstanding courses with their declared program requirements. Advisors see each assigned student's current status for each course.
Visual Plan of Study
Students and advisors see a term-based or custom-based grouped map of the degree path. Completed courses are marked, along with the credit earned and grade.
What-If Scenario Planning
Advisors can run multiple simultaneous degree plans for a student — exploring program changes, double majors, or catalog year switches — before making anything official.
Advisor Course Suggestions
Based on a student's plan and remaining requirements, advisors can suggest the appropriate courses for upcoming terms. Advisors can add them to the student's schedule with one click.
Transfer Credit Mapping
Transfer courses are mapped to the institution's equivalent course and applied directly to the degree audit. No separate reconciliation step. Credits count as soon as they are entered.
Individualization
Maestro SIS allows individualizing degree audits as exceptions for specific scenarios and students that need an adjusted degree pathway.
What it looks like inside Maestro SIS
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Three steps. No manual work.
Program requirements are configured once
Your academic affairs team sets up Degree Requirements, Plan of Study Groups, and catalog year rules inside Maestro. Requirements can vary by program, campus, or student type — all configurable without custom development.
Automated degree audits for every student
The moment a course is completed, transferred, or waived, the degree audit updates in real time. Advisors gain an instant, accurate view of student progress without running a report or pulling a transcript.
Students and advisors work from the same data
Students and advisors see the same Plan of Study data, reducing confusion between advising notes, student portal information, and official records.
No separate license. No extra login.
Degree Audit is built into Maestro SIS — the same system your team uses every day. No add-on pricing, no integration overhead, no separate portal to manage.
See how Maestro compares to other SIS platforms →Built for institutions where staff wear multiple hats
The Maestro SIS Plan of Study is built for small to mid-size institutions where advising staff cannot afford a separate system for every function.
Academic Advisors
Clear the queue of "Am I on track?" questions. Weigh out What-If Scenarios during the appointment. Advise from live data, not a transcript printout.
Registrar's Office
Degree clearance is faster when the audit has been running all along. Transfer credit is already mapped. SAP is already calculated.
Financial Aid Teams
SAP compliance is tracked in the same system as degree progress. No cross-referencing spreadsheets at the end of the term.
Department Chairs
Program completion rates and average time-to-degree are visible without a custom report. Identify where students stall and why.
Students
Log into the student portal and see exactly where you stand — which requirements you have met, what is in progress, and what you still need. No waiting for an advisor appointment for a basic status check.
Accreditation Teams
Audit trails, substitution logs, and SAP records are stored in the same system. Documentation for accreditation review is already organized.
Degree Audit as a Standard — Not an Upgrade
Most SIS platforms treat degree audit as an optional module or a third-party add-on that requires separate licensing and integration. Maestro SIS includes it as part of the core platform — because tracking whether students are on track to graduate is not optional.
Included in Maestro SIS — not a paid add-on.
No export-import cycle. The audit reflects the same live data as the student record.
Students who can see their own progress stay more engaged and complete at higher rates.
Title IV SAP, TAP, and Excelsior eligibility tracked natively — no cross-referencing at term end.
Substitution logs, exception records, and SAP history stored in one place for accreditation review.
Native Module
No third-party integration required
Real-Time Sync
Updates automatically with every grade posted
What-If Planning
Non-destructive scenario exploration
Accreditation Ready
Full audit trail for every exception
What's under the hood
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Plan of Study Groups | Configurable by program, catalog year, campus, and student type |
| Simultaneous Plans | Multiple what-if scenarios per student; non-destructive until committed |
| Transfer Credit Courses | Direct mapping to institutional equivalents within the audit |
| Financial Aid Integration | Title IV SAP, TAP, and Excelsior eligibility tracked natively |
| Course Suggestion Engine | Advisor-facing; adds courses to schedule with one click |
Degree Audit FAQs
Is Degree Audit included in Maestro SIS, or is it a separate add-on?
Degree Audit is built into Maestro SIS. There is no separate module to license, no extra login, and no integration to maintain. Advisors access it from the same system they use for student enrollments, students assigned to them, and communications.
What happens when a student changes their program or major?
Maestro SIS includes a parameter that allows auto-association and disassociation of a Plan of Study based on the Organization, Program, or Grade Level. The new plan of study based on the new program or major is automatically associated to the student.
Can advisors make exceptions or substitutions for individual students?
Yes. Substitutions and waivers can be applied at the individual student level. Every exception is logged with the approving advisor's name, date, and notes — creating a full audit trail available for accreditation review.
How are transfer credits handled in the audit?
Transfer credits are mapped to institutional course equivalents inside the Maestro SIS transcript analysis and applied directly to the degree audit. There is no separate reconciliation step. As soon as transfer credits are entered and mapped, they count toward applicable requirements.
Can students see their own Degree Audit?
Yes. Students log into the student portal and see their Plan of Study — which requirements they have met, what is in progress, and what still needs to be completed. The student view and the advisor view are based on the same real-time data.
How long does it take to configure degree requirements during implementation?
Maestro SIS implements in 3 to 6 months for most institutions. Degree audit configuration — setting up programs, Plan of Study Groups, and catalog year rules — is part of the standard implementation process. With 450+ configurable parameters, most institutional requirements are handled without custom development.
See Degree Audit in Action
Request a live walkthrough and see how Maestro SIS helps advisors and students track progress toward graduation — all in one place.