The Comprehensive Academic Tracking System (CATS) is designed to help you reach academic success at LSU and make sure that you are progressing toward graduation each semester. Each major has a RECOMMENDED PATH that is the optimal path for graduation in four years. CATS checks your progress each semester by tracking you on the CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS needed and gives you feedback when you are not meeting those requirements.

CATS provides feedback on a student's progress in a major, helping them to find the best academic path to complete their degree. By assessing students' progress toward degree completion, CATS will identify those students who may be struggling. This affords the University the opportunity to provide additional counseling and advisement resources to assist students.

• The RECOMMENDED PATH is an outline of courses crafted by the department offering the degree program. Courses are laid out in a semester breakdown that is the optimal path to graduate in four years.

• Each RECOMMENDED PATH contains CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS. These are requirements that students must reach in order to meet minimum academic progress and remain on-track in their chosen program. CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS appear in bold within each RECOMMENDED PATH.

• If they meet the CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS as detailed in their RECOMMENDED PATH, students will not receive an email notification.

• If they are not meeting the CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS, students will receive an email containing a link to their CATS STATUS SCREEN. This will give them detailed information regarding their unmet CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS, as well as contact information for their advising location.

• Students are tracked during the fall and spring semesters ONLY. Summer terms and intersessions are periods students can use to complete missing CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• For specific information regarding degree programs, please contact a counselor in the college where the degree program is offered.
• For questions relating to CATS or the Recommended Paths email: