The Graduate College Handbook of Policy and Requirements
for Students, Faculty and Staff - 2011
A. Master’s Degrees
- Credit Hour Requirements:
The Graduate College requires a minimum of 32 semester hours of graduate credit for the master's degree, although a number of programs require more. The Graduate College requires that at least 12 hours be at the 500-level or greater and approved for graduate credit (including thesis, research or independent study credit), and that 8 of these 12 hours be in the major. Half or more of the hours applied to a master's degree must be earned in courses counted for residence credit, (see chapter IV.A.4 and chapter III.C for more details and to see when transfer credit may count as residence credit). See chapter IV.A.4 if enrolling for thesis research credit.
- Examinations:
The Graduate College does not require a final examination or thesis committee for the master's degree. Departments that have such requirements determine their own rules for committee membership and administration of the examination. Master’s students are not required by the Graduate College to be registered during the term in which they take their final exam, but some departments may.
- Completion of Theses:
The Graduate College does not require thesis deposit for the master's degree, however, many programs do. The Graduate College requires that a master's candidate depositing a thesis have an adviser who is a member of the Graduate Faculty. In programs requiring a thesis deposit, the Graduate College does not require master’s students to be registered during the term in which they deposit, but some departments may.The thesis adviser is required to sign the Certificate of Committee Approval (CCA); master’s thesis committee members are not required to sign, but may do so. Signatories must sign for themselves. Department heads are also required to sign the CCA. Persons authorized by the department to sign CCAs (as recorded on the Authorized Signatures Form filed with the Graduate College) may sign in place of the department head. The signature of the department head, or authorized signatory, is an assertion of the authenticity of the adviser signature and of the acceptability of the thesis to the department; therefore, this signature must be original (wet). All required signatures must be submitted to the Graduate College on the same form in support of the thesis deposit.
- Time Limits:
A master's degree candidate is expected to complete all degree requirements within five years of first registering as a degree-seeking student in the master’s degree program, unless the student is enrolled in a program with a different time limit that has been approved by the Graduate College. Students may request an extension of this time limit through the Graduate College petition process up to one year prior to the degree conferral date.If course work to be used toward the degree is more than five years old at the time of degree conferral, students must petition the Graduate College asking that the course work be accepted for the degree. The petition must include an explanation from the department regarding how the student's knowledge in the areas covered by the old course work meets current standards. This justification is needed for degree certification, and the petition can be filed up to one year prior to the degree conferral date. With written approval of the Graduate College, a department may set different time limits for completion.