Application of Credits for Students Earning Graduate Degrees

This policy governs the application of graduate credits for students to satisfy the University’s minimum credit requirements for the following degrees:

• Master’s Plan A degrees
• Master’s Plan B degrees
• Master’s Plan C degrees
• Doctoral degrees

Applying graduate credits toward a University graduate degree

1. Graduate credits taken before the award of a baccalaureate degree may be counted toward a graduate degree under limited circumstances if approved by the graduate program and collegiate unit. In order to avoid double-counting, graduate courses that were used to meet either credit or degree requirements for the baccalaureate degree may not be counted toward a graduate degree.
2. The student’s graduate degree plan associated with each University graduate degree must consist of the following minimum number of credits earned while enrolled as a degree-seeking student in a University graduate program and that have not been applied to any other degree:
   1. For a master’s Plan A degree, at least 12 University graduate course credits and 10 University master’s thesis credits (xxxx-8777). In addition, students must meet the University’s 30-credit minimum total credits, or the graduate program’s minimum credit requirement, whichever is higher.
   2. For a master’s Plan B or Plan C degree, at least 20 University graduate course credits. In addition, students must meet the University’s 30-credit minimum total credits, or the graduate program’s minimum credit requirement, whichever is higher.
   3. For a doctoral degree, at least 12 University graduate course credits and 24 University doctoral thesis credits (xxxx-8888). For a doctoral degree that does not require doctoral thesis credit (xxxx-8888) registration, at least 36 University graduate course credits. In addition, doctoral students must meet the University’s 48-credit minimum total credits, or the graduate program’s minimum credit requirement, whichever is higher.
3. Each graduate course on the graduate degree plan can be applied toward either the major or minor/other requirement, but not both.
4. Graduate credits applied toward a minor field cannot also be applied toward another minor field.
5. Additional graduate course credits included on the student’s graduate degree plan required to meet the degree program requirements, at the discretion of the program and subject to college approval, may include those earned from within or outside the University, from previous or concurrent graduate degrees, and/or those taken as a non-degree seeking or non-admitted student. Graduate credits earned while an undergraduate may be counted toward a graduate degree under limited circumstances, as noted in 1.
6. Students earning a master’s and a doctoral degree from the same or related University graduate program, or who have been approved for a change of degree objective within the same or related University graduate program, may apply as many graduate course credits toward both degree objectives as allowed by the graduate program, subject to college approval.
7. For programs that require doctoral students to pass the preliminary oral examination before they are eligible to register for doctoral thesis credits (xxxx-8888), master’s thesis credits (xxxx-8777) taken while enrolled in the same program as a master’s student may not be applied toward the doctoral thesis credit requirement. For programs that allow research-ready doctoral students to take doctoral thesis credits (xxxx-8888) prior to the successful completion of the preliminary oral examination, Plan A thesis xxxx-8777) and doctoral thesis (xxxx-8888) credits earned while enrolled in the same program can be counted toward either the Plan A master’s or the doctoral degree thesis credit requirement, but not both.
8. Plan A thesis (xxxx-8777) and/or doctoral thesis (xxxx-8888) credits that are not used to fulfill the degree requirements for either the Plan A master’s or doctoral degree may be used to meet the Plan B master’s project requirement in the same program at the discretion of the program, subject to college approval.
9. Plan B project credits may only be used to fulfill Plan B master’s degree requirements, even in the event of an approved change in degree option or degree objective.
10. Graduate programs may accept University 4xxx-level course credits as graduate courses. A maximum of nine 4xxx-level course credits may be used to satisfy the master’s or doctoral course credit requirements, but graduate programs may impose a lower maximum.

Exceptions

For approved joint or dual degree programs, items 1 and 2 are not applicable. Such programs may formulate more specific requirements to regulate instances of courses-in-common arising as a result of the special nature of joint/dual degree curricula.

This policy does not apply to the J.D., M.D., Pharm.D., D.V.M., D.D.S., L.L.M., and M.B.A. (Twin Cities) degrees.

Effective Date

This policy applies to all students admitted after August 31, 2018. Students who matriculated before August 31, 2018 may choose to continue under the policies in effect when they initially matriculated in their graduate program.