Regulations and Requirements for the Master's Degree

Admissions Requirements

All students admitted to a master’s program must satisfy the general requirements for admission as a graduate student and the requirements for the specific master’s program. To be eligible for admission, with the exception of PlusOne students, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.

Course Requirements

A candidate for the master’s degree must satisfactorily complete an approved program conforming to the requirements of the graduate school and department or program in which the candidate is registered.

The requirements for the master’s degree are a minimum of 30 semester hours beyond the bachelor’s degree. Undergraduate-level coursework will not be accepted to meet the requirements for the master’s degree.

Application of Graduate Credits

For master's degree programs, credits earned at Northeastern University that have not been applied toward a Northeastern degree may be accepted toward the degree being pursued, regardless of whether those credits were also applied to a degree or certificate at another institution. The application of credits must be consistent with the time limit on the use of credits.

Comprehensive Examination

The committee in charge of the degree program may require a final written or oral comprehensive examination(s) for partial fulfillment of degree requirements.

Thesis

If a thesis is required in partial fulfillment of degree requirements, it must show independent work based, in part, on original material and must meet the approval of the student’s thesis committee. The committee in charge of the degree program is responsible for providing instructions concerning preparation of the thesis.

The student must submit the thesis to ProQuest (or a university-sanctioned successor system) according to the time schedule provided by the relevant graduate office. Information on archiving a thesis is available in the relevant graduate office.