For information about other academic policies and procedures; student responsibilities; student academic and cocurricular life; faculty rights and responsibilities; or general personnel policies, benefits, and services, please refer to university policies and related procedural guides, as appropriate.

Student Classification

Regular student—Students who are admitted to a degree or certificate program.

Special student—Nonmatriculated students who are enrolled in College of Social Sciences and Humanities graduate courses on a part-time basis (fewer than 8 semester hours per semester). Special students may earn up to 12 semester hours over time. Special students who do not register for four consecutive semesters (excluding summer semester) may be subject to review and possible withdrawal by the college. Graduate certificates and degrees cannot be conferred upon students in special student status. In keeping with university regulations, international students cannot be admitted as special students.

Doctoral degree candidate—Doctoral students who have completed departmental, college, and university requirements except for dissertation.

Student Status 

For academic purposes, a graduate student is considered a full-time student if enrolled in a minimum of 8 semester hours of credit for the semester, with the following exceptions:

  • Students who hold Stipended Graduate Assistantships will be considered full-time if enrolled for a minimum of 6 semester hours of credit. However, some departments may require more credits for maintaining departmental progression standards.
  • Students enrolled in Doctoral Research or full-time co-op are considered full-time.
  • All graduate students who are formally registered in a continuation status—Dissertation, Dissertation Continuation, Doctoral Research, or Qualifying/Comprehensive Exam Preparation courses—may be considered full-time. It is ordinarily assumed that such students will be in residence.
  • Students in their last semester of coursework may be enrolled in fewer than 8 semester hours to complete degree requirements. Note: To be eligible for some types of financial aid, the minimum full-time load may be defined differently. For information, contact the Graduate Student Financial Services Office.

Continued registration in the CSSH is contingent upon receiving all official transcripts and test scores within 30 days of matriculation. Please note that you may be asked to provide us with these if you did not include official copies in your application.

Grading System

The student’s performance in graduate courses will be graded according to the following numerical equivalents in the Academic Catalog.

Grading Policies

Grading policies applying to all students may be found in the Academic Catalog.

In the CSSH, not more than two courses or 6 semester hours of credit, whichever is greater, may be repeated to satisfy the requirements for the degree. Only such repeats will be counted in calculating the cumulative grade-point average. No grade changes are permitted after the end of the final examination period one calendar year from the semester in which the student registered for the course. This includes the clearance of incomplete grades. In calculating the overall cumulative average, all graduate-level coursework completed at the time of clearance for graduation will be counted.

Students cannot elect a pass/fail grading scheme for CSSH courses unless the course grading scheme is designated pass/fail.

Class Credits

All credits are entered as semester hours. Graduate office policy states that in calculating the overall GPA, all graduate-level coursework completed at the time of clearance for graduation will be counted unless otherwise designated at the time of registration or unless counted toward a previous degree.