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Appropriate Credit Enrollment | Graduate Courses | Restrictions on Credits

Graduate Courses

Seniors with exceptional ability may, on occasion, register for courses numbered in the 500 series but should be aware that such courses are taught at a graduate level and expectations may exceed the undergraduate's preparation.

Appropriate Credit Enrollment

Because graduate study is more rigorous than undergraduate study, a student should not register for more than 12 hours in a semester or 6 hours in a term. In many programs, even that may be too much. Furthermore, registration for thesis and dissertation credit and work on the thesis and dissertation should be concurrent and reasonable. It would be inappropriate, for example, for a student to register for all 18 dissertation credit hours in one semester or term. Students should consult with their committee chair in determining an appropriate and reasonable credit enrollment.

Restrictions on Credits That May Apply Toward a Graduate Degree

Nondegree, Senior, and Transfer Credit

Nondegree, senior and transfer credit, singly or combined, cannot exceed 10 semester hours of a graduate degree program.

Nondegree Credit. Credit taken after the baccalaureate degree has been received, but before the semester of formal admission to a graduate program, is defined as nondegree credit. Only with department approval can any such credit be considered as part of a graduate degree program.

Senior Credit. In some restricted instances students seeking a master's degree may apply credit taken during the senior year at BYU toward that degree, but in no instances can this credit apply to both a baccalaureate and a graduate degree.

Transfer Credit. Credit taken at other accredited universities in the United States or in Canada may, with department approval, count toward a graduate degree at BYU if the following conditions are met:

  1. Any course to be transferred must be clearly graduate level.
  2. The grade for any such course must be B or better (pass/fail courses are not transferable).
  3. Home study, correspondence, and extension courses are not transferable.
  4. Transfer credit in combination with nondegree and senior credit cannot total more than 10 hours.
  5. Credit cannot have applied to another degree.

Credit from foreign universities can be considered for transfer only if certified by special examination (see the Credits Certified by Special Examination section that follows for details).

Other BYU Credit

Lower-division courses (100 and 200 level), Independent Study (correspondence) courses, 300- and 400-level religion courses, and education courses numbered 514R cannot apply toward a graduate degree.

No undergraduate courses may apply toward a doctoral degree (except those already applied to a master's degree).

Credits Certified by Special Examination

In rare circumstances, and with the approval of the department and the graduate dean, up to 10 credits may be certified by special examination. For example,

  1. A student may wish to transfer normally disallowed graduate credit from a nonaccredited institution or from a foreign university.
  2. A student may wish to challenge a course on the study list that covers material already mastered.

Applications to take special examinations may be obtained from the Office of Graduate Studies. For information about special examination fees, see the Tuition and Fees section of this catalog.

Outdated Credit and Time Limits

Only credit taken within the time limit for each degree may count toward the degree (eight years for doctoral degrees and five years for master's degrees). Petitions to extend time limits and include outdated credit are governed by the following:

  1. Departments and colleges may petition for up to a one-year extension by providing reasonable evidence that extenuating circumstances caused an unavoidable delay in the student's progress toward a degree.
  2. Departments and colleges may petition to allow credit outdated by more than one year but no more than five years to apply toward a degree, but the petition must be accompanied by impressive documentation that the credit in question has been updated by courses retaken, by special readings courses in the subjects outdated, or by examinations in each of the courses.
  3. No credit outdated by more than five years may apply to a current degree, regardless of circumstances.

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Please report any errors. Updated May 20, 1997, by web_grad_cat@byu.edu