Academic Regulations and Degree Requirements
Residence credit is credit that is earned under the conditions specified herein and may be applied toward the attainment of graduate degrees at UNC Charlotte. These conditions must be satisfied regardless of the location in which the course is given.
Program Approval. Each student's individual program of study must be approved by his/her department/college. Up to six hours of transferred credit may be included in the approved program of study.
Admission to Candidacy. Upon successful completion of a minimum of 18 semester hours of graduate work and in no case later than four weeks prior to the beginning of the semester in which he/she expects to complete all requisites for the degree, a student should file for admission to candidacy on a form supplied by the Graduate School. This application is a check sheet approved by the student's adviser, department chairperson and college dean listing all coursework to be offered for the degree (including transferred credit and courses in progress.)
Minimum Hours and Quality. A student is expected to satisfactorily complete a minimum of 30 to 60 semester hours of approved courses, depending upon his/her individual program, with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better. At least half of the semester hours in the approved program must be in courses numbered 6000 or above. No more than six hours evaluated as C may be counted toward the minimum hours required for the master's degree.
Comprehensive Examination. After admission to candidacy, each student must successfully complete a comprehensive examination. The examination may be written, oral, or both, depending upon the student's specific program requirements.
Time Limit. Candidates must complete all requirements for a master's degree, including accepted transferred credit, within six years of the end of the first semester in which they registered in the Graduate School. Courses that exceed this time limit must be revalidated or retaken -- whichever the graduate program decides necessary -- if they are to count in a degree program.
Revalidation is ordinarily accomplished by taking a special examination designed by the faculty of the graduate program. Students may not revalidate courses with a grade of C or lower, courses that are internships or other forms of practica, or courses taken at other institutions.
A student who is in his/her fifth year and does not anticipate finishing within the allotted time, must meet with the program's graduate coordinator to develop a plan for revalidation of out-of-date courses and completion of the degree program. This plan must be submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School for review and approval.
Thesis. The plan of study for a master's degree may or may not include completion of a thesis. The thesis and non-thesis approaches are designed to meet the needs of students preparing for different types of careers and represent qualitatively different educational experiences. Consequently, the academic departments and the Dean of the Graduate School discourage any switching from one plan to another. If a switch from a thesis to non-thesis plan is approved, the grade of I for the thesis work will be changed to W on the transcript with no refund of tuition for the course(s).
The thesis must be submitted for final approval by the student's thesis committee at least three weeks before the date of the oral examination in which the thesis is defended. Following the successful completion of this defense, the master's candidate must submit three unbound copies of the approved and error-free thesis to the Graduate School no later than the filing date indicated in the University Calendar.
Course and Other Requirements. The course and other requirements for specific degree programs are presented in the section of this Catalog on Graduate Programs.