Frequently Asked Questions

The minimum undergraduate GPA for unconditional admission into a graduate program is 2.75.  Programs may refer students with a 2.5-2.74 for admission, and they will be admitted with Special Conditions requiring them to achieve a 3.0 in their first nine hours. Students who do not achieve a 3.0 or meet other departmental conditions outlined in the admission letter may be subject to academic dismissal from their program.

No applicant with a grade-point average of less than 2.50 will be admitted to a program of graduate study. Under unusual circumstances, programs may wish to make a case that a student’s record demonstrates great potential despite a low GPA and must make that case in a variance request to the Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs.  The student may be admitted provisionally on probation, with the condition that they earn a 3.0 in the first 9 hours or will be dismissed.  Programs may limit the number of credit hours students admitted with special conditions or on provisional probation may take.  

Yes. If you admit a student provisionally or conditionally, it is up to you to follow up and make sure that the missing materials are provided and/or conditions have been met prior to the start of the next semester. Once conditions are met, units are required to submit an Admissions Status Change form to the Graduate School. Failure to meet the conditions of their admissions may result in a hold being placed on the student’s record. Students admitted on provisional probation will be monitored by the Graduate School.

Programs can choose to accept up to 6 hours of graduate credit taken at an accredited institution that offers advanced degrees. If there are more than 6 credit hours that you would like to accept, a variance form must be submitted to the Graduate School on behalf of the student to transfer an additional 6 credit hours (up to a total of 12 credit hours), but students will still need to earn enough credits at the University of Louisville to meet the residency requirements. Likewise, transfer credit cannot be older than 3 years at the time of matriculation. Programs that want to allow a student to transfer older credits must file a variance. Transfer credits will not be posted to a transcript until the student has completed at least one semester of coursework at UofL.

Residency requirements differ for master’s and doctoral students. 

a) Master's students must take at least 24 credit hours of coursework at the University of Louisville to satisfy the residency requirement for the master’s degree. 

b) In order for doctoral students to have the opportunity to work closely with faculty, use university resources and facilities, and be immersed in the intellectual life of their disciplines, they must spend at least 2 years of study at the University of Louisville and at least 1 year in full-time residency. Full-time residency for doctoral students is defined as being registered for a minimum of 18 credit hours in a 12-month period. Enrollment in candidacy does not fulfill this requirement, although enrollment in research hours does. Advisors need to work with students from the time they enroll to make sure that students meet this requirement while they are still taking courses. All doctoral students must meet the 2-year enrollment requirement. Students enrolled in part-time doctoral work may substitute four terms of continuous enrollment (summer terms can be used to meet this requirement) for the full-time residency requirement. Programs that allow part-time and/or off-site or online participation must provide a rationale to the Dean of the Graduate School, indicating how they ensure that such students have access to an intensive and immersive educational experience.

The rules differ for master’s and doctoral students:

a) Master’s students must complete the degree within 6 years of beginning the program of study. Leaves of absence do not count as part of the 6 years.

b) Doctoral students must complete all requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Education within 4 calendar years after passing qualifying exams. Additionally, doctoral students must be admitted to candidacy at least 9 months before receiving the degree. If students will not meet the time limits for their degree, the program director must submit a variance to the Graduate School with a detailed rationale for extending the time limitation.

All students must earn a 3.0 to receive a graduate certificate, a master’s degree, or a doctoral degree. There are no exceptions or variances to this requirement. 

The program can (but does not have to) approve up to 6 credit hours of coursework in which a C+, C, or C-was earned, although the student must still have an overall 3.0 or better. The program can submit a variance request to Graduate School to accept an additional 3 credit hours of “C” work; in no case can more than 9 credit hours of “C” work be counted toward a graduate degree.

Unless a program requires more hours for all full-time students, the maximum number of credit hours that may be taken in a regular semester is 12; the maximum in the summer is 12 (across all programs). The Graduate Catalog gives the Unit Dean responsibility for approving a student’s request to enroll in more than 12 hours and can approve up to 15 credit hours. If the student is requesting more than 15 credit hours, a variance must be submitted and approved by the Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs.

There are two ways in which we use “candidacy” in graduate education:

a) When students (master’s or doctoral) complete all course requirements and co-curricular requirements (including comprehensive exams) with the exception of the final project, thesis, or dissertation, they become “degree candidates” and enter “candidacy.” Students in candidacy typically do not take additional coursework because they are assumed to be working full-time on their research projects. Candidates who are funded as graduate assistants must receive permission from the Graduate School to enroll in any courses after they have entered candidacy.

b) “Master’s Candidacy” and “Doctoral Candidacy” are also registration/enrollment categories designed to allow students to remain registered and able to access the university’s resources (libraries, laboratories, faculty, etc.) while they complete the thesis or dissertation. Once enrolled in either master’s or doctoral candidacy, students must enroll continuously (Fall, Spring, and Summer) until the degree is completed. Doctoral students may not enter candidacy until after they have passed their qualifying exams. Students enrolled in candidacy are considered full-time students.

Students working toward their Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Education degree must pass a qualifying examination (oral, written, or both) before registering for candidacy. The guidelines for this exam are established by the academic programs. To be eligible for the qualifying exam, students must have completed the major portion of the coursework and must have met the foreign language requirements of the program. 

Program directors must let the Graduate School know when doctoral students pass their required qualifying exams by filling out Results of Doctoral Qualifying/Comps Exam Form. Failure to submit this form prevents Doctoral students from enrolling in “Doctoral Candidacy.”

Students who have been accepted into a graduate program are expected to remain in continuous enrollment, either full-time or part-time, throughout their matriculation (funded students must be full-time). Students who fail to enroll for a period of more than 12 months will be considered to have withdrawn from the program. However, if circumstances arise that necessitate an interruption in a student’s graduate studies, that student, with the support of the graduate program director, may request a leave of absence from the unit dean by submitting a variance. A requested leave cannot exceed 1 year, but in extreme circumstances, a subsequent request for a second year may be requested through the variance process and submitted to the Graduate School for the approval of the Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs. Leaves of absence extend the timeline to a degree by the amount of time of the leave of absence.

Continuous enrollment is defined as being registered in both Fall and Spring if registering for course work. 

If a student has been admitted to either master’s or doctoral degree candidacy, continuous enrollment is required for the Fall, Spring and Summer terms. Only one term of registration is required during the summer months when there may be multiple terms offered. Students must be enrolled during the semester in which they wish to graduate. 

Funded students must be enrolled full-time in all semesters for which they receive funding.

A federal regulation (i.e., not a Graduate School policy) mandates that international students who are non-immigrant F or J visa holders may take no more than the equivalent of one class, or three credits per semester, of distance/online education that does not require the student’s physical attendance for classes, examination or other purposes integral to the completion of the class.

Students who receive Graduate Assistantships (whether in teaching, research, or service) are expected to work on average no more than 20 hours per week for their assistantships, which provide stipends, tuition, and health insurance. These students must be enrolled as full-time students when they are receiving support. For doctoral students, full-time is defined as 9 credit hours in both Spring and Fall and 6 credit hours in the summer. Master’s students are not required to take courses in the summer, but must take 9 credit hours in both Fall and Spring semesters. “Master’s Candidacy” and “Doctoral Candidacy” are also considered full-time enrollment, and once registered for candidacy, students must maintain continuous registration until they graduate. 

Students may be eligible to work no more than an additional 9 hours per week with the possibility to earn income for the work if the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) files a workload waiver with the Graduate School and the Graduate Dean approves (GA Workload Waiver Form). Graduate students are first and foremost students, and the additional work must provide professional development for the student. The duration of the additional work is typically within 1 semester, and waivers must be filed every semester the student seeks additional work. 

Things to note:

a) Typically, funded students in the first year of their academic program are NOT eligible for work-load waivers because they must establish that they are making progress toward their degree before asking to take on additional work. 

b) International students who have an F1 VISA may be eligible for a workload waiver, but they must comply with UofL policies and federal regulations governing Curricular Practical Training (CPT).

d) If a student is funded as a GA by an external source, submission of this waiver affirms that the request falls within the student's current funding source regulations on additional aid. 

e) The Dean of the Graduate School, or the Dean’s designee, must approve requests for students to perform additional work.

CPT Guidelines are as follows:

• Typically, F1 VISA holders who are funded with an assistantship are not eligible for CPT during their first year of study (unless the program requires such a practicum in the first year).
• Additional work must be integral to the discipline and the work must be part of the program of study (preferably the student will receive academic credit for the work).
• CPT requires a signed cooperative agreement or letter from the employer attesting to the curricular nature of the work experience.
• A Designated School Official (DSO) must provide a new I-20 approving the student for employment. To approve a student for CPT, the DSO must have approval from both the DGS in the student’s program AND the Dean of the Graduate School, as evidenced by completion and approval of the GA Workload Waiver Form.

Graduate certificate programs must require at least 9 credit hours of graduate coursework at the 500 level or above. Students must achieve a 3.0 or better cumulative grade point average and be in satisfactory standing to be awarded a certificate. Students can apply course credits earned from 1 or more graduate certificate programs to a master's or doctoral degree. However, they must apply to the degree program before starting a second certificate that counts toward the degree. Use of credit from certificates is subject to admission to the degree-granting program and must be consistent with both curricular and residency requirements of the degree program.