Graduate Student Resources

Enrollment Requirements/Time to Degree Limits

Continuous Enrollment for All Graduate Students

Per the University Graduate Catalog, all graduate degree-seeking students must be continuously enrolled. Continuous enrollment is defined as completing, with grades assigned, a minimum of 6 hours of graduate credit every three continuous semesters. Courses that receive a "W" grade do not fulfill continuous enrollment requirements. This applies to all master's and specialist students and all doctoral students who are pre-candidacy.

Enrollment during Qualifying Exams and Admission to Candidacy

During the term in which students take the qualifying exams, students must be enrolled for a minimum of two (2) hours of graduate credit. If the exam is taken over more than one semester, the student must enroll for a minimum of two (2) hours of graduate credit in each semester while the exam is being completed. Students must also be enrolled for a minimum of two (2) hours of graduate work in the semester of admission to doctoral candidacy.

Enrollment of Dissertation Hours

Doctoral students working on a dissertation must enroll for a minimum of two (2) hours of dissertation every semester, starting with the semester following Admission to Doctoral Candidacy, up to and including the semester the dissertation is submitted to and approved by the Office of Graduate Studies and the student graduates. Dissertation hours may apply to the Continuous Enrollment Requirement.

Time to Degree Limits

Master's/Specialist Students

Master's and Ed.S. degrees must be completed within five (5) years from the student's date of admission for graduate study. Courses taken prior to admission to the USF graduate program, for example as non-degree seeking or from other institutions that were transferred in, can be no older than seven years at the time of graduation. Master and Ed.S. degrees (including dual degree programs) that require course work in excess of 50 credit hours may be granted a longer statute of limitations by the University Graduate Council.

Doctoral Students

Doctoral degrees must be completed within seven (7) years from the student's original date of admission for doctoral study. All courses applied to the doctoral degree must be completed within ten (10) years, including courses taken

-prior to admission to the USF doctoral major,

-taken as non-degree seeking, or

-transferred in from other institutions