Program

Satisfaction of the minimum credit hour, course, and other requirements prescribed for the program selected.

Residence

A majority (51%) of credits toward a graduate or a post-baccalaureate professional degree must be earned through the institution awarding the degree. In the case of graduate and post-baccalaureate professional degree programs offered through joint, cooperative, or consortia arrangements, the student earns a majority of credits from the participating institutions. To receive a graduate academic award, students must earn one-third or more of the credits through the SACSCOC member institution’s own direct instruction. The majority of credits toward a graduate or a post-baccalaureate professional degree awarded by the University of North Alabama are earned through instruction offered by the University.

Full-time Student Status

Full-time student status is attained with a minimum of nine semester hours in a fall or spring semester or six semester hours in a summer session.

Quality of Work

All graduate students are expected to maintain a consistently high quality of academic performance.  Satisfaction of degree and program requirements includes an overall grade average of B or better (3.00) on all work attempted.  No more than two courses with a C grade may be applied towards the degree.  No grade below C may be applied towards the degree; however, all grades are included in the calculation of the cumulative GPA.

Some graduate programs may have more stringent requirements than university policy, and students should refer to their program for specific requirements.

The minimum completion grade point average requirement for teacher certification is 3.25 in the traditional master of arts in education (M.A.Ed.) program and 3.50 in the education specialist (Ed.S.) program.

Application for Graduation

Graduating students must submit a graduation application by the deadline for the particular term in which they plan to graduate. Students are required to apply for graduation even if they do not plan on attending the commencement ceremony.  The degree check out process will not be initiated until a student has applied for graduation.  The graduation application deadline for each term is listed below:

• Spring  - March 1st
• Summer - June 1st
• Fall - October 1st

Information on how to apply for graduation can be found here. 

Time Limits

Courses may not be applied to degree plans more than eight years after completion, exclusive of time spent in active service in the Armed Forces of the United States. Credit accepted by transfer must comply with these limits.

Acceptance of Credit from Previous Graduate Degrees

For a second graduate degree, students will fulfill all requirements applicable to any other graduate degree, including the thesis, if appropriate. A student may use a maximum of six (6) credit hours from a previous graduate degree if courses are applicable toward the current degree. No course will be allowed to count toward more than two degrees. Some graduate programs may not accept credit from previous graduate degrees, and students should refer to their program for specific requirements. Exceptions must be approved by the appropriate graduate program coordinator/director, department chair, and college dean.