Policies, Procedures and Guidelines

The following checklist will validate progress:

1. Students must complete an approved master’s degree program. Students must follow the “Official Degree Plan” A&M-Texarkana has issued. (Students may choose to complete a six (6) SCH thesis as part of their degree program.) Note: Consult section on “Graduation Under a Particular Catalog.”
2. Students may transfer no more than 12 SCH of graduate-level course work from another regionally accredited institution and have the university apply those credits toward a master’s degree at A&M-Texarkana.
3. Students may apply no more than 6 SCH of special-format courses (597, 589, and/or 529) to degree requirements.
4. Students may apply no more than 9 SCH of S/U-graded courses to degree requirements.
5. Students may not apply courses they have taken more than five years prior to admission to the graduate-studies program to their degree. The dean may give special approval to apply such courses to a particular degree.
6. A student’s degree plan must not be over five years old.
7. Students must complete all “X” grades prior to graduation.
8. Students must achieve the following grade-point averages:
   1. 3.00 or above on all graduate work attempted in major field of study or area of concentration (Major GPA);
   2. 3.00 or above on all graduate courses attempted at A&M-Texarkana (Institutional GPA);

   3. 3.00 or above on all graduate course work (Cumulative GPA).
      Note: The university will not count grades lower than “C” toward a graduate degree, but the university will use those grades to calculate the GPA. The university considers a course with a grade of “D” or “F” completed, and the GPA will reflect those grades.

9. The university will calculate into the final grade all graduate course work the student has taken prior to graduation.
10. The student may apply, upon recommendation of the instructor and approval of the college dean, a maximum of two (2) 400-level undergraduate courses toward fulfillment of graduate-degree requirements. When taking a 400-level course for graduate credit, the student must complete additional work beyond the quality and quantity of work, which distinguishes graduate instruction (See "Enrollment in Undergraduate Courses for Graduate Credit" in the Graduate Studies section of this catalog under General Academic Policies).  Graduate courses are numbered 500 and above.
11. The specific college may require students to pass a comprehensive examination covering work within the master’s degree program including, if applicable, an acceptable defense of the thesis.  For programs that do not require a comprehensive exam, the student must earn a minimum grade on a required capstone course.  (See the requirements for the student’s particular degree.)  A student who fails to pass the comprehensive exam must complete whatever further courses or additional study the advisor requires to correct the deficiencies.  If the student fails a second time, he or she may not take the exam again without special permission of the dean of the college.  Students who fail to achieve the required minimum grade on the capstone course must repeat the course.
12. Students must submit the completed application for graduation  by the date published in the schedule of classes.
13. The university must have a copy of all official transcripts on file with the Office of the Registrar.
14. Students who enroll off campus during the semester they expect to graduate will be responsible for submitting official transcripts to the Office of the Registrar before their degree can be awarded. The university must record final grades from all courses the student has taken at another university on a student's Texas A&M University-Texarkana transcript.  This requirement includes cross-registered courses, CLEP exams and courses completed through the course-exchange program.  Failure to submit official transcripts by the deadline stated by the Office of the Registrar will prevent the degree from being awarded for the intended graduation term.  Students whose degree is not awarded for the intended graduation term, will be required to apply for a future term.
15. In order for a student to receive his or her degree, diploma and participate in commencement, he or she must have completed all degree requirements (including passing comprehensive exams) and have a zero balance on their account by the Friday one week prior to the graduation-commencement ceremony.

The following will validate the progress:

The successful completion of a doctoral degree requires several different elements including: coursework specific to the student's plan of study totaling no less than 60 semester credit hours, a passing score on the comprehensive examinations, and the successful defense of a dissertation. Because this program requires specific coursework mapping and planning, and contains such a high degree of individualization, students are referred to the "Doctoral Program Handbook" for more information on the necessary steps to successfully graduate with a doctoral degree.