Transfer Students

Transfer of Credits

Upon request of the DGS, a total of 9 hours (or 25% of regular course degree requirements) may be transferred into a master's degree program. Effective fall 2008, a total of 9 hours (or 25% of the credit hours needed to fulfill the pre-qualifying residency requirement) may also be transferred into a doctoral degree program. The transferable hours include all post‐baccalaureate work, graduate work taken at another regionally‐accredited university or as a student in another graduate program at the University of Kentucky. The doctoral transfer policy would NOT apply in cases where a prior master’s degree is being used to satisfy 18 hours of the pre‐qualifying residency requirement.

The following rules also apply to credit transfer:

• Course credits applied toward a previously awarded graduate degree cannot be transferred.
• Transfer of independent work, research, thesis or dissertation credit is not permitted.
• Short courses lasting fewer weeks than the number of credits may not be transferred.
• A student must have been in graduate status at the time the courses were taken in order for the courses to be transferable.
• A student must be in good academic standing at the time of transfer.
• Only courses assigned a B grade or better can be transferred.

Credit Equivalence

Certain research courses carry no credit hours or grades but do contribute to the residence requirements of graduate degrees. For these courses the credit equivalent is stated in the course descriptions.

Post-Baccalaureate Graduate Student

Students who hold a baccalaureate degree from a fully accredited institution of higher learning and who wish to pursue graduate study without a degree objective may apply for admission as post-baccalaureate graduate students. Note that post-baccalaureate status is not a form of probationary admission to a degree-granting graduate program. Post-baccalaureate students may take graduate courses for graduate credit. Permission to enter any graduate class as a post-baccalaureate student will be granted only if the student meets the prerequisites for that course and if space is available.

An application for admission to the Graduate School as a post-baccalaureate graduate student should be filed in the Admissions Office at least two weeks in advance of the registration date for the term in which the student plans to enroll. An original or a photocopy of a transcript showing an awarded bachelors degree must accompany the application. An overall undergraduate grade point average of 2.50 or better and 3.00 on all previous graduate work (both on a 4.00 point scale) are required by the Graduate School for admission. GRE scores are not required.

A post-baccalaureate student who later wishes to apply to enter a degree-granting graduate program must have a 3.00 or better grade point average on all course work, graduate or undergraduate, attempted as a post-baccalaureate. A standard application form, or written notice, must be presented to the Graduate School requesting admission to a specific program, and stating the term for which enrollment is desired. A maximum of 9 semester hours or 25 percent of the credits required for the degree concerned, whichever is greater, may later be transferred from post-baccalaureate status to a master's, specialist or doctoral degree program at the University of Kentucky. All such transfers of credit hours into a graduate program must be approved by that program's Director of Graduate Studies and by the Dean of the Graduate School. A grade of A or B must have been earned in the course or courses to be transferred.