Inactive Students

Graduate students become inactive if no coursework is taken within one year of admittance into a degree program. Student status will be labeled as “Deferred.”

Graduate students who have previously taken courses but have not completed any coursework for the past two years will receive a letter warning that their status will change to “Inactive” if no coursework is taken for three years in a row.

After three years with no coursework completed, students will become inactive.

Students must reapply to graduate school once their file has been labeled inactive.

Seniors & Graduate Study

A senior undergraduate student may enroll in a maximum of nine (9) graduate hours during the final year of their studies only if a full course load is not required to complete requirements of the bachelor's degree. The total undergraduate and graduate enrollment should not exceed sixteen (16) hours during a semester and nine (9) hours during a summer term. Graduate work may not be used to meet undergraduate requirements, but it may be applied toward professional certification in some instances. (Exception - None of the 5000-level courses in the School of Business can be taken by students who have not received a bachelor's degree.)

Unclassified Graduate Students

Students who have previously completed a Master’s Degree at SWOSU, or who do not wish to pursue a graduate degree, may be admitted as unclassified graduate students. These students must follow the graduate studies admission procedures. A maximum of nine (9) hours taken as an unclassified student may transfer into a degree program. The nine-hour transfer policy includes any hours taken at another university, as well as hours taken at SWOSU before admission to a degree program.

Candidacy for the Master's Degree

Admission to graduate studies and to a degree program is not the equivalent of Admission to Candidacy for the Master's degree. It is the responsibility of the student to initiate the application for candidacy after the completion of 24-30 semester hours. The candidacy form must be submitted to the Graduate Office no later than the first Monday after close of the drop/add date each semester.

The degree candidacy form is to be completed by the student in consultation with his/her major advisor and forwarded to the Graduate Office. The degree candidacy form must include only the courses that apply to the graduate degree program.

Any student with a deficiency due to placement exams will not be eligible for candidacy until their deficiencies are removed by taking the required coursework.