General Graduation Requirements

Course Level

A minimum of 50 percent of work for a Master’s degree must be in 600-level courses; these are courses exclusively for graduate students. The 500-level courses listed in this catalog are approved for credit toward the Master’s degree.

Time Limitation

All students pursuing the graduate degree must complete the required work within five years after enrolling in Louisiana College graduate programs. Credit may not be allowed for any course taken prior to five years before graduation.

Final Assessment

All master’s degree programs at Louisiana College require a candidate’s final assessment prior to graduation. This assessment may take the form of a written comprehensive exam, a portfolio, a capstone course, oral examination, and/or thesis. If a thesis is required, students must follow the guidelines established by each program. No more than 6 hours may be allowed for the thesis course or completion. If a thesis is not required, a course that requires special research and a formal research project will be required.

Grade Requirement

All Master’s degree programs must be at a minimum 30 hours, and student must earn a 3.0 GPA. Graduate divisions may require a higher GPA and establish other criteria as long as it meets the minimal for the overall requirements.

Application for Degree

Admission to Degree Candidacy

To be eligible for admission to candidacy for a graduate degree, a student must comply with the following requirements:

• Students must complete the “Self-Auditing Curriculum” for their respective degree programs. Each “Self-Auditing Curriculum Form” is located on the Registrar’s website.
• After demonstrating satisfactory completion of all requirements, the Self-Auditing Curriculum Form must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office no later than the end of the 2^nd week of the semester the student expects to complete all degree requirements.
• Satisfactory completion is interpreted as having a B average on all graduate work pursued (3.0 GPA). Individual departments may have additional requirements for admission to candidacy.
• At the time of submitting the Self-Auditing Curriculum Form to the Registrar’s Office, students must pay to the Business Office a $100 degree application fee.
• Students who fail to comply with the following guidelines and timeline will be required to pay a $200 late fee to the Business Office.

Attendance at Graduation

Students who meet graduation requirements are expected to march at Commencement. Students who do not participate in Commencement will be required to pay an additional handling fee of $100 to the Business Office before picking up their diploma from the Registrar’s Office. Students must attach the receipt from the Business Office to the diploma request before the request will be processed.