GRADUATE STUDENT CLASSIFICATION

A graduate student is defined as any student who holds an undergraduate degree from a four-year institution accredited by a regional accreditation body. All students taking graduate courses must apply for admission to the Office of Graduate Studies and Research. At that time, each student is placed in one of the following student classifications:

1. Degree-Seeking Graduate Students: A student pursuing a program of study leading to a Master's Degree or to a Specialist Degree. To be classified as a degree graduate candidate, a student must meet the requirements for admission to degree status as stated by the Office of Graduate Studies and Research and by the appropriate department or program.
2. Non-Degree Graduate Student: The non-degree graduate student status is an all-encompassing description for those students who do not wish to pursue an advanced degree or who have not yet completed all admission requirements for degree admission. Non-degree students include students seeking initial teaching certification, an additional teaching endorsement, a certificate program, self-improvement, or employment requirements. Students in this status are not limited in the number of hours completed or the type of course completed (graduate or undergraduate courses), although students intending on seeking a Masters or Specialist degree can only apply 12 graduate hours taken in this status towards their graduate program. Non-degree students are not eligible for financial aid, with the exception of those seeking initial certification or an additional endorsement. Students seeking a second bachelor's degree or those seeking Pre-SLP hours should be admitted thru the undergraduate college.
3. Senior (undergraduate) Student: A student requiring fifteen hours or fewer (excluding student teaching, practicum, or internship) for the Bachelor's Degree may be allowed to enroll in graduate classes. Qualified students must have a G.P.A. of 3.00 or higher, will not be permitted to register for more than six semester hours of graduate courses, and the maximum load of undergraduate-graduate hours may be no more than eighteen hours.
    
   Enrollment must be approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, the instructor or department chair, and the student's advisor. Graduate courses taken to complete requirements for the Bachelor's Degree may not be used subsequently to satisfy requirements for a graduate degree. However, graduate courses not applied to the baccalaureate degree may be applied toward a graduate degree.