Requirements

General Requirements for All Graduate Degrees

To receive any graduate degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a student must:

1. Earn a minimum of 30 semester hours (total varies with specific degree requirements and hours required for doctoral degrees are considerably more) of credit which meet the requirements of the degree and area of specialization in which the student is enrolled with a grade point average of at least 3.00 on all work including transfer credit.
2. For a Master’s degree, complete at least half of the course work in 6000-level classes. For a Doctor of Education degree, all course work must be 7000-level courses. No course at the 5000-level may be applied to a graduate degree if the course content substantially repeats the content of a course taken for undergraduate credit.
3. Complete a degree plan.  A student's degree plan is initially maintained in draft form by the student's graduate program advisor.  When the student is two semesters from graduating, the degree plan will be "formalized" by the Registrar’s Office. A "formalized" degree plan should be on file in the Registrar’s Office prior to Fall Registration for May graduates, and prior to Spring Registration for August and December graduates.

   The Program Director must approve substitutions and/or waivers affecting the degree plan at the time the degree plan is "formalized." Completed substitution and/or waiver form(s) must be on file in the Registrar's Office.

   Once the degree plan has been "formalized" by the Registrar’s Office, a Graduation Audit will be sent to the student (copy to the student’s graduate program advisor) listing those items the student needs to complete to graduate. If the student desires to make an appointment with the Registrar’s Office to discuss the degree plan, the student is welcome to do so. A student experiencing a disruption in enrollment lasting longer than one academic year must reorganize his/her degree plan under the current catalog. The student cannot make formal application for degree, however, without Registrar’s Office approval.

   While following a degree plan should be a joint effort between a student and the student's advisor, meeting the requirements for a particular degree is ultimately the responsibility of the student. Adherence to the above schedule should be followed.

4. Although a student may have completed all degree requirements, degree conferral is not automatic.  All degree candidates must file an application for degree and pay the graduation fee by January 30 for Spring graduates, by May 30 for Summer graduates, and by September 30 for Fall graduates. Students filing for graduation after their respective deadline will be charged a late fee and are NOT guaranteed inclusion in the printed commencement program.

   Applications for past graduation dates will not be accepted, even though all degree requirements may have been completed during previous semesters.

Students failing to graduate in their respective anticipated graduation year and term may roll their application for degree and graduation fee forward for the duration of one academic year.  Students still failing to graduate after the expiration of one academic year must reorganize their respective degree plan to conform with the current catalog as well as must submit another application for degree and pay another graduation fee by the deadlines mentioned above.

Awarding of Transfer Credit

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor accepts in transfer a maximum of six semester hours of graduate credit toward master’s degrees and 12 semester hours of graduate credit toward doctoral degrees provided that those graduate courses were (1) completed no more than five years before admission to UMHB; (2) are from regionally accredited United States institutions of higher education; (3) received a grade of at least a “B;” and (4) consisted of subject matter equivalent to UMHB course(s) applicable to the student’s program of study.

Transfer course equivalencies are determined through the collaborative efforts of the Registrar’s Office, the graduate program Director, the Dean of the Graduate School, and the Provost’s Office on the basis of the comparability of the nature, content, and level of the learning experiences to those offered by UMHB and the appropriateness and applicability of the learning experiences to the programs offered by UMHB.

Transfer courses along with their respective credit hours and grades are posted to students’ academic records and are available for degree planning purposes by the end of the semester in which the transcripts are received. The accepted transfer course grades are incorporated into the student’s cumulative GPA.

Course work with a grade of “B” or higher from United States colleges or universities accredited by other Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) recognized accrediting bodies may be considered for transfer on a course-by-course basis upon the written petition of the student to the graduate program director under which the course content falls. Documentation detailing content studied such as course syllabi may be requested for petition consideration. All transcripts, certificates, and diplomas from institutions outside the United States must be sent to an approved foreign credential evaluation service for a course-by-course evaluation in order for the possibility of transfer credit to be determined.

Credit is not awarded for experiential learning.

Credit from quarter system schools will be converted to semester hours:

Only official transcripts will be evaluated for potential transfer credit.

• New students must submit an official transcript from ALL previously attended colleges and universities. Even though courses taken at one institution may be noted on another institution’s transcript, an official transcript from each institution at which courses were taken is required. Transcripts should be sent directly from prior institutions to the UMHB Graduate Admissions Office.

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Graduate Admissions Office

UMHB Box 8402

900 College Street

Belton TX 76513

• Readmitted students who attended any other institutions during their absence from UMHB must submit official transcripts reflecting such attendance. Transcripts should be sent directly from the institutions to the UMHB Graduate Admissions Office.

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Graduate Admissions Office

UMHB Box 8402

900 College Street

Belton TX 76513

• Current students who concurrently enroll in other institutions must submit official transcripts reflecting their concurrent enrollment. Transcripts should be sent directly from the institution to the UMHB Registrar’s Office.

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Registrar’s Office

UMHB Box 8425

900 College Street

Belton TX 76513

Transcripts from other institutions which have been presented for admission or evaluation become part of the student's academic file and are not returned or copied for distribution.

Students at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor who wish to enroll in course work at another institution and apply those hours toward their UMHB degree must complete the Pre-Approval of Transfer Credits form and submit it to the Registrar’s Office. The purpose of this permission is to ensure appropriate content, graduate classification of the course, and overall suitability for the student’s degree plan.. Courses approved by one graduate program as substitutions for program requirements are not automatically granted approval by other graduate programs using the same program requirements.

Students at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor who wish to enroll in course work in a foreign country and apply those hours toward their UMHB degree must secure written permission from their graduate program director and the Dean of the Graduate School. Documentation should be provided through a foreign transcript evaluation service.

UMHB is not responsible for courses taken without proper approval.

Transfer credit inquiries may be directed to registrar@umhb.edu or 254-295-4510.

Graduation under a Particular Catalog

To receive a graduate degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a student must fulfill all requirements for that degree as set forth in a catalog under which the student is entitled to graduate. The student, however, has several choices:

1. graduate under the current catalog;
2. graduate under the catalog in force the year the student first registered (degree seeking status) at Mary Hardin-Baylor (within the five-year limitation for master's degrees or the seven-year limitation for doctoral degrees) provided the student maintains continuous enrollment during “long” semesters;
3. graduate under the catalog for any subsequent year in which the student was registered at Mary Hardin-Baylor (within the five-year limitation for master's degrees or the seven-year limitation for doctoral degrees) provided the student maintains continuous enrollment during “long” semesters; or
4. if first registration (degree seeking status) at Mary Hardin-Baylor was during a summer session, graduate under the catalog governing the preceding “long” semester or the catalog for the next “long” semester (within the five-year limitation for master's degrees or the seven-year limitation for doctoral degrees) provided the student maintains continuous enrollment during “long” semesters.

Students experiencing a disruption in enrollment lasting longer than one academic year must reorganize their respective degree plan to conform with the current catalog.

The University catalog is considered valid for five years from a student’s initial enrollment with degree seeking status for master's degrees and for seven years from a student's initial enrollment with degree seeking status for doctoral degrees. For example, the catalog for school year 2015-2017 is valid for graduation purposes through Summer 2020 for a master's degree-seeking student enrolling in the Fall of 2015.  The catalog for school year 2015-2017 is valid for graduation purposes through Summer 2022 for a doctoral degree-seeking student enrolling in Fall 2015.

A degree-seeking student who fails to complete the required work for a degree in a five-year (master's)/seven-year (doctoral) interval dating from the time the student first registered with degree seeking status must reorganize his or her degree plan to conform with the current catalog and obtain permission from the appropriate graduate Program Director and the Dean of the Graduate School to continue in the graduate program under the new degree plan.

The University makes changes to degree requirements from time to time in order to keep its programs current with developments in education. Students should also be aware that requirements of organizations outside the University (such as the Texas Education Agency) sometimes change, thus necessitating a change in degree requirements.

Although a previous edition of the University’s academic catalog may control the academic criteria for awarding a student a degree or a major or minor in any academic field or certain academic honors and awards, the policies and procedures contained in the most recent edition of the catalog will always control. For example, matters such as academic standards, classroom expectations and ethics, and academic appeals are always controlled by the most recent catalog.

Second Master’s Degree

A student who has already earned a master’s degree and wishes to pursue a second master’s degree may transfer a maximum of six semester hours from the first degree to the second degree provided the courses for which the six semester hours were earned are applicable to the second master’s degree program.

Commencement Ceremonies

Commencement ceremonies are held at the conclusion of the Fall and the Spring terms.

• Because commencement exercises are meaningful experiences in the academic lives of students, all students are encouraged to participate when possible.
• Students are permitted to participate in only one commencement ceremony per degree.
• Students must settle all accounts in order to be eligible to participate in commencement exercises. UMHB may restrict students from participating in commencement for failure to make complete payment of student accounts.
• A student may be excused from commencement exercises and be permitted to graduate in absentia with approval from the Registrar’s Office. Students desiring to graduate in absentia should submit a written request to the Registrar’s Office not less than two weeks prior to the commencement exercise.
• Diplomas will be mailed within four weeks of the commencement exercise to the address provided on the application for degree.  This allows time for confirmation all degree requirements have been met.  Under no circumstances will a diploma be released prior to the official degree conferral date.  Diplomas will not be released to students owing a balance to UMHB.
  
• Students lacking a maximum of seven (7) semester hours toward degree completion (as confirmed by the Registrar’s Office) may petition the Registrar's Office for permission to participate in commencement exercises no earlier than January 31 for Spring participants or September 30 for Fall participants. Any exceptions to the maximum hours lacking for degree completion must be approved by the Provost. Participation in commencement exercises is not equivalent to graduation. Students granted permission by the Registrar's Office or the Provost to “walk” in the ceremony are not official graduates. They will not receive diplomas nor will their degrees be posted to their transcripts until all their degree requirements have been completed.  Degree conferral dates will not be retroactive.  The official degree conferral date of the semester in which the students' outstanding degree requirements are completed will apply. Students failing to graduate after the expiration of one academic year must reorganize their respective degree plan to conform with the current catalog as well as must submit another application for degree and pay another graduation fee by the applicable deadlines.
• Students may petition the Registrar's Office for permission to delay participation in commencement exercises if students are unable to participate in the ceremony immediately following their degree completion.