Admission and Program Requirements

Graduates of bachelor degree programs with a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 (or equivalent) in the last two (2) previous years of full-time university study (60 credit hours) may be considered for admission to a Pre-Master’s program. Departments/Units may specify higher or additional criteria. Admission to a Pre-Master’s program does not guarantee future admission to a Master’s program. 

The purpose of the Pre-Master’s program of study is to bring a student’s background up to the equivalent of a required four (4)-year undergraduate degree and/or fulfill deficiencies in knowledge of a particular discipline. Departments/Units should assign to students, as part of their Pre-Master’s program of study, an appropriate number of applicable upper level (3000 or 4000) undergraduate courses. These courses may not be transferred into a Master’s program. Pre-Master's students are not normally allowed to register in 7000-level courses or above, with the exception of GRAD 7300 and GRAD 7500 (or GRAD 7501), unless prior permission is granted by the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies or designate. If permission is granted, students may take a maximum of three (3) credit hours at the 7000 level or above and these credit hours must be taken as Occasional (“O”). A Pre-Master’s student may only transfer a maximum of three (3) credit hours at the 7000 level into a prospective Master’s program of study.

Academic Performance

The Department/Unit Head is responsible for assigning the courses and monitoring the progress of each student.

A minimum degree grade point average of 3.0 with no grade below C+ must be maintained to continue in a Pre-Master’s program. Students who fail to maintain this standing will be Required to Withdraw unless remedial action recommended by the department/unit (as described below) is approved by the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Students deficient in six (6) hours of credit or less may be permitted to write a supplemental examination (when offered in the department/unit’s supplementary regulations) in courses in which a grade of C or less was obtained.

Students deficient in six (6) hours of credit or less with a grade of C, D, or F in a course or courses may be permitted, if the overall average is C or better, to write one (1) supplemental examination in each course (when permitted by the department/unit’s supplementary regulations), to repeat the courses, or to take equivalent substitute courses.

A student may be permitted to remove deficiencies in grades by writing a supplemental examination or repeating courses only one (1) time for each course to a maximum of nine (9) credit hours of remedial coursework.

If a course is repeated or a supplemental examination is written, the highest grade obtained in that course will be used in the determination of the degree GPA.

The degree GPA is cumulative in a Pre-Master’s program if more than one (1) year is required to complete the course requirements.

A summary of all action taken administratively is to be reported to the Faculty of Graduate Studies Executive Committee.