3.6.3 Resident Credit Requirements

Commission Standard: The majority of credits toward a graduate or a post-baccalaureate professional degree is earned through the institution awarding the degree. In the case of graduate and post-baccalaureate professional degree programs offered through joint, cooperative, or consortia arrangements, the student earns a majority of credits from the participating institutions.

Status: In Compliance

Rationale: Western uses practices for awarding credit at the graduate level established by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools. The CGS continuously evaluates and sets national standards of graduate education, which then are adopted by regional and state organizations.

Course credit hours are awarded in accordance with standards set by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) and various discipline-specific accrediting agencies (See 3.4.6 , above).

The amount of graduate transfer credit was recently limited by Western's Graduate Council. In general, up to 9 semester hours of transfer credit may be accepted toward a less than 60-hour graduate program and 12 hours toward a 60-hour degree. However, some programs have more restrictive policies.

Any graduate transfer hours must meet the following requirements: The credits must be from an accredited graduate institution. The coursework must be designated as graduate credits. The courses to be transferred must carry a grade of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale. Credits earned during a given term must not exceed the number of weeks of instruction and must have been earned within the six-year time limit for degree completion. Transfer courses must be appropriate for the degree program as determined by the student's advisor and dean of graduate studies. Transfer approval must be obtained prior to enrollment in further coursework. At least 12 hours in the graduate major and 6 hours in the minor must be taken at Western. Western uses the Transfer Credit Practices Report published by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers for determining transfer credits.

Other WKU policies for evaluating, awarding, and accepting academic credit are explained in section 3.4.4 , above.

All Western's programs require that a program form listing all classes to be taken or transferred to fulfill degree requirements be signed by the student, the graduate advisor, the director of teacher certification (when appropriate), and the Office of Graduate Studies. Programs also require a formal admission to candidacy, which involves further review of the student's credits and course selections.

Western offers course work toward a cooperative doctoral program in educational administration awarded by the University of Louisville. Policies for credit offered through joint, cooperative, or consortia arrangements can be found in 3.4.7 , above.