Master’s Degree Requirements
The master’s degree is offered under two plans. Plan A (involving a thesis) and Plan B (involving additional coursework and/or special projects in place of a thesis). Plan B is the only plan available at Duluth for majors in art, business administration, communication sciences and disorders, English, liberal studies, music, and social work. Majors in applied and computational mathematics, chemistry, computer science, criminology, electrical and computing engineering, engineering management, geological sciences, integrated biosciences, and physics may select either Plan A or Plan B. Integrated biosciences is offered only under Plan A.
Time Requirement
The maximum time allowed by the Graduate School for completion of the master’s degree is seven years. The seven-year period begins with the oldest work included on the official degree program, including any transfer work applied. The graduate faculty in a specific program may set more stringent time requirements.
Grading System
The Graduate School uses two grading systems, A-B-C-D-F (with pluses and minuses) and S-N. Except in courses in which grading has been restricted to one system or the other, students have the option of choosing the system under which they will be graded. Students must declare a grading system choice as part of their initial registration. Changes in grading options must be made by the end of the second week of class (end of the first week during summer sessions). For information about courses in which grading is restricted, students should consult the department offering the course. Instructors must explain to students the achievement level necessary to earn an S grade for a course.
Course instructors may, at their discretion, set a time limit for removal of incomplete grades. In general, it is recommended that incomplete grades be removed within one calendar year. A student with an excessive number of incompletes may be denied further registration until some of them have been removed.
The Graduate School discourages retaking courses to improve grades. Permission of the course instructor and the major adviser is required to take a course again. If a course is retaken, all registrations for it remain on the student’s transcript.
Minimum Grade Requirements
The minimum GPA required by the Graduate School for courses included on the official pro-gram for any master’s degree is 2.80 (on a 4.00 scale). Students may apply 5xxx and 8xxx courses with grades of A, B, C (including C-), and S to a Graduate School degree program. Under some circumstances and with approval of the student’s major field, 4xxx, 6xxx, and 7xxx courses may also be applied to a Graduate School degree. Grades of A, B, C, and S are acceptable, but grades of S are not calculated in the GPA. At least two thirds of the course credits taken in the Graduate School (excluding thesis credits) and in-cluded in any degree program must be taken A-F.
Individual major fields may set higher grade requirements, and students should be familiar with special requirements in their major field.
Transfer of Plan
A student transfers from one plan for the master’s degree to the other by submitting to the Graduate School a revised program form signed by the adviser, director of graduate studies for the major, and director of graduate studies for the minor if a minor is declared.
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