Transfer of Graduate Credits to UTRGV

Ordinarily, all work for the master’s degree must be done at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Under some circumstances, up to nine (9) semester credit hours of appropriate graduate work earned at a regionally accredited institution or international equivalent and in which the grade is A or B may be transferred to the Program of Study. Individual graduate degree programs may accept fewer hours or have additional requirements.

Transfer of graduate credit is not automatic. The student must submit a written request for approval of transfer to the director/coordinator of the graduate program. A graduate student seeking to use coursework completed at another institution must provide an official transcript, the official explanation of the institutions course numbering system and grading system, and the course description from the catalog of the institution. Along with these documents, the Transfer of Graduate Credit Towards a Graduate Degree form should be completed and submitted by the director/coordinator for approval by the Chair/Director of the department/school, College Dean, and the Dean of the Graduate College. The decision by the Dean of the Graduate College is final. 

A course may be transferred only if:

1. Student is in a current graduate degree program and in good academic standing.

2. The course is equivalent to a graduate -level course at UTRGV or is appropriate for elective credit at the graduate level within the student’s degree program; the grade for the course is not less than B.

3. The course was not taken at such a date that it would extend the student’s time for achieving the degree beyond the approval limit for the graduate program (seven years for a master’s program and 10 years for a doctoral program).

4. Courses have not been used toward another degree program.

5. Coursework earned on the quarter system is normally calculated at two -thirds of the credit for courses offered on a semester basis. Thus, a three credit -hour course taken on the quarter system may be transferred as no more than two credit hours.

6. UTRGV will not accept thesis or dissertation courses for transfer to fulfill the thesis or dissertation hour requirement for a degree. 

Courses delivered in a distance learning format will be considered by the Graduate College Dean on a case -by -case basis, however correspondence or extension courses are not transferrable.

All petitions should be processed and approved no later than the semester prior to the anticipated graduation. To ensure acceptance of transfer credit toward the graduate degree, the student must obtain prior written approval for any courses to be taken at another institution.

Exceptions to these transfer policies may be granted only on petition to the Dean of the Graduate College.

All documents submitted to the University for Transfer Purposes become part of the official files of the University and cannot be released or returned to the student or to another institution.