Accelerated MS & Graduate Credit 

General

The accelerated Master’s degree application form can be found on the graduate school's forms page.

Many outstanding universities across the nation offer highly qualified students the opportunity to participate in accelerated master’s degree programs, coterminal degree programs, or combined bachelors/master’s degree programs. The chief purpose of the accelerated program is to attract undergraduate students of the highest caliber into graduate degree programs.

Admissions

The accelerated master’s degree program is open to superior undergraduate students who have completed at least 60 semester credit hours (including advanced placement credit) with a GPA of at least 3.50 for all work taken at LSU. (To be eligible, transfer students must have a 3.50 average on all undergraduate work taken prior to LSU and must complete at least one semester at LSU with a 3.50 GPA.)

Acceptance into the accelerated program requires approval from the following:

  1. The Chairman of the department in which the student is enrolled.
  2. The Dean of the college in which the student is enrolled.
  3. The Chairman of the department or the coordinator or the interdisciplinary program in which the student proposes to work toward the master’s degree.
  4. The Dean of the Graduate School.

The requested approvals will be given as signatures on a form designed specifically for this program. It is the responsibility of the chairman or coordinator of the graduate program to appoint the students graduate faculty advisory committee.

Other admissions requirements for graduate study, such as the GRE will be waived until the student receives the baccalaureate and is ready to enter formally into Graduate School. Until that time, admission into the accelerated program will constitute provisional admission into the graduate program. Students will register as graduate students only after receiving the baccalaureate degree and satisfying departmental and Graduate School admissions requirements.

Continuing eligibility for the accelerated master’s program will require maintenance of a 3.50 average in all courses which apply to the undergraduate degree and a 3.00 average in all graduate course work.

Degree and Curriculum Requirements

Master degrees offered under this program should require a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit, including at least 6 hours of independent study or thesis research. Requirements for the baccalaureate will be unaffected.

A maximum of half of the required hours for the master’s degree may be taken while enrolled as an undergraduate. These hours may be applied toward the master’s degree provided a GPA of 3.00 is maintained in graduate course work and provided none of these hours apply toward the baccalaureate degree.

A minimum of half of the required hours of graduate study must be taken after the student receives the bachelor’s degree. As is required for all other masters’ degrees, half of the required hours must be at the 7000 level or above. Thesis research and independent study may be counted as course work above the 7000 level.

A student may wish to apply some graduate course toward his/her undergraduate degree. In such instances, the graduate committee can alter the distribution of course work and independent study required for the master’s degree. No course can be applied toward more than one degree.

Graduate Credit for LSU Seniors

A senior at LSU who needs fewer than 15 semester hours to complete requirements for the bachelor’s degree, who has maintained a grade-point average of at least 3.00 during the preceding year at LSU, and who has a cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.75 may be permitted to register for graduate credit in courses numbered 4000-4999 provided the student registers for all the remaining courses required for graduation and for no more than 15 semester hours total. This privilege applies only during the final semester of the student’s undergraduate work and is extended only upon recommendation of the dean of the student’s college and approval of the dean of the Graduate School. The head of the department in which the student plans to enroll as a graduate student must also approve the courses taken for graduate credit. A student must complete all undergraduate degree credit courses in order to retain the privilege of obtaining graduate credit for the remaining courses.

The form for participation in this program can be found on the forms page.

 

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