Policies & Procedures

All credits that contribute to a student's degree requirements and are taken outside of the School of Graduate Studies—whether from an external institution or while the student was an undergraduate at Rutgers—must be formally transferred to the student's record using the Transfer of Credit form. Please review the Credit Transfers Policy in the SGS Handbook. 

Students must have 9 completed credits (with a B or better) in SGS before submitting a transfer of credit.  

Credits are generally not transferable for coursework completed more than six years before the application for credit transfer. Appeals for waiver of this time limit may be made by the graduate director, in writing, with a statement verifying the current level of the student’s information on the subject or that the course material is still current.  

Research is listed as 700 on a transcript 

Research is required for: 

• Master's degree with thesis students must have at least 6 credits of research (some master's programs have higher research requirements).
• Doctoral students must have at least 24 credits of research (some PhD programs have higher research requirements).

Research can never count towards a master’s degree without thesis degree. 

Only PhD students can be coded as Pre- or Post-Qualifying 

• Pre-Qualifying students have not yet taken their qualifying exam.
• Post-Qualifying students have taken and passed their qualifying exam. 

Coding changes from Pre- to Post-Qualifying only take place once the qualifying exam form is sent to SGS for processing (see form for details). 

Graduating PhD students must be coded Post-Qualifying. 

Yes, students must maintain continuous registration even during the semester they are graduating (Spring and Fall). For clarification on each degree date, see the bullet points below: 

• January graduates must be registered in the Fall semester
• May graduate must be registered in the Spring semester
• October graduates differ because the graduation date falls in the middle of the Fall semester:
  •                -October graduates cannot be registered
  •                -October graduates must be registered for the prior Spring semester
• Students who have already defended their PhD must also continue to register each Spring and Fall until they graduate.

Continuous registration means students must be registered at a minimum every Spring and Fall semester until they graduate. If all credit requirements are fulfilled for the degree program, students must still maintain registration every Spring and Fall. The requirements for what to register for are different depending on whether the student is writing a dissertation/thesis or if they are a master’s student without a thesis.  

PhD and thesis based master's students must register for at least one credit of research (700-level) each Spring and Fall semester. Registration for matriculation continued is not allowed.

Without thesis master's must register for coursework; research is not allowed. If all coursework is completed, students can register for matriculation continued for a maximum of two semesters.

Students must complete a readmission form to be readmitted into the graduate program. 

After readmission students must register to maintain registration 

See ‘What does continuous registration entail?’ for more information on the limitations of registration 

Master’s degree: Committees for Master’s degree candidates require at least three different examiners approved by the Graduate Director.  

• These may be Members, Associate Members or Affiliate Members of the program’s graduate faculty.  Members or Associates may chair the committee. 

Doctoral degree: Committee for Doctoral degree candidates should consist of at least four different examiners approved by the Graduate Director.   

• At least three must be Members or Associate Members of the graduate program's faculty, including the adviser who normally serves as chair.   
• A fourth member must be selected from outside the program faculty.  If the outside member does not hold a Doctoral degree, a copy of their C.V. must be submitted for SGS approval.   

Per university policy, retired faculty may continue to serve on dissertation committees, including as chair, provided they retain full membership in the graduate program. This full membership can be maintained for up to four years after the official end of their appointment. These changes must be updated on the faculty database. However, IRS and state regulations require a complete separation from the university for at least six months before any re-engagement in any capacity is permitted. 

Faculty who are no longer at Rutgers University but wish to remain on a student committee as an internal member can be appointed to a 4-year term, as an associate member. These changes must be updated on the faculty database. The faculty can remain on the committee but not as the advisor.  

Once appointed to a four-year term as an associate faculty member in the program, the same individual cannot serve as an external member on a committee.  

Questions about OPT and CPT must be directed to individual Graduate Programs and RU Global.