GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION WITH A MASTER'S DEGREE
Graduate degree candidates must obtain clearance and complete a
Degree Candidacy form at the Graduate Office. Clearance to graduate follows recommendation
by the official graduate adviser(s) to the graduate dean. Students may apply for candidacy
with the graduate dean six months in advance of the day of graduation.
A master's degree may be earned by completing one of the four
plans described below. A Master of Science degree is awarded to candidates who complete
only the requirements specified below for one of these plans. A Master of Arts degree is
awarded to candidates who, in addition to the requirements for one of these plans,
complete four college-level courses in a single foreign language with grades of C or
better, or who have the equivalent in advanced placement.
Other master's degrees exist: the Master of Music (described
under Music), the Master of Business Administration, the Master of Education (described
under Education), and the Master of Engineering (described under Engineering).
Research that involves human subjects must be approved by the
Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects.
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Graduate Studies' Homepage.
Plan I-A (with thesis, major, and minor):
1. Thirty semester hours of approved graduate courses, with 18 to
24 semester hours (including 6 hours of Thesis 5306 research) in a major subject area and
6 to 12 semester hours in a minor subject area are required. The minor may be divided
between two subject areas, with 6 semester hours in each.
2. At least 24 of the 30 semester hours must be in 5000-level
courses. No more than 3 semester hours of credit for special problems courses (other than
the thesis courses) may be accepted. No credit extension or correspondence courses will be
accepted.
3. A research thesis must be prepared under the direction of the
professor in the major subject area who is also the student's program chair. A thesis
proposal approved by the program chair must be completed for a grade to be assigned in the
first 3 hours of Thesis 5306. The thesis must be accepted by a committee consisting of the
program chair, at least one other professor from the major area, and one professor from
the minor area (or one from each of the minor areas).
4. The student will make an oral defense of the thesis before the
committee no later than four weeks before commencement.
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Plan I-B (with thesis and major):
1. Thirty semester hours of approved graduate courses, with at
least 24 semester hours (including 6 hours of Thesis 5306 research) in a major subject
area are required.
2. At least 24 of the 30 semester hours must be in 5000-level
courses. No more than 3 semester hours of credit for special problems courses (other than
the thesis courses) may be accepted. No credit for extension or correspondence courses
will be accepted.
3. A research thesis must be prepared under the direction of the
professor in the major subject area who is the student's program chair. A thesis proposal
approved by the program chair must be completed for a grade to be assigned in the first 3
hours of Thesis 5306. The thesis must be accepted by a committee consisting of the program
chair and at least two other professors from the major area.
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4. The student will make an oral defense of the thesis before the
committee no later than four weeks before commencement.
NOTES ON PLAN I:
Thesis 5306 is used solely by Plan I students. The student must
be actively enrolled in 5306 continuously after the initial enrollment until a thesis is
complete with a minimum requirement of 6 semester credit hours of 5306.
The student must be registered for the thesis course during the
semester of graduation. A thesis proposal signed by the student and the thesis committee
constitutes the minimum requirement for the student to receive a letter grade on the first
three hours of thesis.
The final form of each research thesis must be approved by the
graduate dean for style, format, and scholarly merit. Instructions concerning the form to
be used and details to be followed in preparing the thesis may be obtained from the
Graduate Office. Five copies of the approved thesis must be filed with the graduate dean at
least three weeks before commencement. The student may have additional copies bound at
extra cost.
In Progress (IP) grades are assigned in 5306 when
appropriate until a letter grade is assigned. IP grades remain indefinitely on a
student's transcript and cannot be changed with a change-of-grade card. Students must be
actively enrolled in 5306 to receive the letter grade.
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Plan II (with major and minor):
1. Thirty-six semester hours of approved graduate courses, with
21 to 24 semester hours in a major subject area and 12 to 15 semester hours in a minor
subject area are required. The minor may be divided between two subject areas, with at
least 6 semester hours in each.
2. At least 21 semester hours in the major subject area and at
least 9 semester hours in the minor subject area must be in 5000-level courses. Without
special permission from all members of the student's committee and the graduate dean, no
more than 6 semester hours of credit for special problems courses may be accepted. No more
than 6 semester hours of credit for extension courses of this university may be accepted.
3. A research project, produced as a major assignment in a 3 hour
5000-level, research-titled, course (which may be a special problems course) or Research
Project 5305 in a major subject area, is required.
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Plan III (with major and resource areas):
1. Thirty-six semester hours of approved graduate courses, with
at least 24 hours in a major subject area. (This plan has resource areas rather than minor
subject areas are required. A resource area consists of no more than 6 semester hours of
graduate credit in a concentrated area.)
2. At least 27 of the 36 semester hours must be 5000-level
courses. Without special permission from the appropriate graduate coordinator and the
graduate dean, no more than 6 semester hours of credit for special problems courses may be
accepted. No more than 6 semester hours of credit for extension courses offered by
A&M-Kingsville may be accepted.
3. A research project, produced as a major assignment in a 3 hour
5000-level, research-titled, course (which may be a special problems course) or Research
Project 5305 in the major subject area, is required.
NOTES ON PLANS II AND III:
Research Project 5305 may be used for the selection, planning,
and conduct of a research project to fulfill research requirements under Plan II and Plan
III programs. Students must be actively enrolled in 5305 continuously until the research
project is complete.
Each research project must be approved by the student's program
chair or the graduate coordinator. One copy of the approved research project will be
placed in the student's file in the major department and a second copy will be submitted
to the Graduate Dean for final approval.
In Progress (IP) grades are assigned in 5305 when
appropriate until a letter grade is assigned. IP grades remain indefinitely on a
student's transcript and cannot be changed with a change-of-grade card. Students must be
actively enrolled in 5305 to receive the letter grade.
Return To The Types Of Degree Plans