Degree Completion Plan

Here is a diagram that provides an overview of the major milestones in the life of a Master’s student.

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The Program of Study (POS) is a list of the specific courses a Master’s student is using to satisfy their requirements for the degree.  Degree requirements are officially documented in the corresponding Catalog chapter.  The requirements fall into several categories:

• Specific required courses.
• A set of courses that students may choose from.  This set may be called “electives” if it is very broad, or the program may give the set a field-specific name.
• A set of courses that students may choose from, with advisor approval.  If you see the phrase advisor approval” associated with degree requirements, obtain approval prior to registering.
• Additional requirements that apply to the entire program of study, regardless of whether the courses are required or electives.  For example, there are overall limits to how many Cr/NC units may be used in your degree, and limits to how many units can be numbered 500-599.

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The Degree Evaluation (also called the Degree Audit Report) is a resource for students and advisors to track requirements for graduation. The report includes your Program of Study:  how your completed courses match the degree requirements, and what degree requirements are still outstanding.  It also includes GPA calculations, and degree requirements that are not courses. The Degree Evaluation is accessed by students in mySDSU via the Degree Evaluation tile.

Degree Evaluation Student User Guide

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Your Graduate Advisor may request an exception or course substitution by submitting a petition form on your behalf.  If you wish, you can initiate the process by starting a PAAR form, which will get electronically routed to your advisor.

In most cases, Program of Study courses that are completed cannot be substituted out of the Program of Study, regardless of the final grade.  If you believe that you need to repeat a course, please meet with your Graduate Advisor to discuss options prior to course registration, or contact Graduate Studies.

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Please go to our Master's Thesis Committee (Plan A) Information and Forms page for more information.

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Active students wishing to change their master's degree program can submit a Request to Change Master's Program through mySDSU using the following navigation:

• mySDSU > Academic Records > Student Records Forms

This form can be used for students to change from:

1.  M.S. → different M.S. or M.A. → different M.A.
2.  Any M.S. ← → Any M.A.
3. One M.S. or M.A. specialization or concentration to another*
4. (M.S. Computer Science only) changing between Plan A (thesis) and Plan B (non-thesis) program of study

Please note that all requests to change Master's program will undergo review by both the current and prospective graduate advisors before being routed to Graduate Studies for final review and processing.

*Fowler College of Business students and students enrolled in Clinical Psychology or School Psychology programs submit a different form for this request.

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Students who change Master's degree objectives should review and carefully consider the following rules and expectations. All 10 of these rules apply, even if the student is changing concentrations or specializations within the same department and Master's degree.

1.  After completing the Request to Change Master's Program, the student's status will be either:
   1. Conditionally admitted (per the new advisor's decision)
   2. Classified, even if Advancement to Candidacy was approved for the previous program.
      
      With only two exceptions*, the new program's advisor will need to re-evaluate and file a new request to Advance to Candidacy.
2. Change of program between self-support (Global Campus) and state-support (Main Campus or IVC) may result in the loss of units that are applicable to the degree. Prior courses completed through a different campus are considered one type of "transfer" course.
   1. To apply prior courses from a different campus to the degree, the new master's advisor must recommend transfer course approval with a PAAR form.
   2. The advisor may recommend acceptance of transfer courses up to a maximum of 30% of degree units.
3. The degree requirements will be based on the Catalog year in which the request is approved, not the year the student started the original degree program.
   1. The new advisor may request that your requirements be based on an earlier Catalog year by filing a PAAR form.
4. The Program of Study (POS) will be rebuilt for your new degree, and should be available immediately after approval. Please review carefully and note that:
   1. Prior degree adjustments (submitted and approved through a PAAR form) will not carry forward to the new degree.
   2. If degree adjustments are approved for the new degree, then a new PAAR form needs to be submitted. All adjustments can be requested with one new PAAR form, regardless of how many adjustments are requested. It is possible that some or all requests in the PAAR form will duplicate requests that were submitted prior to the degree change.
5. Please also review SDSU's course expiration policy and compare it with your degree audit. Consider your anticipated degree date. If you will have expired courses when the degree will be issued, please meet with your Graduate Advisor as soon as possible to review your options.
6. Each Master's degree has a default culminating experience (Plan A or Plan B). If the default for the new degree does not match the advisor's recommendation, a PAAR form will need to be filed.
7. Rarely, a Plan B student changes degrees or concentrations within the same department or school, and the "Report of Final Exam or Thesis Defense" has already been filed. This report will not be retained.
   1. On the new "Report of Final Exam or Thesis Defense" form, the Date Examination(s) or Thesis Defense Completed must be after the submission date for the new Advancement to Candidacy form (#1 above).
8. If you have already paid and applied for graduation, a new application and payment will not be required.
9. The cumulative GPA (printed on your transcripts) does not reset. All post-baccalaureate courses will count towards the Graduate cumulative GPA (Advanced Certificate, Credential, Masters, EdS,EdD/PhD, etc.)
10. Per university policy, students are only permitted a maximum of four Leave of Absences. This maximum does not reset with a change of degree, readmission to the same degree, or readmission to a different degree program.

*Fowler College of Business students may request Advancement to Candidacy within their "Request to Change Concentration Objective" form. Computer Science students may also request Advancement to Candidacy via the "Change of Culminating Experience for Computer Science" form.

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Do I have admission conditions for the new degree?

When will Advancement to Candidacy be filed?

Does the Catalog year in my active Degree Audit look correct (right side at top of first page)?

Does the Program of Study in my active Degree Audit look correct?

Does a PAAR form need to be filed at this time? What specific adjustments will the advisor recommend in thePAAR?

What is my new anticipated degree date?

Will any courses expire by my final semester?

When will my culminating experience take place, and what are my new requirements (thesis, portfolio, comprehensive examination, etc)?

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Please see the SDSU Doctoral Programs page for more information.

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