Enrollment, Registration, and Continuing Graduate Student Services

Students with previous graduate coursework may have credit on their transcripts before enrolling in any OHIO courses.  

“Grad Mass” hours 

For subsidy reporting, students entering OHIO with graduate degrees completed external to Ohio University are credited with a group of transfer hours that reflect the awarded degree. Completed master’s degrees are credited as 34 “grad mass” hours. Completed doctoral degrees (e.g., Ph.D., J.D., M.D., D.P.T.) are recorded as 80 hours. In instances where a terminal degree is a first professional degree (e.g., RN to MSN, Pharm.D.) fulfilling the bachelor’s equivalency requirement, grad mass hours are not recorded. Likewise, if international bachelor’s equivalency is confirmed using a portion of a post-baccalaureate degree (e.g., Indian BA/MA, BS/MS), grad mass hours are not applied for the master’s degree. 

The state requires these hours to appear in the student record in order to account for completed degrees in calculating total number of hours remaining that are eligible for state subsidy. They are added to a student’s record once final documents for previously earned non-OHIO graduate degrees are received. Grad Mass hours count toward the hours required for the OHIO degree, but cannot substitute for any particular courses in the degree program or affect GPA calculations. 

Transfer credit 

Master’s degrees: Students may  transfer eligible graduate courses or hours from another institution with approval of the academic program and the college dean. A maximum of 25% of the hours in a master’s degree may come from another institution (or up to 8 hours if the degree only requires 30).  

Doctoral degrees: Students may transfer a maximum of 25% of total graded coursework requirements for the degree, subject to eligibility requirements and approval by their individual program and the college dean. Exceptions to this policy may be made by the Dean of the Graduate College upon recommendation of the student’s department chair or graduate program director and the associate dean of the student’s college. 

Certificate programs: Certificate programs of 12 hours or fewer can transfer a maximum of one course (up to four credit hours). Certificate programs longer than 12 hours can transfer no more than 25% of the total graded coursework. 

Transferable credits must meet the following conditions: 

• Earned through a regionally-accredited university or the international equivalent. 

• Designated as graduate credit and applicable to a graduate degree at the institution where taken, and taught by members of that institution’s graduate faculty. Letter-graded B or better. Ungraded courses or those carrying a credit/no credit or pass/fail grade scale cannot be transferred.  

• Earned in the last five years;. 

• Have not been used to satisfy requirements for completion of another conferred degree.  

• Credit is not accepted for courses taken by correspondence. 

Transfer credit process 

The student and the Graduate Director or Graduate Program Chair complete a transfer credit form (available on the Graduate College Forms website). The form is forwarded to the associate dean of the student’s college for approval. The complete/signed form is sent to the Graduate College for processing in the student’s record. Transfer credit cannot be processed unless there is an official copy of the transcript on file with the Graduate College or attached to the transfer credit request. 

Petitions for transfer credit are accepted after the start of the first semester of enrollment. Students are encouraged to discuss transfer plans with the academic program during the application process. 

Transfer credit forms should be submitted within the first year of enrollment, at the earliest possibility. 

Academic programs can waive DARS requirements based on prior academic work without formally requesting transfer credit. If a waived requirement will create a credit shortfall, the difference can be made up with elective courses. 

Calculating the five-year limit on eligibility: Five years is the span between the end of the term in which  the class was completed and the start of the semester of the beginning of the Ohio University degree program. For example, a course ending in spring term is eligible for transfer until summer semester 2027. It would expire prior to the start of fall semester 2027. 

Transferring courses taken after matriculation in an Ohio University graduate program 

With consent of the student’s academic program, courses taken at external institutions can be applied to the student’s Ohio degree program, provided they meet all transfer eligibility requirements. Many institutions offer a “Transient Student” status to graduate students in good standing at an external institution.  

• Courses taken at institutions outside the United States can be transferred with advance approval from the student’s academic program, provided they meet all transfer eligibility requirements. Refer to the Global Experiences Transfer Credit Approval Process | Ohio University for details. 

A Note on credit hour subsidy eligibility 

Prior degrees and transferred coursework, as well as hours in the current program, affect whether a student’s hours will result in the university receiving state subsidy. Any graduate student exceeding 172 registered graduate credit hours at the beginning of the semester cannot be included in the university’s subsidy count for the Ohio Department of Higher Education Subsidy report.  

• Registered graduate credit hours include Grad Mass and transferred courses as well as OHIO hours. 

• Audit hours are not counted toward the 172-hour maximum. 

• Students who are in doctoral programs but have not yet accumulated 34 hours are classified as master’s students for subsidy. This can occur with direct entry doctoral programs. 

• Credit-hour subsidy eligibility is also determined by type. Different subsidy ranks are used for students in MBA and M.Ed. programs and professional doctoral programs (e.g. D.P.T, Au.D.). 

A corollary to all this is that tuition waivers are no longer partially subsidized by state funds when students have accumulated the total number of eligible hours. On the other hand, a full half of per-student state funding is disbursed based on degree completion, so reducing time-to-degree and providing students with adequate resources to complete in a timely manner are both important economic imperatives for graduate programs.  

Student statuses allowing registration for graduate courses 

To register for graduate-level course (5000 and above) a student must hold a valid admission and one of the statuses qualifying for graduate registration (See the Application and Admission section). Special cases: 

• Students holding Post-Baccalaureate status (program code ND9951) are eligible to register through a regional campus in any semester but may register for Athens campus courses during summer semester only. 

• Undergraduate students seeking to register for graduate courses must either hold Honors status (HTC, Departmental Honors student, OHIO Honors), apply for Senior for Graduate Credit status, or be enrolled in an Accelerated Graduate Pathway. NOTE: Graduate courses taken under Senior for Graduate Credit status or under an AGP will create a Graduate DARS and graduate grade point average. They appear on the transcript as graduate level courses. 

• Honors Tutorial College students may take graduate courses either for undergraduate or graduate credit. For a graduate course to count as graduate credit, an HTC student must complete an HTC Undergraduate for Graduate Credit form. If this form is not completed, the course will count in the undergraduate GPA and will not appear on a Graduate DARS. 

• Department Honors: Students in a recognized department honors program may take a maximum of three graduate-level courses in their major department during their senior year (i.e., after earning 90 or more hours of credit). Hours earned in these courses will count toward total hours required for graduation and the grades will be calculated into the undergraduate GPA unless a Senior for Graduate Credit form is completed. 

• OHIO Honors: Students in the OHIO Honors program may take a maximum of three graduate courses during their junior and senior years (i.e., after earning 60 or more semester hours of undergraduate credit). Hours earned in these courses will count toward total hours required for the undergraduate degree only; the grades will be calculated into the undergraduate GPA. Registration in graduate courses requires written permission from the instructor. Participation in this option is at the discretion of the department or school. Qualified students can be registered by obtaining permission from the Director of OHIO Honors (or designee) and submitting the approval form to the Registrar’s office for processing. 

Registration basics 

• Students enrolled in the previous semester (or spring for a fall registration) will be active in the succeeding semester. 

• Students who have not maintained continuous registration are classified as returning students. A student who has previously attended OHIO as a graduate student and still has valid graduate status can register. If the student is in a program requiring continuous enrollment (CE), the student may need to register for missed CE hours. See Reenrollment below.  

• DARS exceptions are handled by the respective academic college/unit that “owns” the program.  

• Graduate status ends when the student completes the degree or certificate program, reaches the maximum time limit for a degree or certificate, or completes the maximum number of credits allowed under non-degree admission. In these cases, a new application is required before additional graduate registration is allowed. 

Matriculation, missing documents, and registration holds 

Following the close of registration each semester, the Graduate College runs a report checking admitted students for registration and application file completion status.  

No shows 

Admitted students who are not registered by week 5 of their first semester are handled as “No Shows.” These students must request a deferral from and be readmitted before they can register for a subsequent semester. 

Missing documents 

• Admitted/registered students with missing or incomplete application documents are sent a letter outlining what document(s) are still missing. A registration hold is placed to prevent preregistration for subsequent semesters pending receipt of missing or final documents. As documents are received, the Graduate College updates PeopleSoft. Holds are lifted once all documents have been received.  

• When US transcripts are incomplete, the Graduate College requests the student to obtain an official, complete one.  

• Official/final transcripts from U.S. institutions are available to students with a properly placed request. Most institutions include transcript request information on their web pages. This is generally a function of the Registrar’s office. Schools that have ceased operation have another institution acting as the record repository. 

• Colleges and universities reserve the right to refuse to release official transcripts if the student has failed to meet all obligations to that institution—often something like unpaid library fines. Ohio University honors this action and will not excuse a student from the requirement to provide final/official transcripts due to the inability to get a transcript due to a hold. 

• In this case, the Graduate College may opt to place a missing credential hold, which allows registration but does not allow release of an OHIO transcript or a diploma. The student may be asked to provide certification from the previous institution that he/she is actively working to clear up their record and work toward release of the necessary document(s). A credential hold allows continued registration but holds the student accountable for the missing documents. 

• When international documents are not yet available, special consideration is given. Some countries take many months to provide students with graduation certificates or diplomas showing conferral of a degree. 

• In the event that final documents are not available, the Graduate College will lift the registration hold immediately preceding the next semester (not during pre-registration). The registration hold is replaced following the close of registration. 

• If final documents will not be available for some time, the Graduate College may opt to place a missing credential hold, which allows registration but does not allow release of an OHIO transcript or a diploma. This allows continued registration and holds the student accountable for the missing documents. 

Incomplete prior degree 

When a student fails to complete requisite degree to retain their admission status (e.g. completed bachelor’s degree or completed master’s if admission to Ph.D. program is based on earned master’s), the following processes will be applied. 

• In the event a student fails to complete a bachelor’s degree, that student’s status will be changed to undergraduate unless he/she qualifies for early admission as a graduate student. This process is coordinated between Graduate College and the student’s graduate program. The student may qualify for Senior for Graduate Credit. Because initial program acceptance is provisional on completion of the undergraduate degree, this process may occur before the end of the first semester of graduate study (i.e., before the official transcript is finally due) if the Graduate College otherwise confirms that the degree is incomplete. 

• In the event a student fails to complete a requisite master’s, the student may be returned to master’s status. In some cases, the student may be allowed to remain in doctoral status pending completion of the master’s degree. In these cases, the Graduate College will request that the program provide to the student written documentation regarding the deadline for completion of all requirements for conferral of the master’s degree, usually not to exceed the duration of the first semester of doctoral standing. 

Continuous enrollment 

Students in programs subject to the continuous enrollment policy and who are not on an official leave of absence will have a registration hold placed to prevent to prevent reenrollment without registering for required missing CE hours. See Reenrollment below.